Basin Electric Power Cooperative

Last updated
Basin Electric Power Cooperative
Company type Non-profit organization
Industry Utilities
Founded1960;65 years ago (1960)
Headquarters,
Area served
North Dakota
Subsidiaries
Website www.basinelectric.com

Basin Electric Power Cooperative is a wholesale electric generation and transmission cooperative based in North Dakota that provides electricity to 3 million customers in nine U.S. states. The roots of the cooperative go back to 1960 when Leland Olds and ten power suppliers created Giant Power Cooperative. Giant Power was first going to be a generation and transmission cooperative, but to keep electricity cheaper for rural customers, Basin Electric Power Cooperative was started in 1961. Today, Basin Electric's power sources include coal, natural gas, hydroelectric, wind, waste heat, and nuclear. [1]

Contents

Basin's membership is broken down into four classes: Class A - G&T cooperatives (each serving a group of distribution cooperatives), Class B - municipal utilities, Class C - distribution cooperatives that purchase energy directly from Basin (District 9), and Class D - vertically integrated cooperatives.

The current CEO and General Manager is Todd Telesz. A subsidiary of Basin Electric, Dakota Gasification Company, operates the Great Plains Synfuels Plant, which captures and sequesters nearly 50% of its carbon dioxide emissions in a system developed during the Carter administration. In 2005, the membership of Basin Electric passed a resolution requiring 10 percent of electricity demand to be provided by renewable forms of energy. At the end of 2009, Basin Electric finished construction on a 77 turbine wind energy project. [2]

Member cooperatives

Direct purchasing

These cooperatives comprise District 9 within Basin's membership.

G&T

Class D Members

States served by Basin Electric

Subsidiary companies

Board of directors

DistrictNamePositionCooperativeDirector since
9Wayne PeltierPresidentDirect purchasing cooperatives2008
1Kermit PearsonVice President East River Electric 1997
2Gary DrostSecretary/Treasury L & O Power 1999
6Roberta RohrerAssistant Secretary Central Montana Electric 2004
3Troy PresserDirector Central Power Electric Cooperative 2015
4Don ApplegateDirector Northwest Iowa Power Cooperative 1997
5Leo BrekelDirector Tri-State G&T 2014
7Mike McQuistonDirector Rushmore Electric 2008
8Allen ThiessenDirector Upper Missouri G&T 2012
10Paul BakerDirector Powder River Energy Corporation 2013
11Charlie GilbertDirector Corn Belt Power 2009

Source: [4]

References

  1. "Basin Electric Generation Portfolio". Basin Electric Power Cooperative. Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
  2. Nation’s largest cooperative-owned wind project fully operational near Minot, ND. Archived January 31, 2013, at archive.today Prairie Business. 31 Dec. 2009.
  3. 1 2 "Wind". Basin Electric Power Cooperative. Archived from the original on 2014-08-14. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
  4. "Director Elections and Resolutions". Basin Electric Power Cooperative. Retrieved 2015-12-18.