Much has been made about Great River Energy’s LEED-platinum certified headquarters building, as it was the first building in Minnesota to receive the USGBC’s highest designation.

But data centers can be an incredibly large energy user. The Great River Energy IT department helped ensure that the data center in the headquarters building would be just as efficient as the other high-profile building features. It may not be as noticeable as a 200-kW wind turbine, but it’s definitely just as important. The team recently completed a white paper that discusses how to evaluate and develop a green IT center.

Some key topics discussed in the paper include:
-Goals to avoid hardware purchases and maintenance costs; improve infrastructure manageability; increase application availability
-Incorporate efficient planning; the Great River Energy data center used a hot-aisle, cold-aisle layout with optimally placed HVAC equipment, 24-inch raised floors and EnergyStar-rated equipment, all of which serves to minimize energy usage.
-Working more efficiently across the company, including using teleconferencing and video conferencing services, all supported by the IT department; the data center helps enable that efficiency.

The air is starting to feel a little bit more like fall…which means holidays are on the way!
Does your tree need some more ornaments this year? Check out the Willie Wirehand ornament from NRECA. You can also be a fan of NRECA’s past ornaments on Facebook.

Back to school shopping is a great time to practice energy efficiency, whether it’s purchasing an energy efficient mini-fridge or compact fluorescent light bulbs, being an EnergyStar can be simple. Here’s some information from the EnergyStar program on making sure dorm rooms are energy efficient.

Many national and Minnesota cooperatives help promote Rachel’s Challenge, a program designed to honor the memory of Rachel Scott, a young woman killed in the tragic Columbine High School shootings in Colorado.

From the Rachel’s Challenge website:

“Rachel Scott was the first person killed at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. Her acts of kindness and compassion coupled with the contents of her six diaries have become the foundation for one of the most life-changing school programs in America.

Powerful video/audio footage of Rachel’s life and the Columbine tragedy holds students spell-bound during a one hour school presentation that motivates them to positive change in the way they treat others.”

Connexus Energy will sponsor several Rachel’s Challenge events in September, and Dakota Electric has also sponsored several programs in its service territory.

ORMAT’s OREG3 pipeline compressor station heat recovery generator is located near Trimont, Minnesota on the Northern Border pipeline. Great River Energy has a power purchase agreement with ORMAT for the output (up to 5.5 MW) of the generator. There are several other similar projects “upstream” from this one on the Northern Border Pipeline. ORMAT is interested in developing project at other locations on other pipelines as well.

The project recovers energy from the exhaust of the natural gas fired combustion turbine which mechanically drives the natural gas compressor in the compressor station. Since no additional fuel is consumed in producing electricity from the project, there are no additional emissions. Great River Energy believes the energy the project produces will “count” towards meeting a portion of the Minnesota energy conservation goal.

The generator can only run when the compressor is operating. Similar to a “run of river” hydro facility which runs in proportion to the water flow in the river, this could be called a “run of pipeline” facility. We entered into the PPA with the expectation of a fairly high capacity factor for energy production from the facility. We also expect the output will tend to be fairly well correlated to our load and energy market prices.

The PPA term is nominally 20 years; it will terminate on December 31, 2030.

Many Minnesota electric cooperatives are issuing conservation appeals today. If you plan to use appliances like dishwashers and clothes washing machines, try to wait until later after electric use has peaked and wholesale electric prices go down.

From the Arrowhead Electric blog:

Arrowhead Electric Cooperative and its cooperative partners are appealing to our member-owners to reduce energy consumption on Tuesday, August 3rd between the hours of 1:00pm and 8:00pm.

Forecasted high temperatures in the upper mid-west is causing regional utilities including Great River Energy to anticipate higher than average summer energy prices due to increased demand for electricity.

Arrowhead Electric Cooperative expects to pay nearly 45% more for all the electricity we purchase during this time compared to electricity purchased on other days of the year. You can lower your cooperatives wholesale power costs and lessen the impact on your electric bill by reducing your electricity consumption on Tuesday, August 3rd from 1:00pm to 8:00pm. Waiting till after 8pm to run appliances such as the dishwasher and washing machine go along ways to helping reduce the impact of higher than normal electricity costs.

For more information on how to conserve energy or to learn about Arrowhead Electric Conservation appeals please contact Arrowhead Electric Cooperative at 1-800-864-3744 or 663-7239.

The Crow Wing Power Community Trust Board donated $47,700 to local community programs during their third quarter meeting held in July. Operation Round Up is funded by participating members of Crow Wing Power who allow the cooperative to round up their electric bills to the nearest whole dollar. The additional change is pooled and distributed quarterly. Since the program’s inception in late 1996, Round Up has donated more than $1,865,000 to community projects and programs in Cass, Crow Wing and Morrison counties.

News from the Minnesota Rural Electric Association:

Win a Polaris Sportsman 500 All Terrain Vehicle

MREA Raffle to benefit NRECA International Program

Tickets $10 each

Drawing to be held Thursday, Sept. 16, 2010 11:30 a.m. at the Minneapolis Hilton Hotel. Need not be present to win.  Your donation will help electrify developing countries

Led by the Minnesota Rural Electric Association, Minnesotas electric cooperatives are organizing a charity raffle with the objective of raising $50,000 to help expand the electrification of developing countries.
Grand prize is a Polaris Sportsman 500. All proceeds will be donated to the NRECA International Foundation.

Winner is responsible for all taxes, registration fees and delivery.

Minnesota’s role in the International Program
Volunteers from electric cooperatives across the nation have assisted in bringing reliable electrical power to developing countries around the world. During the past year, 34 of Minnesotas 44 electric cooperatives have donated money or equipment to the International Program. In the past 10 years, 68 Minnesota volunteers have traveled to Haiti, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Philippines and Sudan.

• Since 2005, Kandiyohi Cooperative in Minnesota has been sharing knowledge and sending much needed equipment to various electric utility partners in Guatemala so they can succeed in providing safe and reliable electricity.

• For the last five years, Minnesota volunteer line workers have traveled to Pignon, Haiti, a small town of 36,000 people, where they made it possible for 600 more families to be connected. Now 100 percent of the village has access to electricity. Minnesota Valley Electric Cooperative employees have
hosted annual fundraising dinners to help support this project.

How to purchase tickets
MREA members and friends are encouraged to sell tickets to their coworkers, family and friends within Minnesota. Tickets may be purchased in Minnesota only. If you live in Minnesota, we will mail you the tickets at your request.

You may order as many tickets as you think you can sell. Tickets, money and unsold tickets must be received by MREA by Sept 9, 2010.

To purchase raffle tickets, please call Aleia Yue at 763.424.7242 or e-mail aleia@mrea.org.

* Tickets will also be sold at the NRECA Region 5 and 6 Meeting. If you live outside Minnesota, but plan to attend the NRECA Region 5 and 6 Meeting, you and your traveling companions may purchase tickets there.

This article from Stateline discusses that consumers (and utilities) in some states are wary of using smart meters, part of an overall ’smart grid’ for the nation’s electric system.

Great River Energy and its member co-ops can empathize with some of the points in the piece, particularly ensuring that members are protected against bill impacts from installing new technologies. There was one key point, though, that we wholeheartedly agree with: providing electric users with information about their energy use is great, but users must take action to reduce their energy use.

Electric cooperatives provide members with many tools, rebates and advice to reduce their energy use. And smart meters can tell a customer how much energy is being used at any one time, let them know when prices spike (usually in the early evening hours on days like today—hot and humid ones), electric users are the ones who can help themselves the most. By delaying that dishwasher or laundry load until after 9:00 pm (when prices usually come down), installing a programmable thermostat (that can help reduce bills by not cooling or heating a home when people are at work), installing insulation and, of course, simply turning things off when they aren’t being used (like the bedroom light when you’re in the living room).

Here’s some more information on energy efficiency programs from Great River Energy and Minnesota cooperatives.

For the second year, Great River Energy is offering $420 scholarships for K-12 teachers to attend Energy Education in the Classroom at our Maple Grove headquarters. We have a number of teachers already enrolled, but there is room for more and the registration deadline has been extended to July 26.

Energy Education in the Classroom is a teacher training course taught by the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Through hands-on activities, class discussions and peer teaching, teachers get the tools and information they need to easily integrate energy education into their curriculum. They get:
• 400-page activity guide full of course outlines and adaptations
• Other tools and materials, such as classroom handouts
• One graduate credit

To receive the $420 GRE scholarship, teachers must live OR teach in an area served by one of GRE’s members. NOTE: If the school includes students whose parents are served by one of GRE’s members, the teacher will receive the scholarship. There is a $75 teacher fee due the first day of class.

More information is here

You can also contact Lori Buffington at 763-445-5714 or lbuffington@grenergy.com