Finance & Commerce has published another great article about our smart grid project:
http://finance-commerce.com/2012/05/great-river-energy-two-co-ops-to-test-smart-grid-technologies/

Great River Energy, Lake Region Electric Cooperative and Minnesota Valley Electric Cooperative have launched a $5 million smart grid demonstration project with help from a grant  from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

Lake Country Power’s Board of Directors has named Greg Randa general manager of the 43,000 member rural electric cooperative. The veteran cooperative manager will be charged with the responsibility to lead the non-profit utility on its course to improve service and reliability for members in northern Minnesota.

Greg Randa, general manager, Lake Country Power

“Greg is an experienced general manager and he has been a valuable contributor to the electric cooperative through the years,” said Lake Country Power Board President Jack Huhta. “I have full confidence that he will provide the all-important continuity and leadership needed to sustain our progress while leading the cooperative to achieve its primary mission to serve members with rates that balance safety, reliability, service quality and the financial strength of the cooperative.”

A 32-year cooperative employee, Randa has held a variety of leadership and managerial positions within the company and was named interim general manager of Lake Country Power March 1. He also has previous experience leading an electric cooperative, having served as the general manager of the former Carlton County Cooperative Power Association when it merged with two other electric co-ops to form Lake Country Power in 1997.

Mr. Randa has worked in several co-op posts over the years, most recently as staff assistant. Prior to that, he served as manager of marketing and economic development and manager of member services for Lake Country Power. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Minnesota Duluth and began his career with the cooperative as a warehouseman in 1979.

Randa will report directly to the Lake Country Power Board of Directors. He will continue to maintain his office in Lake Country Power’s Kettle River Service Center. 

Lake Country Power is a Touchstone Energy® cooperative serving parts of eight counties in northeastern Minnesota. Visit their website: www.lakecountrypower.coop,

Great River Energy held a roundtable discussion led by Patricia Hoffman, U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability at our headquarters in Maple Grove, Minn. on Tuesday. Hoffman led a discussion of smart grid technology development, the benefits the technology can provide and factors to be weighed and evaluated.

Gary Connett, Great River Energy, Director, Member Services & Demand Side Mangement (left) and Assist. Sec. Patricia Hoffman, U.S. Dept. of Energy (right)

Participants included:

• Assist. Sec. Patricia Hoffman, U.S. Dept. of Energy
• John Hewa, Cooperative Research Network
• Steve Palmquist, Co-op consumer-member
• Ryan Hentges, Minnesota Valley Electric Cooperative
• Prof. Georgios Giannakis, University of Minnesota
• Prof. Massoud Amin, University of Minnesota
• Commissioner David Boyd, Minn. Public Utilities Commission
• Rolf Nordstrom, Great Plains Institute
• Deputy Commissioner Bill Grant, Minn. Dept. Of Commerce
• Al Juhnke, Sen. Franken’s office
• Jaco Botha, Co-op consumer-member
• Ed Jenson, Lake Region Electric Cooperative
• Jay Morrison, National Rural Electric Cooperative Assoc.
• Gary Connett, Great River Energy

We shared the live discussion on Twitter. Search Twitter for #smartgridcoop to read the conversation.

The Star Tribune ran a story today about our smart grid announcement. Read it here: Power co-ops launch $5 million ’smart grid’ project

Electric cooperatives in Minnesota kicked off a $5 million demonstration project today with the execution of contracts for hardware and software that will help modernize Minnesota’s electric grid.

As part of the National Rural Electric Association (NRECA’s) $34 million grant program, Minnesota cooperatives Great River Energy, Lake Region Electric Cooperative and Minnesota Valley Electric Cooperative will implement software systems to manage the large amounts of data collected from smart meters. Other components of the demonstration project include the installation of in-home displays to signal homeowners when electricity prices spike; ability for customers to access their electricity usage data via the web; enhanced demand response management tools; and demonstration of energy storage devices, including residential battery storage systems and grid-interactive electric thermal storage water heaters.

“This demonstration project will enable our cooperatives and member-consumers to have a better understanding of the data available through smart grid systems, while also providing for more strategic demand response and load control programs,” said Gary Connett, director of demand side management and member services, Great River Energy. “The software tools, combined with demonstrations of pricing and energy storage solutions, will help modernize the electric grid in Minnesota, and provide valuable information for future smart grid solutions.”

“Nationwide, cooperatives are leading in the deployment of smart meter infrastructure, the development of interoperability and cyber security,” said John Hewa, NRECA’s Vice President of Research, Engineering and Technical Services. “With challenging service territories that cover more than 70 percent of the country’s landmass, cooperatives are researching and developing new technologies that can drive down costs and improve service for their members.  Consumer trust in their co-op has allowed cooperatives to make these investments in leading-edge technologies.”

NRECA’s research arm, the Cooperative Research Network (CRN), is managing procurement of the software and equipment for the demonstration project, including contracts with the following companies:

Supported by a matching grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, a total of 23 cooperatives nationwide are participating in smart grid demonstration projects, deploying more than 75 technologies and equipment in 12 states.

Connexus Energy scored the highest reliability rating by its members compared to other electric utilities and cooperatives in the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). The survey is produced under license with the University of Michigan.

Connexus scored a reliability rating of 90, compared to the ACSI national electric industry’s average of 86 in the third quarter of 2011. “Our members took part in the survey and gave us the high ranking. I am very proud of the fact no other cooperative or utility in the country ranked higher,” said Connexus CEO Mike Rajala.

By definition electric reliability measures the consistency of electric service on demand as provided by utility companies to their customers. But according to Rajala, it means much more. “It means when you’re a Connexus member, and you flip a switch or push a button, your electric appliance or gadget will work, because electricity is there. Electricity is a crucial product that we scarcely think about, unless we don’t have it. Judging by the high ACSI rating of Connexus reliability, our members don’t think of us often and, that’s a darn good thing. I hope our members see value in getting electricity from a company that is reliable.”

Connexus Energy is the largest customer-owned utility in Minnesota providing electricity and related products and services to over 126,000 homes and businesses in portions of Anoka, Chisago, Hennepin, Isanti, Ramsey, Sherburne, and Washington counties.  Additional information about Connexus Energy is available online at connexusenergy.com.

The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) in Minnesota recognized Dakota Electric Association’s community involvement efforts by naming it the Outstanding Philanthropic Organization for 2011.

(L-R): Mike Ferber, president, Fundraising Solutions; Dakota Electric board member Janet Lekson; Dakota Electric president & CEO Greg Miller; AFP president Heidi Droegemueller; Dakota Electric board chair Jim Sheldon.

Professionals in the community who recognized the cooperative’s generosity over the years nominated Dakota Electric for this award. While the cooperative doesn’t have a large budget for donations, it stretches donations around its service territory, providing support for youth clubs, sporting activities, school districts, nonprofit organizations, health and human services, emergency responders, special fundraising activities and more.

Employees and board members spend time serving chambers of commerce, rotary clubs and various nonprofits and community organizations.

Each year, through the company’s internal “Dakota Cares” campaign, employees donate approximately $20,000 to local charities through the United Way, Community Health Charities and a local food shelf.

Dakota Electric’s community outreach touches individuals and groups throughout its service area.

“We do what we can to be involved in the community,” Dakota Electric President and CEO Greg Miller said. “While we are not a large company that donates a lot of money, we are happy to be recognized for our faithful support to local organizations.”

AFP gives this annual award to organizations that have demonstrated outstanding commitment through financial support and community involvement.

Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative (MLEC) spread the word about electrical safety by offering safety truck demonstrations for students at Aitkin and McGregor schools.

The demo taught a variety of electrical safety habits and demonstrated the power of electricity. It showed the potential hazards associated with unsafe actions around power lines and household circuitry. The presentation vividly showed the effects of contacting 7,200 volts of electricity.

This creative program was designed by Connexus Energy personnel to teach the potential dangers of contacting a power line.

Great River Energy and its 28 member cooperatives have promoted the use of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) for several years – it is one of the simplest energy saving measures homeowners can make. A single bulb amounts to relatively small energy savings, but if thousands of homeowners swap CFLs for standard incandescent light bulbs significant energy savings are achieved.

The success of a recent CFL promotion offered by Great River Energy and its member cooperatives will save 7,359,885 kilowatt-hours (kWh). One kilowatt-hour is the amount of electric energy required to operate a 100-watt bulb for ten hours. 

The 2011 CFL promotion offered member consumers discounts on specific Energy Star rated CFLs through dollars-off coupons and instant in-store markdowns at participating Minnesota WalMart locations. More than 188,000 blubs were sold during the three month promotion which ran Mar 1. – July 31. The most successful component of the promotion was the in-store markdowns which produced 88 percent of the kWh saved.

The realized savings in kWh will go toward meeting the state of Minnesota’s Conservation Improvement Program (CIP) goal. The CIP originated in the 2007 Next Generation Energy Act and requires every electric and gas utility in the state prove energy savings equivalent to 1.5 percent of their annual retail energy sales.

Lake Country Power members will see a rebate on their electric bills this month, just in time for Christmas. Lake Country Power’s board of directors authorized a retirement of $1.5 Million in capital credits. Capital credits are a benefit and the cornerstone of co-op membership.

More than $1 million in capital credits will be retired to members who used electricity in 2010. Another $375,000 will be distributed to members from unretired capital credit allocations in 1983.

The refund for most members this month represents a 1.5 percent rebate, or an average of $25 per member, on the amount of electricity used last year. Active members will receive a credit on their December bill, and inactive members will receive a check after December 15. The individual member’s share of the refund is based on the volume and value of energy purchased during the years being retired.

“Allocating and retiring patronage to members helps distinguish cooperatives and makes our business model unique,” said General Manager Rick Lemonds. “The board recently took a major shift in how it retires capital credits, and we are retiring patronage from 2010. It’s been the board’s goal to reach a hybrid process which allows capital credit retirements to be paid to both current and former members.”

Member equity, or capital credits, is created when any earnings (revenues minus expenses) are left over at the end of each year. This creates a margin. At the end of each year, the co-op assigns each member’s account a share of the margin, known as an allocation. Capital credits are distributed when the board authorizes a retirement.

“Margins earned from electric revenues are a key source of equity for not-for-profit electric cooperatives,” said Lemonds. “Anytime we need to borrow money for capital improvements, lenders look to the underlying financial strength of the electric co-op. Strong and consistent equity levels are one key aspect of financial strength. It’s essential for a co-op to maintain the right balance between retiring capital credits to members and retaining sufficient equity on its balance sheet.”

Before returning these margins back to members, Lake Country Power uses this capital to help offset the cost of debt for equipment and materials used for the construction and maintenance of the electric distribution system. This helps lower financing needs.

More than $26 million in capital credits has been returned to cooperative members through the years. For more information about capital credits, visit Lake Country Power’s Web site at www.lakecountrypower.coop.

Lake Country Power is a Touchstone Energy® cooperative serving parts of eight counties in northeastern Minnesota. The rural electric cooperative provides services to nearly 43,000 members and has offices located in Grand Rapids, Kettle River and Mountain Iron.

An electric cooperative sitting on a store of valuable metal is one step closer to mining. Cooperative Mineral Resources (CMR), a subsidiary of Crow Wing Power, recently completed the extraction phase of a manganese demonstration project in Emily, Minn.

The project is testing a mining method that uses groundwater to retrieve manganese ore from 200 to 400 feet underground.

Project planners will next determine whether that mining method will retrieve enough manganese ore to support commercial operation without harming the environment.

In 2008, CMR purchased the land and mineral rights to a 12-acre site that contains approximately 1 billion pounds of the richest manganese ore known in North America. Manganese is used in the steelmaking industry and is being considered for new environmentally friendly technologies, including power plant emissions reduction, air and water pollution abatement, water purification and rechargeable car batteries.

Read a recent Brainerd Dispatch story on the project here: http://brainerddispatch.com/news/2011-11-01/senators-tour-manganese-mine-site-emily#.TsPqVj1Cq0s