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In the Spotlight

Rural electric co-ops are investing in renewable energy: wind, biofuels, solar, and hydro projects.

Scholarships awarded

Basin Electric awarded student scholarships for the 2010-2011 school year to children of member cooperative consumers, member cooperative employees, and Basin Electric and subsidiary employees. More than 160 $1,000-scholarships have been awarded.

2010 member co-op consumer dependents (PDF)
2010 employee dependents (PDF)

Now in its 20th year, the scholarship program recognizes and encourages academic and community achievements of students in the region. It is also considered an investment in the economic future of rural areas.

Energy innovation is possible when people willingly learn new ways of producing, delivering, and consuming energy. That means companies assume significant financial and technological risk when exploring the use of non-traditional fuels to produce power.

Today, America's rural electric cooperatives are taking great strides to change the way they provide power for their member-consumers. Because innovation is often expensive, there are benefits in partnering with others to get the job done. Recently, Basin Electric joined with other G&Ts and distribution cooperatives to form the National Renewables Cooperative Organization (NRCO).

Every day Innovative ideas for using Mother Nature to produce more clean power are born - biofuels, solar energy and harnessing more hydro power are just a few evolving trends in America's energy industries. People have become more energy conscious and they are supporting efficiency goals and energy conservation.

Some Basin Electric members have boldly taken the initiative to look for new ways to capture and use energy.

Wright-Hennepin recognizes OSI for its conservation efforts

Rockford, Minn. (August 18, 2011) — Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association (WH) recently presented Open Systems International, Inc. (OSI) – a new WH commercial customer – with a $40,000 energy efficiency grant for the company’s use of energy-efficient innovations in its new corporate headquarters in Medina, Minn. WH is a District 9 member cooperative of Basin Electric Power Cooperative.


WH presents OSI with an energy efficiency grant at OSI’s headquarters. Pictured left to right are WH President and CEO Mark Vogt, WH Board Chair Chris Lantto, WH Key Account Executive Lane Wilson, OSI Vice President Ron Ingram, OSI Director of Finance and Accounting Liz Geris and OSI Senior Consultant, Business Operations Ed Fitzpatrick.

The efficiency grant program is part of WH’s Conservation Improvement Program (CIP). Grants are awarded to businesses that install energy efficient equipment which reduce electricity consumption.

OSI’s new corporate headquarters utilizes energy-efficient lighting as well as a ground-source heat pump (a heating system that uses the earth’s temperature to heat, cool and provide hot water for homes and commercial buildings), which is what qualified the company for the grant.

“It’s been great working with Wright-Hennepin,” said OSI Vice President Ron Ingram. “We look forward to working with them in the future to further enhance our energy-efficient practices.”

The company is also pursuing LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification for its building. This certification was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council to recognize sustainable structures throughout the country.
“OSI made smart decisions at every turn to optimize their energy efficiency,” said WH Key Account Executive Lane Wilson. “We look forward to working with them as a new member of WH.”

Each year, WH spends more than $500,000 on residential and commercial conservation programs per Minnesota Dept. of Commerce guidelines, including about $100,000 in energy efficient grants to commercial customers.

OSI (www.osii.com) provides open, state-of-the-art and high-performance automation solutions to utilities worldwide. These solutions include Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, Network Management Systems (NMS), Energy Management Systems (EMS), Distribution Management Systems (DMS) and Generation Management Systems (GMS); as well as individual software and hardware products and Smart Grid Solutions for utility operations worldwide.

WH is a member-owned non-profit electric utility that provides electric power to Wright County and the western part of Hennepin County. The cooperative has been a corporate citizen in this area since 1937 and currently serves more than 46,000 electric accounts. The utility started its security division in 1989 that provides local home security solutions as well as monitors alarm systems for more than 50,000 customers in 32 states and three Canadian provinces.

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