Culbertson co-op operated power plant first in Montana
Gov. Brian Schweitzer said the station is an important investment for Basin Electric and the state of Montana as the cooperative has demonstrated that "they are leaders in the technology."
Basin Electric Power Cooperative
- August 14, 2010
Originally published in The Sydney Herald
Reported by Louisa Barber
Before a crowd of roughly 200 in attendance, the first and only cooperative-owned power plant in Montana by Basin Electric Cooperative was dedicated.
Ron Harper, CEO and general manager of Basin Electric, said he was pleased with the newest addition of the power plants, a natural gas-fired generating facility. "It is additive to the existing resources that we have to serve all of our existing members," he said. "So it's extremely important that this generating facility continues going forward."
Located roughly eight miles north of Culbertson, the unit sits near a compressor station on the Northern Border Pipeline to use natural gas from Basin Electric's subsidiary, Dakota Gasification Company, via the pipeline, to spin its turbine. The station uses a General Electric's LMS 100 simple-cycle gas turbine to provide about 95 megawatts of power to the region. Fuel oil is not planned as a "back-up" fuel at this time, but if required, the turbine is capable of being modified to use fuel oil at a later date.
On hand during the dedication ceremony, Gov. Brian Schweitzer said the station is an important investment for Basin Electric and the state of Montana as the cooperative has demonstrated that "they are leaders in the technology." "This is Montana electricity produced in Montana," he said. "It's good for Montana, it's good for the region, and it's certainly good for Basin Electric."
After little more than a year under construction, the $100 million state-of-the-art facility achieved its first fire June 16. A 48-hour continuous run at full load was achieved in July.
In statements prepared by Montana's congressional delegation, U.S. Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester and U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg echoed the governor's sentiments. Baucus thanked everyone involved in getting the station up and running, giving Montanans "home-grown energy access." Tester praised Basin for making clean energy while creating jobs. Rehberg expressed his support for the facility and all energy projects in the state.
Also on hand for the ceremony was Roosevelt County Commissioner Jim Shanks who admitted the commissioners were skeptical of the project at first, but "I'm glad that we got this project done."
Dean McCabe, director of Basin Electric Power Cooperative, said that since 1961 it has been building facilities to serve its members. "This is just a start. This is good," he said.
Expressing appreciation to be under Basin, Upper Missouri G&T Electric Cooperative manager Tom Barnett said Basin has been behind Upper Missouri "all the way" and hopes to add another cooperative-built generation facility in Montana.
Basin Electric is a consumer-owned, regional cooperative headquartered in Bismarck, N.D. It generates and transmits electricity to 135 member rural electric systems in nine states: Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. These member systems distribute electricity to about 2.8 million consumers.
Headquarters
1717 East Interstate Avenue
Bismarck, ND 58503-0564 USA
Phone: 701.223.0441
Basin Electric Power Cooperative will provide cost-effective wholesale energy along with products and services that support and unite rural America.
