Lignite Energy Council donates $20,000 to flood relief efforts
Basin Electric receives a Lignite Energy Council 2011 Community Service Award for its financial contributions to help North Dakota communities repair and rebuild after major flooding this year.
Lignite Energy Council
- October 21, 2011
Steve Van Dyke
The board of directors of the Lignite Energy Council (LEC) has approved a donation of $20,000 to help North Dakotans affected by the 2011 floods. The donation was split between the North Dakota Community Fund for Flood Relief and the Minot Community Fund for Flood Relief.
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| Four major members of the Lignite Energy Council – Basin Electric, Great River Energy, MDU Resources Group, Inc., and North American Coal – received awards for their financial contributions of $50,000 or more to help North Dakota communities repair and rebuild after major flooding this year. Pictured: John Dwyer, Lignite Energy Council; Lyndon Anderson, Great River Energy; Andrea Stomberg, MDU Resources Group Inc.; Bob Benson, North American Coal Corporation; and Ron Harper, Basin Electric. |
The donation from LEC is on top of what other companies in the lignite industry have already done to help prepare for flooding before it occurred this summer and the donations that have been made to repair and rebuild homes and businesses following the flood.
At the council’s annual meeting Oct. 5, four companies who are major members of LEC received Community Service plaques for their donations of $50,000 or more each for flood relief efforts. The four companies are: Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Great River Energy, MDU Resources Group, Inc., and North American Coal Corporation.
A survey of the LEC’s 367 members showed LEC member companies have conservatively contributed a total $370,000 in cash contributions plus another $108,000 in in-kind contributions and more than 1,800 hours in employee time-off for helping fill, move and install sandbags or remove furniture, etc. from homes in the flood zone.
“Companies involved in the lignite industry have been extremely generous and stepped forward to help families in several communities in North Dakota that were impacted by 2011 floods,” said John Dwyer, president and CEO of LEC. “The donations made by the Lignite Energy Council are on behalf of all our members to express their support of the state’s citizens in rebuilding and repairing after the major flooding that has occurred this year.”
LEC is a trade association representing the state’s four lignite mines, which produce about 30 million tons of lignite annually, along with the lignite-based power plants, the Dakota Gasification Company and 350 companies that supply goods and services to the lignite industry.
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.
