South Dakota Wind Partners receive grant

The South Dakota Wind Partners have received the 1603 Treasury Grant, in the amount of $6.3 million.

Basin Electric Power Cooperative - September 2, 2011

South Dakota investors, who purchased stock in a first-of-its-kind, locally-owned wind project, received word on Aug. 26 that their application for the 1603 Treasury Grant, in the amount of $6.3 million, was approved.

The 1603 Treasury Grant program is part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act approved by Congress in 2008. It provides a cash grant for qualifying renewable energy projects.

“We are extremely excited to receive this grant award,” said Jim Burg, South Dakota Wind Partners (SDWP) board president. “We want to thank our four sponsoring organizations for their leadership, CoBank for their patience and our congressional representatives for helping to make the 1603 Grant program a reality.”

SDWP owns seven turbines adjacent to the Crow Lake Wind Project, a 150-megawatt, 100-turbine project owned and operated by PrairieWinds SD 1, Inc., in South Dakota. SDWP owns 10.5 megawatts of energy to power South Dakota homes, farms and businesses. PrairieWinds SD 1, a subsidiary of Basin Electric, operates the SDWP wind project and purchases the electricity it produces. One additional turbine is owned by Mitchell Technical Institute of Mitchell, SD.

East River Electric Power Cooperative, the South Dakota Farm Bureau Federation, South Dakota Farmers Union and the South Dakota Corn Utilization Council joined together to provide seed money to organize SDWP as a way to create a local wind ownership initiative.