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Construction begins on Deer Creek Station

Construction on the Deer Creek Station, a 300-megawatt, natural gas-fired, combined cycle power plant near White, S.D., began today.

Basin Electric Power Cooperative - July 27, 2010

Bismarck, N.D. – Construction began today on the Deer Creek Station near White, S.D. The Deer Creek Station will be a 300-megawatt, natural gas-fired, combined cycle power plant located southeast of White, near Brookings.

Separate “Record of Decisions” for an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) were issued by the Western Area Power Administration and the Rural Utilities Service, June 30, 2010, and July 15, 2010, respectively. The Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision was published in the Federal Register today. Publishing

Gavin McCollam

the Notice of Availability was the last of several regulatory procedures needed before construction could begin. A Permit to Construct was issued by the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources June 29, 2010. Other requirements in the permitting process included two from the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission – an Energy Conversion Facility Siting Permit and another siting permit for the associated natural gas pipeline required to bring fuel to the plant (both were issued May 18, 2010).

Gavin McCollam, Basin Electric manager of performance and mechanical engineering and Deer Creek Station project coordinator, said construction of the $405-million power plant will take about two years. It’s scheduled to be operational in mid-2012. McCollam says at the peak of construction, anticipated to occur the summer of 2011, about 350 workers will be at the site.

The Deer Creek Station, under development since 2007, will be Basin Electric’s first combined cycle power plant. It will use two turbine-generator sets: one fired by natural gas, the other powered by steam created from the exhaust heat of the gas turbine. Natural gas for the power plant will come from the Northern Border Pipeline, located 14 miles to the north, via a 10-inch diameter pipeline to be constructed for the station. McCollam says the plant will have about 30 full-time employees.

The Deer Creek Station will be an integral part of a power supply network providing electricity to 135 rural electric systems in nine states. Two of the distribution cooperatives in eastern South Dakota include H-D Electric Cooperative, Clear Lake, S.D., and Sioux Valley Energy, Colman, S.D. The electricity produced by Basin Electric is provided to H-D Electric and Sioux Valley Energy through East River Electric Power Cooperative, Madison, S.D.

About Basin Electric Power Cooperative

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.

Basin Electric’s generating resources include: two coal-based power plants in North Dakota – the Antelope Valley Station, Beulah, and the Leland Olds Station, Stanton; a coal-based power plant in Wyoming – the Laramie River Station, Wheatland; three peaking stations – the Spirit Mound Station, Vermillion, S.D.; the Groton Generation Station Groton, S.D., and the Wisdom Unit 2 Station, Spencer, Iowa; nine combustion-turbine generators (natural gas) in the Gillette, Wyo., area; 82 wind turbines near Minot, N.D., and two near Chamberlain, S.D.

Basin Electric is also the sole purchaser of electricity from sources operated by others including: eight baseload waste-heat stations owned and operated by Ormat Technologies Inc. along the Northern Border Pipeline; the output of five wind farms owned and operated by NextEra Energy Resources, Juno Beach, Fla. (These wind farms are located near Wilton – two phases -- and Edgeley/Kulm, N.D; Highmore and Groton, S.D.)

Basin Electric has long-term, purchase power agreements of varying capacities from the George Neal Station Unit 4 (coal-based), Sioux City, Iowa, operated by MidAmerican Energy; the Walter Scott, Jr. Energy Center (coal-based) units 3 and 4, Council Bluffs, Iowa, operated by MidAmerican Energy; the Wisdom Station (coal based), Spencer, Iowa, operated by Corn Belt Power Cooperative; peaking stations located in Spencer, Estherville, Pocahontas, and Webster City, Iowa; the Duane Arnold Energy Center (nuclear), Cedar Rapids, Iowa, operated by NextEra Energy Resources; the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska; and three Iowa wind farms – near Superior/Lakota, operated by Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative; in Hancock County operated by NextEra Energy Resources and in Palo Alto County operated by Crosswind Energy, LLC. For more information, go to www.basinelectric.com.