Dedication ceremonies set for Crow Lake Wind Project
The $363-million project owned by PrairieWinds SD 1, Inc., was operational in February 2011.
Basin Electric Power Cooperative
- June 16, 2011
Bismarck, ND – Dedication ceremonies will be held at 10:30 a.m., June 23, 2011, for the Crow Lake Wind Project in South Dakota. The ceremony takes place at the project’s operations and maintenance building, 14 miles north of White Lake. (The building is at the intersection of 239th St. and 373rd Ave.)
South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard will be the featured speaker for the event. Other speakers include Ron Harper, CEO and general manager, Basin Electric; Kermit Pearson, Basin Electric director; Jeffery Nelson, general manager, East River Electric Power Cooperative, Inc., Madison, SD, and president of the South Dakota Wind Energy Association; Jim Burg, president of the South Dakota Wind Partners, LLC; and Greg Von Wald, president of the Mitchell Technical Institute. Letters from South Dakota’s U.S. Congressional delegation will also be read.
The $363-millIion Crow Lake Wind Project was built and is owned by PrairieWinds SD 1, Inc., a subsidiary of Basin Electric. It was placed into full operation in February of this year.
Tours of the Mitchell Technical Institute wind tower will be available until 4 p.m. The tower is located across the road from the operations and maintenance building. Following the ceremony, lunch will be served.
The Crow Lake Project is an industry trifecta: it’s the largest wind project in the United States owned solely by a cooperative, it has a first-of-its-kind community wind investment partnership, and it’s being used to educate future wind technicians.
Construction on the Crow Lake project began Oct. 5, 2010.
The entire project consists of 108 GE 1.5-megawatt turbines – 100 will be owned and operated by PrairieWinds SD 1, one turbine has been sold to the Mitchell Technical Institute (MTI), Mitchell, SD, and the remaining seven are owned by a group of local community investors called the South Dakota Wind Partners. PrairieWinds SD 1 constructed the turbines for the Wind Partners and MTI, and will operate and maintain them. Basin Electric will purchase the electricity generated by the eight turbines.
The Wind Partners investment is a first-of-its-kind partnership for wind development. The opportunity became viable following passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February 2009. The act created a new tax grant option allowing small investors to access government incentives and tax benefits making public wind ownership possible.
Basin Electric Class A member East River Electric Power Cooperative, the South Dakota Farm Bureau Federation, South Dakota Farmers Union and the South Dakota Corn Utilization Council created the Wind Partners for that purpose.
The turbine sold to MTI will be used as part of the school's Wind Turbine Technology program, which launched in 2009. Through a grant, stimulus bonds, GE support and the South Dakota Governor's Office of Economic Development, MTI purchased the turbine. The revenue collected from electricity sold will help cover maintenance costs and loan payments.
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.