Beyond the job: TSM equipment given a new purpose

We are stronger together. This deep-rooted belief is the cornerstone of the cooperative model and one of Basin Electric’s biggest strengths. Together with the guiding principle that serving our neighbors is what matters most, this philosophy provides the foundation for Basin Electric’s Charitable Giving Program.

In appreciation for support from the communities where our employees and members work and live, the cooperative donates time and funds to educational, charitable, fine arts, and medical organizations.

Serving those who serve others

Many of the employees across Basin Electric’s facilities volunteer in their local communities—some as civic leaders, others as coaches and mentors, and many as emergency responders.

In his dual roles as volunteer firefighter and substation electrician/journeyman in Huron, South Dakota, Logan Rietveld realized his local community had a need the cooperative could fill. Rietveld is highly familiar with the service trucks and utility task vehicles (UTVs) used by Basin Electric’s Transmission System Maintenance (TSM) crews. He’s also acutely aware that resources are often hard to come by or stretched well beyond their useful years for volunteer fire departments in rural areas.

With this knowledge in hand and an urge to make a purposeful impact, Rietveld and other members of the cooperative’s Huron TMS team—Tyler Horn, substation electrician/journeyman, Adam Malsom, lead substation electrician, and Derrick Freese, lead communications technician—devised a request for Basin Electric to donate its retiring TSM trucks and UTVs that still have a lot of life left in them to rural fire departments in its service territory.

After significant coordination between Huron TSM, charitable giving, and asset recovery personnel, the first used vehicle donation Basin Electric made to a rural fire department took place in 2023 followed by another donation in 2025.

“Basin Electric is using an asset and then donating it rather than selling it. These assets will be used for several years to come by these departments. It’s a win-win for the cooperative and our rural communities,” Rietveld said.

This year, the cooperative donated a Dodge Ram 5500 pickup to the Wolsey (South Dakota) Fire Department that has since been outfitted by the department with the necessary equipment to serve as a Type-6 Wildland Brush Truck—a vehicle used to fight brush and field fires.

A growing impact

Just as the founding group had initially hoped, implementation of this effort is growing throughout the cooperative’s service territory. Retiring vehicle donations to the volunteer fire departments in Roscoe and Gettysburg, South Dakota, as well as those in Ashby and Oshkosh, Nebraska, are currently in the works. Additionally, the Gettysburg Fire Department will receive a used UTV and trailer. The hope is to also donate a retiring TSM truck to the Huron Fire Department in the future when it’s time for another vehicle from Basin Electric’s fleet to be replaced.

Charley Chadwick, assistant fire chief and board chair for Garden County Rural Fire Protection, District #2 in Oshkosh, and Chancy Groves, fire chief for the Rackett 4 Volunteer Fire Department in Ashby, are grateful for the impact the cooperative’s donation will have on their local communities. “Thanks again for everything,” said Chadwick. “Chancy Groves stopped by our station recently for a visit. Between the two fire departments, you've made a lot of volunteers excited about receiving the two excess trucks. Lots of ideas coming in about how we're going to accessorize them.”

For several years, Basin Electric has made financial donations to help offset operating expenses for more than 40 fire departments throughout its service territory, including those in Huron and Wolsey. In 2026, both departments applied for and were awarded larger donations to replace outdated equipment. For Huron Rural Fire and Rescue, this meant new attack and supply hoses for their structure fire engines. For the Wolsey Fire Department, new turnout gear designed to shield them from extreme heat, flames, and hazardous materials encountered during emergency response.

A donation that hits close to home

On February 27, Rietveld, Horn, and several other Basin Electric staff who volunteer as firefighters in their local communities were called out to a blaze south of Huron that threatened buildings and livestock. The grass fire consumed roughly 200 acres, coming dangerously close to many homes, including that of Freese.

Freese is grateful for the servant hearts of those he works alongside every day and thankful that Basin Electric supports these local volunteers. “Contributions of this nature significantly strengthen our local emergency response capabilities and are deeply appreciated,” he said. “It is evident that Basin Electric’s support played an instrumental role in enabling these departments to respond swiftly and effectively.”

Fortunately, thanks to the quick actions and coordination of many, no structural damage or loss of livestock occurred.

Sadly, this was not the case during an outbreak of Nebraska wildfires less than two weeks later. Red flag conditions on March 12 resulted in four fires around the Sandhills region with a devastating aftermath, consuming hundreds of thousands of acres.

“The wind was blowing so hard during the fire that much of the area isn’t even black—it’s just sand. It looks like the Sahara. It will be years before some of this recovers. Our neighbors lost 2,000 head of cattle,” said a Nebraska TSM employee. “My family self-evacuated during the height of the fire. It didn’t get seriously close to our property, but it was moving so fast that reports couldn’t keep up with the location and the smoke was incredible. Many locals who have been volunteer firefighters for 30-40 years say they have never seen anything like it for speed, heat, and devastation.”

Incidents like these underscore the vital role local fire services play in protecting rural areas across Basin Electric’s service territory and the need for continued charitable giving in support of their efforts.

“I am proud to be working for a company that can fill a need with generous donations, both financial and vehicular, which will support rural fire service efforts for many years,” said the Nebraska TSM employee.