Four Generations. One Cooperative.

To most, Jordan Dyke and Kade Goebel are simply two employees at Basin Electric, but their connection to the cooperative runs deep. They are the latest chapter in a family legacy that spans four generations.

Basin Electric has long been a place where families build careers together. While it’s not unusual to find relatives working side by side, four generations carrying on the same legacy is truly exceptional. The cooperative’s story is written through families like this one, and it all began with Kenny Winn.

Winn was the first generation to begin his family’s legacy of hard work, pride, and dedication. He was the millwright foreman during the construction of Dakota Gasification Company’s (Dakota Gas) Great Plains Synfuels Plant near Beulah, North Dakota, and was hired as a mechanic shortly after the plant came online, retiring in 1993. His son-in-law, Milo Dyke, was also a millwright during the construction phase and one of the first mechanics hired at Dakota Gas when the plant came online, retiring in 2018.

For Jordan Dyke, who works as a lab technician at Antelope Valley Station near Beulah, North Dakota, becoming the third generation working for the cooperative came as a bit of a surprise. Through high school and early college, he didn’t picture himself working at the plants.

“Sometimes when you're younger, you do not see yourself being back near your hometown, but once you realize how good the jobs are and the benefits they provide, quite a few seem to come back, if they can. And I was lucky to be one of them,” he says. “Once my wife and I started talking about having a family, we knew this was where we wanted to be.”

Dyke has now worked for Basin Electric for nine years and says seeing the stability his parents and grandparents found at the cooperative made it an appealing place to build a career.

“Growing up, I never went without. My grandparents and parents were all able to retire very comfortably. It was the same with my in-laws who worked their careers in the coal industry,” he shares. “Now my wife works nearby at the Freedom Mine (operated by The Coteau Properties Company), so we’re very invested in the coal business of Mercer County knowing the valuable life it can provide.”

One of the reasons Dyke enjoys working for Basin Electric is the team he works with at Antelope Valley Station.

“I work with three fantastic lab technicians, which makes it fun to come to work,” he says. “I’m also fortunate to have the best supervisor in the entire plant who really takes care of us in the lab, which makes life a lot easier.”

Dyke’s nephew, Kade Goebel, recently began working as an instrumentation technician at Dakota Gas, something he says was always in the back of his head.

“My senior year of high school came around, and I still didn’t entirely know what I wanted to do. Some friends were going to Bismarck State College for instrumentation, so I reached out to them, and my family encouraged me to look into the field,” Goebel recalls.

The Hazen, North Dakota, native says one of the biggest reasons he was interested in a career with the cooperative is the opportunity to work close to home and see family.

“With the plants being so close, that really caught my attention,” Goebel says.

But it was more than proximity that led Goebel to pursue a career with Basin Electric.

“My family and friends would talk about working at the plants and about how good Basin's benefits and retirement are, so it was kind of a no-brainer,” he says.

Dyke says he feels a lot of pride seeing Kade follow in his footsteps and carry on the family legacy.

“It's fantastic to see younger guys like my nephew, Kade, get in and out of college quickly and get to work. If you can start these jobs early, it's such a huge benefit – not only for gaining experience, but for early retirement,” he says.

For Dyke, working at the cooperative carries special meaning – not just through the stories shared by his father’s former coworkers, but in watching those same colleagues now get to know his nephew.

“Seeing my dad, Milo, put in 35+ years next door is very rewarding as a son. I’ve been able to hear a lot of fantastic stories about him over the years,” he says. “There are still quite a few people that worked with my dad at Dakota Gas that now get to interact with my nephew, and they get to see the hard work values that were instilled in him from my dad.”

Now that he’s here, Goebel says he hopes to stay with the cooperative for the long haul.

“I hope to be here for a long time if I can, 100%,” he says. “Seeing what Basin Electric has done for my relatives and family while growing up is eye opening and something that I hope I can continue.”