East River Electric Power Cooperative Holds 60th Annual Meeting
Sept. 9, 2010
SIOUX FALLS, SD -- East River Electric Power Cooperative’s 60th Annual Meeting titled “Cooperatives Delivering Value in a New Era” was held Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2010 in Sioux Falls, S.D.
“We selected “Cooperatives Delivering Value in a New Era” as our annual meeting theme because it conveys our core mission of providing members with affordable and reliable electricity while accomplishing this in an ever-changing and always challenging environment,” said East River General Manager Jeff Nelson.
During the meeting, Nelson and East River Board President Jim Ryken provided an overview of key cooperative projects from the past year.
One way the energy environment has been evolving is through the implementation of smart grid technologies. While the term “smart grid” may seem new, these technologies have existed for over 25 years within East River’s service territory.
In 1984, East River Electric’s first movement toward “smart grid” technologies was implementation of a system-wide “load management” program which controlled water heaters, irrigation pumps, air conditioners and customer-owned standby generators. The result has been a savings of over $121 million.
Other smart grid assets that East River and its members employ, include a strong telecommunication network as well as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (SCADA) and the installation of Automated Meter Infrastructure (AMI). With East River and its member systems already using these smart grid technologies, the term smarter grid has been determined to be a more accurate term as the cooperative moves forward.
Over the past year, East River member system managers have led committees in developing a “Smarter Grid Road Map”. The purpose of the road map is to define how smarter grid assets can deliver the best value at the lowest possible cost for the consumer member.
During the annual meeting, East River member system managers facilitated a smarter grid panel discussion to share the committees’ objectives for future smarter grid applications.
As a way to further the development of wind throughout their service territory, East River has joined together with the South Dakota Farm Bureau, South Dakota Farmers Union and the South Dakota Corn Utilization Council in the past year to form the South Dakota Wind Partners, LLC (SDWP).
SDWP is a first-of-its kind opportunity for South Dakotans to directly invest in and own wind. The project would involve ownership of seven turbines adjacent to Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s 151 megawatt Prairie Winds SD1 wind project in south central South Dakota.
Also reviewed during the meeting, was East River’s continuing efforts to solidify its electric infrastructure and meet member system growth, with an expected investment of $90.8 million for 2011-2014. This construction work plan includes a System Replacement Initiative which will begin to systematically replace the oldest and capacity-limited transmission lines as well as replacing or refurbishing East River’s oldest substations.
Since last year’s annual meeting, East River crews also met a very aggressive timeline to energize four 115 kV substations and 60 miles of 115 kV transmission line to support members in serving pumping stations for the Keystone Pipeline. In addition, East River completed work on needed transmission facilities for the 99 MW Day County Wind Project in northeastern South Dakota which began commercial operation in April 2010, a full month ahead of schedule.
A major issue continuing to face cooperatives such as East River has been proposed climate change legislation. When a 2008 Supreme Court ruling declared the EPA has the ability to regulate carbon emissions under the Clean Air Act, East River and other cooperatives around the nation stood in opposition. East River and its member systems have taken the message to Capitol Hill that elected officials, not regulatory entities, should set carbon policy.
Tom Graves, Mid-West Electric Consumers Association executive director addressed the audience on current initiatives related to the federal power system.
Graves noted that rising water levels over the past year has had a positive effect on the federal power system. “We’ve had record runoff from the dams on the Missouri this year.” Graves added that Pick Sloan contracts expire in 2020 and Mid-West has already begun to work with the Western Area Power Administration for new contracts for the post 2020 period.
Honoring individuals or organizations who have shown superior commitment toward cooperative values, East River presented its Eminent Service award to Bismarck, N.D. based Basin Electric Power Cooperative for its outstanding leadership and commitment in the area of renewable energy.
By the end of 2011, Basin Electric will have over 700 MW of renewable energy capacity within its generating portfolio.
“East River appreciates Basin’s dedication to improving the environment and willingness to provide its members with renewable energy resources to serve its member owners,” Ryken said.
