Great River Energy is an electric transmission and generationcooperative in the U.S. state of Minnesota; it is the state's second largest electric utility, based on generating capacity, and the fifth largest generation and transmission cooperative in the U.S. in terms of assets. Great River Energy was formed in 1999 when Cooperative Power Association and United Power Association merged. Great River Energy owns or co-owns more than 100 energy transmission substations in the region. The company's system also includes more than 500 distribution substations. Great River Energy is a not-for-profit cooperative that provides wholesale electricity to more than 1.7 million people through 28 member distribution cooperatives in Minnesota, covering roughly 60 percent of the state. The company also owns transmission lines in North Dakota and Wisconsin.
Company headquarters
Great River Energy's headquarters are located in Maple Grove, Minnesota. The facility includes a, 200 kilowatt NEG Micon M700 wind turbine, and a 72-kilowatt solar array at ground level and on the rooftop. The building uses approximately half the energy of similar-sized buildings constructed using standard construction techniques, 40 percent less electricity for lighting and 90 percent less water than standard corporate campuses. The company has occupied the Maple Grove facility since April 2008. In October 2008, the headquarters building became the first building in Minnesota to attain LEED Platinum certification.
Transmission operations
Great River Energy’s transmission system is part of an overall regional transmission grid, operated on a coordinated basis in accordance with the Minnesota Electric Transmission Planning group. Regional grid operations were expanded in 2002 with the formation of the MISO, an independent, nonprofit organization that supports the reliable operation of the transmission system in 15 U.S. states and the Canadian province of Manitoba. MISO acts as the Regional Transmission Organization, overseeing the operations, planning, and improvements of the wholesale bulk electric transmission system in the upper Midwest. With its administration of a centralized energy market, Midwest ISO's stated goal is to ensure that the growing demand for power is served in an efficient and effective manner.
CapX2020 project
Great River Energy is one of 11 Midwestern transmission-owning utilities participating in CapX2020, an initiative that seeks to expand the region's electricity transmission grid. The initiative was created in response to studies that predict a significant increase in consumer demand for electricity by the year 2020.
In 2010, Great River Energy led a team that was awarded with Power Engineering magazine’s 2010 Coal-Fired Project of the Year. The project, “DryFining,” created a new technology for coal-firing power plants that improves fuel quality, decreases volatile gas emissions, and reduces a plant’s operating expenses and maintenance costs. The team also included fluid bed dryer engineer Heyl & Patterson Inc. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory, Lehigh University’s Energy Research Center, the Electric Power Research Institute and engineering construction contractor WorleyParsons.
Management and governance
Great River Energy is one of 44 rural electric cooperatives in Minnesota; members can vote on or run for the board of directors these cooperatives, but information on how to do so may be limited.
