Rebuilding to record-breaking

In the final days of 2023, Minnkota’s power delivery crews faced their toughest test in nearly two decades. A brutal late-December storm snapped poles, downed lines and encased critical infrastructure in a thick layer of ice, leaving widespread damage behind.

What a difference a year makes.

As 2024 drew to a close, those same crews celebrated one of the most reliable years of power delivery in Minnkota history – a testament to years of strategic investments, operational discipline and a commitment to keeping the lights on.

“It’s pretty evident that people in the field and in the office are committed to what they do,” said Harold Narlock, Minnkota power delivery operations manager. “Our members are requesting uninterrupted power, and our employees understand that, and they can relate to it in their own lives. They understand the importance of trying to deliver that level of service and they do a really good job at it.”

Reliability isn’t built overnight. It’s the result of a decades-long effort to reinforce the grid, modernize systems and ensure that every connection holds firm. Since 2015, Minnkota has invested approximately $294 million into strengthening its power delivery system and addressing aging infrastructure. The numbers in 2024 speak for themselves:

• Total sustained outages per delivery point: 0.53 (Best in Minnkota history)

• Blink (momentary) outages per delivery point: 3.14 (Best in Minnkota history)

• Outage time per delivery point: 26 minutes (Third-best in Minnkota history)

But perhaps the most impressive statistic from the past year is the zero lost-time incidents among power delivery crew members while completing more than $50 million in projects throughout the service area. Minnkota’s OSHA incident rate – a key safety benchmark – remained significantly better than industry peers.

“Reliability is critical, but nothing is more important than the safety of our crews,” Narlock said. “Every person who steps into the field knows that getting the job done right means getting it done safely. The fact that we had zero lost-time injuries in 2024 speaks volumes about our team’s dedication to each other and to a culture of safety.”

Smart investments, smarter response

With 260 substations and nearly 3,400 miles of transmission lines spanning North Dakota and Minnesota, Minnkota’s power delivery system faces a wide range of challenges – from summer heat to frigid winter conditions. Strategic infrastructure upgrades and advanced technology are playing a crucial role in keeping outages to a minimum and making response times faster.

One major factor in the improved reliability is the continued rollout of Minnkota’s distribution automation program. This initiative enhances system visibility by integrating technologies at substation sites that provide real-time data, allowing operators inside the energy control center to detect and resolve issues more efficiently. More than half of Minnkota’s substations are now equipped with this technology, with plans to cover nearly all substations by the end of the decade.

Brandon Trontvet, System Operations and Energy Management System Manager, believes both technology and teamwork are critical in outage prevention and response.

“The crews are paying attention when they’re out,” Trontvet said. “They’re taking a look at all our infrastructure and when they see something they’re calling the control center and letting their superintendents know. It’s just a lot of people paying attention and truly caring about what we do here. I’m continuously impressed when we have that kind of information coming into the control center.”

A culture of continuous improvement

Reliability isn’t just about infrastructure – it’s about commitment to ongoing improvement. In 2024, Minnkota continued to implement enhancements following a rigorous peer review with the North American Transmission Forum (NATF) in 2023. A one-year follow-up review found that Minnkota had already realized 74% of the projected value from its improvement initiatives – outpacing industry norms.

Key advancements in 2024 included hiring a vegetation management subject matter expert, updating engineering design standards, improving GIS mapping and acquiring an advanced lightning detection system to bolster operational awareness.

“We have the ability to pinpoint where a potential lightning strike occurred,” Trontvet said. “Now we can be very strategic in where we send lineworkers out to patrol if there’s an issue.”

Even in a record-breaking year, both Trontvet and Narlock acknowledge there’s always room for improvement and lessons to be learned. While system investments and teamwork played a crucial role, they also recognize that a bit of luck was on their side – 2024 passed without any major storms wreaking havoc on the system. Still, Minnkota staff consistently met on all system issues – big or small – to ensure they can build on 2024’s successes.

“We literally analyze every single outage and talk about it,” Narlock said. “We cover everything including the crew’s reaction time, the communication with the member cooperative, the outage cause and how can we get better at what we do.”

MAIN IMAGE: Senior electrician Jason Sather performs work at a Minnkota substation. (Minnkota/Michael Hoeft)