Minnkota Messenger

Sounding the alarm on grid reliability
National grid operators and regulators are warning that North Dakota and Minnesota may be at risk of power outages this summer.

‘A culture of compliance’
Minnkota has logged another successful NERC audit thanks to the cooperative's strong leadership and proactive planning.

Community and cooperative connector
Marty Tetrault has taken another step into service as Cavalier Rural Electric’s newest general manager.

Bringing the heat in the glass industry
Fargo’s Cardinal IG glass plant has found growing power in its partnership with Cass County Electric Cooperative.

Minnkota Communications team collects national awards
Minnkota was recently honored with two NRECA Spotlight on Excellence awards for its digital and written communication efforts in 2021.

Resilient By Design
On April 1, Minnkota held its first in-person annual meeting in nearly three years. The meeting’s theme, Resilient By Design, recognized how Minnkota persevered through the pandemic, volatile energy market conditions and rapid industry change.

A bear of a line project
Minnkota’s Power Delivery crews need to overcome many challenges to complete work on a unique northern Minnesota landscape.

The wrath of the Red
Twenty-five years after the historic 1997 ice storm and flood, current Minnkota employees reflected on the natural disasters that tested the resilience of the cooperative.

A place for volts and vitamins
Minnkota joins community partners to host Grand Forks Feed My Starving Children MobilePack event for a second year.

Ahead of the herd
IDEA Competition winner MUSKOX has taken snow blower innovation by the horns in northwest Minnesota.

Grid operators, regulators forecast reliability risks
The evolving energy transition represents challenges and opportunities for Minnkota and the industry as a whole.

The ice (and nice) is stronger here
Brutal winter conditions won’t keep the community of Warroad, Minn., from a second year of Riverbend Skate Path fame.

The Digi-Key difference
A major facility expansion will allow an electronics distribution company to thrive within its rural Minnesota community.

Minnkota shows grit and growth during GridEx
A nationwide exercise has become one of the best ways for employees to prepare for the worst.

‘Keep calm and outage on’
Milton R. Young Station employees have once again used a major planned outage to keep Unit 1 strong and reliable.

The lineworker treatment
Clearwater-Polk Electric Cooperative recently created a dream experience for a young power enthusiast diagnosed with leukemia.

Reliable power for reliable packages
The FAR1 Amazon Fulfillment Center has become the latest Cass County Electric Cooperative member in a growing Fargo community.

Fresh power in the old power plant
A new Grand Forks research facility is unearthing an energy future in Minnkota’s energy past.

Hard hats and fire helmets
Red Lake Electric Cooperative boasts six employees on the local volunteer fire department.

Minnkota celebrates Drive Electric Week with co-op partners
Two EV ride-and-drive events drew crowds to electric cooperatives in Bemidji and Roseau, Minn., during National Drive Electric Week.

Collaborate, innovate, cultivate, repeat
The Fargo-based Grand Farm initiative is leveraging local and global partners to electrify the future of agriculture.

Minnkota and CoBank team up to “Share Success”
Minnkota Power Cooperative and Square Butte Electric Cooperative donated $20,000 to local programs as a part of CoBank's matched giving program.

Successful sessions
Minnkota and its cooperative members are celebrating major energy legislation recently passed in North Dakota and Minnesota.

Substation communication revolution
Minnkota's system-wide deployment of distribution automation technology is rapidly enhancing response and reliability.

Compton ready to answer the call
North Star Electric Cooperative’s new general manager is committed to transparency and accessibility.

From zero to EV
Auto dealers and co-ops are merging new models, more chargers and incentives to accelerate electric vehicle growth in the north.

Student engineers recognized in annual Freeman Competition
Minnkota continued its support of up-and-coming innovators with the 2021 Andrew Freeman Design Innovation Competition.

Built for service
Roseau Electric Cooperative is expanding its fiber-to-the-home network to more rural members and the City of Roseau.

Recipe for success
Clearwater-Polk Electric Cooperative’s Deanna Lefebvre has been chosen to lead as the next general manager.

Clear leadership
Bruce Bjerke has retired after 15 years as Clearwater-Polk Electric Cooperative’s general manager.

We power on
Minnkota Power Cooperative and Square Butte Electric Cooperative annual meetings reflect on a 2020 navigated with resiliency.

Power over the market
Minnkota's energy marketers combined the cooperative's reliable resources and demand response program to avoid a cold-weather crisis.

Popping into business
A North Dakota farm family has built a packaging company to support the local economy, give back to the community and create a generational legacy.

Minnkota Jeans Day Fund gives big on Giving Hearts Day
Minnkota's Grand Forks employees used an annual February giving event to make their donations dollars go further.

Finding injection perfection
The latest Project Tundra simulations show promising properties for CO2 injection and storage near Minnkota's Milton R. Young Station.

North Star's guiding light
After a 43-year cooperative career, North Star Electric’s Ann Ellis is setting a new course – retirement.

Buyer beware
Minnkota has strengthened its supply chain to navigate COVID-19 and new cybersecurity standards.

Advocacy from afar
Virtual meetings have kept Minnkota engaged with lawmakers in advance of important legislative sessions.

Syncing the sound
From innovative engineering to flawless work in the field, Minnkota is working to enhance and improve its demand response system.

Dolan to lead Wild Rice Electric
Wild Rice Electric Cooperative’s new CEO brings more than two decades of co-op experience.

A legacy of loyalty
Wild Rice Electric Cooperative CEO Steve Haaven has retired after 47 years of service to members.

Minnkota board approves 2021 budget
Average wholesale rates are projected to remain stable as Minnkota’s rate structure change is implemented.

For the heat of the hunt
This October, a national cocker spaniel competition found a host home on the shore of Minnkota’s Nelson Lake.

A positive charge
Minnkota’s chief money maven Karen Thingelstad is preparing for retirement after an impressive 27-year cooperative career.

Cooperation for travel electrification
Minnkota’s member cooperatives are building out a network of electric vehicle fast chargers to help connect the service area.

Electric bus makes the grade
West Fargo Public Schools has experienced transportation savings and benefits after a year with an electric addition to the fleet.

Powered-up park patrol
Fargo Parks and Fargo Police are enjoying the benefits of an electric patrol motorcycle, supported in part by Cass County Electric Cooperative.

The precipice of power potential
North Dakota’s Capitol Hill cohort communicated proud support of Project Tundra during a recent tour at Minnkota's Milton R. Young Station.

One flight, endless opportunity
Minnkota Power Cooperative is reaching new heights with its LiDAR-based survey program.

Resiliency to improve reliability
With COVID-19 precautions in place, Minnkota crews have continued through a full docket of projects – and the work is paying off for members.

Dinos, drive-ins and democracy
This summer, PKM Electric Cooperative spun its pandemic precautions into a unique annual meeting engagement.

Minnkota lineworker Kemnitz receives Lifesaver Award
This summer, lineworker Ryan Kemnitz stood strong under pressure and potentially saved a life in the Bemidji, Minn. area.

Cooperative spirit shines during annual meetings
Minnkota Power Cooperative and Square Butte Electric Cooperative shared an unprecedented day of distanced reports, votes, accolades and farewells.

Cooperative blood
Retirement isn’t the end of the electric line for the Thronson family, as three sons carry on the cooperative tradition.

Project Tundra progress continues amid pandemic
The carbon capture initiative is finding the support and partners needed for ultimate success.

The business of caring
Co-op member companies altered operations and gave generously to fulfill the region’s pandemic needs.

Co-op values conquer COVID-19
Minnkota’s member cooperatives used their resources and ingenuity to safely and effectively serve their communities through the pandemic.


Substation creation transformation
3D design software is giving Minnkota opportunities for more efficient engineering and construction.

Every dimension of development
A 3D printing entrepreneur is finding community support in printing a future for Bemidji businesses.

Data from the depths
New 3D geophysical survey results will help clear another hurdle for Project Tundra's future.

Congestion control
Demand response is key to managing rush hour on the region’s electric system.

Minnkota employees top $50,000 in giving
Minnkota employees' Jeans Day Fund has reached a milestone, touching dozens of charities over the decade.

Polar vortex reflections
Many regional energy entities learned lessons from the cold weather Maximum Generation Event of January 2019.

Power of coal-laboration
Minnkota and BNI Coal have been building a stronger relationship around optimizing plant and mine practices – and it’s paying off.

All in for the outage
Milton R. Young Station leaders leverage team coordination and adaptability for safe and successful planned outages.

A decade in review
Minnkota will celebrate 80 years of power generation and transmission in 2020, but the past decade has been among the most dynamic in the cooperative’s history.

A northern connection
Baudette’s LakeWood Health Center is one of more and more northern Minnesota facilities that are incorporating telemedicine into their care.

Keeping it clean
In Fosston, Minn., a small-town soap company is finding big opportunities with online sales and marketing.

Strengthening cybersecurity
Digital defense takes people power at Minnkota, from education to implementation.

Power delivery crews finish rebuild projects
Minnkota's crews dodged rain and cold this fall to bring life to more modern substations and transmission lines.

Bringing broadband home
Roseau Electric Cooperative’s NorthStream Fiber aims to provide a high-speed internet connection for unserved and underserved Minnesotans.

Repurposing wood
The owners of Buffalo Coulee Wood Products bring lumber to life near Cummings, N.D.

Rebuilding for reliability
As Minnkota’s blink outage efforts wind down, line rebuild projects ramp up.

Blink outage mitigation a success
Minnkota data results show blink outages have declined dramatically over hundreds of miles of treated line.

Electric transportation celebration
Minnkota and Nodak Electric Cooperative invite the community to two days of EVs, eats and education.

Revamped to recycle
Six Minnesota counties are now bringing their garbage to a unique and efficient waste and recyclable material processing facility in Fosston.

Making our grid smarter
A major Minnkota distribution automation project aims to improve outage response and communication with member-owners.

King of the cuts
A Bemidji native is blazing a new path for processing and promotion to boost his family meat business.

Covering new ground
Minnkota generation partner BNI Coal will research and test ways to improve its already award-winning reclamation processes.

Power of blockchain, unchained
Minnkota and the University of North Dakota are partnering to develop new technology to protect power facility control systems.

Project Tundra forges ahead
Carbon capture research continues to gain momentum at Minnkota's Milton R. Young Station with the help of industry partners.

Hovering beyond the horizon
Minnkota's research partnerships are harnessing both academic and commercial UAS expertise to find more efficient ways to inspect power lines.

Raise the roost
Minnkota, landowners and the Minnesota DNR have worked together to provide a safe, alternative home for ospreys.

A hot ice sport
Across Minnkota's service area in North Dakota and Minnesota, the sport of curling has seen an uptick after the U.S. won Olympic gold in 2018.

Working on the beautiful Angle
The Northwest Angle is vast and scenic, but Minnkota crews sometimes find challenges in providing services to the northernmost point in the contiguous U.S.

Towering feats of engineering
Minnkota embarks on a microwave tower overhaul, bringing its system into the digital age.