Basin Electric: Live Wire is a blog that features some of the people stories and interesting background information that you can't get anywhere else. This blog was started in 2008 on the Wordpress platform, and moved here in 2021. Please find our archives at basinelectric.wordpress.com. You can email editor Tracie Bettenhausen with story ideas.
Basin Electric is dedicated to providing reliable, affordable, and responsible electricity to its members.
As new technology emerges it’s critical to the lifespan of a substation to upgrade equipment before there’s a problem.
Throughout his four-decades-long career, Christensen worked in Resource Planning, Transmission, and Marketing and Power Supply before being hired...
Life prior to electricity was difficult for both the farmer and his wife. The book, The Next Greatest Thing, detailed how the Country Life...
The Member and External Relations team at Basin Electric were faced with last minute changes when the winter member managers conference, usually...
According to the 2023 Basin Electric Member Load Forecast, 92% of Basin Electric's distribution cooperative members are growing.
Human Resources focuses on the development of employees by keeping them trained, engaged, and productive, with an eye on continuous improvement.
Dry Fork Station hosted a tour of the power plant for employees of Basin Electric Class C member Powder River Energy Corporation and Oregon Trail...
Basin Electric prides itself on its culture and commitment to its employees, making new hires feel welcome and appreciated from Day 1.
As a part of the Pilots for Kids program, Basin Electric Pilot Steven Schaffner helped Santa and Mrs. Claus trade in their sleigh and reindeer for...
Deer Creek Station hosted a tour with the Aurora (South Dakota) Volunteer Fire Department to grow their working relationship and prepare them in...
Basin Electric recently made donations to community youth organizations in South Dakota through the member match program.
Employees at Basin Electric understand their role as stewards of service to the members of the cooperative. The “How We Serve” series highlights...
As more electric cooperatives pursue energy storage, a generation and transmission co-op is offering a trial battery rate to help members deliver...
Basin Electric made a $75,000 donation to Missouri Slope Areawide United Way, resulting in the reopening of the emergency homeless shelter during...
A few years ago, the team at Dakota Gasification Company was tasked with obtaining what’s called ISO 9001 certification, a metric that ensures...
Unlike other energy providers whose rates may only include energy, Basin Electric's rates include many other essential services.
Montana Limestone Company is a relatively small operation that has a big impact on Basin Electric and its membership.
As we’re getting ready to ring in 2023, we thought it would be fun to take a look at some of our popular posts and stories of 2022.
The NIPCO-owned Lawton Substation, located within its service area, is home to a 975-kilowatt Tesla® Megapack® .
Basin Electric coordinates all outages to make sure there’s no disruption in power.
Dakota United Soccer Club watched what would be the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team's final game in the World Cup using a Basin Electric projector.
Employees at Antelope Valley Station, Leland Olds Station, the Great Plains Synfuels Plant , and Basin Electric's Security and Response Services...
The following is an excerpt from an article in RE Magazine featuring Dee Anne Norris, CEO of Renville-Sibley Cooperative Power Association, a Basin...
At Basin Electric, sustainability is the commitment we make to our members to meet their needs, while ensuring future generations will thrive.
"That we were able to see an opportunity and capture it to save Basin Electric over $400,000 annually, which could increase every year, makes this...
Resource Planning & Rates is responsible for the management of Basin Electric’s long-term origination and resource planning activities which...
Find videos of the presentations on our website, and on our YouTube channel, 2022 Annual Meeting playlist.
Two years ago, the co-op leased an electric Chevy Bolt to help support its “Moonshot” initiative, with the goal of reducing its megawatt hour (MWh)...
Employees at Laramie River Station came together to save their community pool from closing down for the rest of the summer.
Watch Basin Electric's Annual Meeting live.
Upgrading software is no easy thing, and when it comes to Allegro, the Energy Trading and Risk Management solution at Basin Electric, it took 45...
East River Electric has been looking into purchasing an electric vehicle (EV) for use as a fleet vehicle for several years.
Since 2014, Basin’s Backyard Garden has donated 5,256 lbs. of fresh, mostly local food to local food pantries through the Hunger Free North Dakota...
Employees at Basin Electric understand their role as stewards of service to the members of the cooperative. The “How We Serve” series highlights...
“Sometimes a job can be looked at as just that, but in reality, a job at Dakota Gas has provided for generations for the Carr family, and working...
Joan Dietz received the award during LEC's annual meeting on Sept. 28.
Basin Electric recently partnered with Class C member Powder River Energy Corporation (PRECorp), headquartered in Sundance, Wyoming, on two...
The Transmission team at Basin Electric were a part of the recent planning effort that resulted in the approval of more than $500 million in...
The community-minded values of the new Garfield Dairy near Bryant, South Dakota, make it an ideal member for an electric cooperative with the same...
The “How We Serve” series highlights employees and their work group and explains how they serve our members every day.
Reliability means something different to an electric utility than it does to a clean energy advocate.
The Southwest Power Pool (SPP) conducted an Integrated Transmission Planning study and in 2021 determined the need for extensive new transmission...
This year, Hill County Electric offered its first ever Teacher Appreciation Award in an effort to help retain these educators that are so critical...
Basin Electric CEO and general manager Todd Telesz visited three Basin Electric facilities this summer in Distributed Generation and two locations...
"Basically everything we do affects the membership. What's good for the membership is good for us."
In 2019, departments at Basin Electric overcame challenges and worked together to develop a new member billing software called MemberBilling.
Reports of energy shortfalls that could potentially lead to power interruptions left people feeling uneasy this spring and summer.
Basin Electric hosted the South Dakota Rural Electric Association’s Youth Excursion, including 14 high school students sponsored by electric...
In 1997, an old Basin Electric safety inspection vehicle was found for sale in a newspaper ad by a family from Shreve, Ohio.
Doug Hardy says, “I’ve learned to volunteer to do things nobody else wants to do because some of those things have applications you would never...
Due to Basin Electric's sponsorship, the club has been able to market the space for the middle school age group within the community to provide a...
Basin Electric provided a member match donation of $2,500 with Class C member San Isabel Electric to a non-profit, entirely volunteer-run...
Cryptocurrency is a digital form of currency that doesn’t come from central authorities such as governments or banks. Bitcoin, the first form of...
Powder River Energy Foundation and Basin Electric have joined forces to make a $10,000 donation to Climb Wyoming, fostering workforce development...
“I work with employees at our facilities to find out when they need the equipment they ordered, then with trucking companies to coordinate...
"It is missions like these that really show the true value of the cooperative aircraft."
“Having more access and reliability for power has been critical,” Eric Watson says. “If we didn’t have reliable power, it would hit every aspect,...
Basin Electric Class C member Northern Electric Cooperative presented SPURS Therapeutic Horseback Riding Center in Aberdeen, SD with a $2,000...
In honor of Military Appreciation Month, employees at Basin Electric’s Headquarters participated in Trooper Toss – a fundraising event for Injured...
The skillsets William Deglman uses in his role as safety coordinator at Laramie River Station are also useful in his role as assistant fire chief...
One of the reasons Johnson says he’s found success in his career is that he has tried to treat everyone with respect and dignity and give people an...
North Central Electric linemen worked long, hard hours after a late spring snowstorm knocked out power to some 1,200 accounts. Members were not shy...
Even with assistance from Basin Electric and other local cooperatives, it took Burke-Divide nearly three weeks to get power back to all residences.
The quick actions of Operations, Electrical and Instrumentation, and Protection Services helped minimize damage and prevent injuries.
Basin Electric’s Leland Olds Station and Marketing teams partnered to turn an $875,000 cost into a net benefit of $1.6 million annually.
Todd Telesz and Becky Kern visited key sites in the Bakken oil field to learn firsthand about current challenges and the potential for large-scale...
When historic blizzard, Silas, hit western and central North Dakota starting April 12, the Security and Response Services (SRS) team anticipated...
Employees collected about $10,000 in June 2021 that went to a special fund at Abused Adult Resource Center -- New Directions Education and...
When Todd Telesz took the position of Basin Electric’s sixth-ever CEO and general manager, he committed to visiting Basin Electric’s plant sites...
Tami Lynn Arndt, administrative assistant at Laramie River Station, has always loved animals.
When a fire occurred at Antelope Valley Station last September, there was some damage to the L1 chute that brings in the coal fines from Dakota...
The Bismarck Tribune runs a weekly feature title "Eminently Quotable."
Basin Electric’s newest director, Jerry Beck, joined the Basin Electric board in December.
When a project to modify the air quality control system at Dry Fork Station near Gillette, Wyoming, began, the project team had no idea it would...
In a largely male-dominated industry, she says she never let being in the minority bother her.
Worker shortages mean some trucking companies are declining to accept jobs moving freight into states like North Dakota and Wyoming.
Basin Electric has generation and transmission facilities on both sides of the grid, and also has access to the DC ties.
Core Values Awards are given each year to celebrate notable individuals in the fleet industry who demonstrate the values that are integral to the...
Robert Frank and Jay Lundstrom are responsible for the load forecasting for Basin Electric's membership. The load forecast is the main tool used...
Dave Raatz, senior vice president of Asset Management, Resource Planning, and Rates, retires after 41 years.
Retired dentist Dr. George North is one of three winners of the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives of Iowa's Shine the Light contest, a contest that...
With the ice and debris clogging up the intake, a loss of flow of circulated water brought the intake from 40,000 gallons per minute down to 13,000...
Will rural residents be ready to go electric when EV trucks hit the market?
East River Electric does its part to benefit a community organization that provides therapies and equipment for differently abled children and...
It took a collaborative trio to power the Wyoming CarbonSAFE project at Dry Fork Station.
