Pioneer Generation Station Phase IV adding mega megawatts

According to the 2023 Basin Electric Member Load Forecast, 92% of Basin Electric’s distribution cooperative members are growing.

But even before the latest forecast was released in January, the cooperative saw that building new generation to keep electricity reliable for our membership was a necessity.

Therefore, Basin Electric is pursuing its largest single site electric generation project since the 1980s. The cooperative plans to construct about 600 megawatts of natural gas generation near the existing Pioneer Generation Station northwest of Williston, North Dakota.

The project will be referred to as Pioneer Generation Station Phase IV. Preliminary estimates place the budget at approximately $780 million, which includes both generation and transmission assets.

Jim Lund, Basin Electric senior mechanical engineer and project coordinator, says the project will address near-term load growth and long-term grid stability in the Bakken region.

Read more, and see an artist rendering of the current Pioneer Generation Station and Phase IV, in the Winter 2023 issue of Basin Today: Basin Electric to add MEGAwatts at Pioneer Generation Station