Basin Electric, members discuss the value of cooperation at 2021 annual meeting

More than 800 member cooperative employees, directors, public officials, and utility representatives attended Basin Electric’s 2021 Annual Meeting of its membership. The meeting focused on the many benefits of being part of Basin Electric’s cooperative family.

“Together we are Basin” was chosen as the cooperative’s 60^th anniversary theme to highlight that every member is responsible for making Basin Electric one of the largest generation and transmission cooperatives in the nation.

Basin Electric’s focus is providing responsible, reliable, and affordable energy for its members. The presentations shared how Basin Electric has evolved over the past 60 years while continuing to stay true to the cooperative principles on which it was founded.

Basin Electric Board President Wayne Peltier, representing District 9 and Minnesota Valley Cooperative Light and Power, Montevideo, Minnesota, talked about the strong culture of the cooperative family. “For 60 years, this business model has served us well. This board is democratically elected. We represent you, our membership. That is special to the co-op world; we are bound to work together to do what is best for Basin Electric as a whole.”

Highlights:

• Basin Electric staff provided reports and served on panels regarding operations, marketing, financials, and government relations. They addressed Basin Electric’s financial status, the benefits of being part of a generation and transmission cooperative, and how Basin Electric responded to February’s energy event while keeping member rates stable. The panel discussions also included Q&A sessions with the members.
• The keynote speaker was Rich Karlgaard. The Bismarck, North Dakota, native is an entrepreneur-turned-Forbes magazine publisher and futurist, television commentator, private investor, and board director. Karlgaard is a respected forecaster who offers a unique vantage point on the trends driving the business and investment climates. Kargaard’s presentation focused on five business trends of COVID-19 and 2020.

 “The global IT market size is expected to grow from $4 to $12 trillion from 2020 to 2030. Because the digital acceleration we’re seeing requires scalable, bulletproof electric power, we can expect to see a heavily electricity-consuming industry by 2030. This­ will be a huge advantage in economic terms going forward,” Karlgaard said.

He also added that, “Five out of the top 10 energy producing states are in Basin’s service territory, and North Dakota is #1 in reliability.”

• U.S. Sens. John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer spoke at the event in support of the energy industry. Topics such as the 45Q tax credit and Basin Electric’s efforts in carbon capture and sequestration were discussed by the senators.
• The event featured business and cooperative booths including the Wyoming Integrated Test Center and CarbonSAFE Wyoming, two projects focused on figuring out how to capture, store, and utilize carbon dioxide to ensure reliability while reducing emissions.

More information, including reports, video and social media feeds can be found at basinelectric.com or through #Basin2021.