Wind Generated Power
Red River
Valley Co-op Power is participating in Minnkota Power
Cooperative's Infinity Wind Energy program. Customer interest in
renewable wind-generated electricity and the willingness to pay
for its higher development costs are the primary reasons why Red
River and the other Minnkota-associated systems are offering a
wind energy option to their customers.
More than 300
people attended Minnkota Power Cooperative's commissioning
ceremony for North Dakota's first commercial-scale, utility-owned
wind turbine on Friday, Jan. 25, 2002.
The event was
held inside a heated tent at the turbine site, located six miles
east of Valley City, N.D., along Interstate 94. Speakers included
Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., Harvey Tallackson, Minnkota board
chairman, David Loer, Minnkota president & CEO, and other state
and local officials.
Approximately
2,100 customers of the Minnkota-associated cooperatives and
municipals in eastern North Dakota and Northwestern Minnesota have
subscribed to purchase the turbine's annual electrical output,
which is estimated at 2.5 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) or
equivalent to the amount of electricity consumed annually be
200-300 homes.
"We have the
potential - right here in North Dakota - to lead this nation in
wind production," said Sen. Dorgan, a member of the Senate's
Energy and Natural Resources Committee, during the dedication
ceremony. "The wind experts call North Dakota the Saudi Arabia of
wind power, and Minnkota Power Cooperative is taking the first
important step for our state."
Customer-driven Project
As a member-owned cooperative, Minnkota developed the Infinity
Wind Energy program in response to requests from customers of the
associated cooperatives and municipals. Those customers who have
already enrolled will soon have an additional charge added to
their electric bills from their local Minnkota-associated
cooperative or municipal.
Subscribers
have elected to pay an extra $.50 for each 100 kWh block of wind
power. This is being billed in addition to the regular monthly
cost of electricity. The premium is necessary to pay for the
incremental cost of producing wind power, which is more expensive
and less reliable than conventional sources of electricity.
Minnkota is
receiving federal and state production incentives that help lower
the wind energy premium, but the cost of wind power is still more
than the cost of electricity generated by baseload power plants.
When the wind
speed is 8 miles per hour or more, the Infinity turbine will
complement Minnkota's primary source of electrical generation -
the lignite-fired Milton R. young Station, located 40 miles
northwest of Bismarck, N.D.
Minnkota is a
generation and transmission cooperative supplying wholesale
electricity to 11 electric distribution cooperatives located in
eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota. Minnkota also
serves as operating agent for the Northern Municipal Power Agency
(NMPA) in Thief River Falls, Minn., which serves 12 municipals in
the same geographic region. Together, the Minnkota-associated
systems serve more than 110,000 customers.
More information
Monthly Statistics
Past 24 Hr.
Generation
