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Great River Energy and NRECA Co-Sponsor Research Regarding Underutilized Energy Storage Resources

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) and Great River Energy co-sponsored a research study that showed that residential electric water heaters can serve as energy storage for wind or solar power, increasing efficiency, better integrating renewable energy and saving customers money.  The large capacity water heaters can be enabled to make immediate use of wind or...

Great River Energy Announces 2.25-MW Minnesota Solar Project

Great River Energy announced its largest solar project yet with the Dickinson Solar Project (“Project”), a 2.25-MW solar array six miles east of Buffalo, Minnesota.  The Project will serve customers of Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association and responds to members’ interests in more renewable energy as it will replace electricity now generate by fossil fuels.

Great River Energy and Other Cooperatives Join Grid Stability Research Project

Great River Energy and other cooperatives in the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) are researching ways to increase grid flexibility in order to integrate more intermittent distributed renewable energy resources. NRECA plans to create a water heater controller and a smart circuit breaker capable of controlling plug-in appliances with the hope of making load...

Great River Supplies Heat and Steam to New North Dakota Biofuels Refinery

The Dakota Spirit AgEnergy plant receives its heat and steam from Great River Energy’s (Great River) Spiritwood Station coal plant.  Spiritwood Station is fueled with refined lignite from Great River’s Coal Creek station 150 miles away.  Read more about Great River’s involvement with the Dakota plant here.

New Coop-Owned Ethanol Refinery Fires Up

A new ethanol refinery, in which Minnesota-based Great River Energy (GRE) owns a majority stake, recently reached commercial operation.  The refinery is located adjacent to a GRE-owned coal-fired power plant.  Steam from the coal plant is used to power the refinery.  Click here for more.

Great River Energy Offers Electric Vehicle Users 100% Wind Charge at No Extra Expense

In June Minnesota-based generation and transmission cooperative Great River Energy (GRE) and its members rolled out their new “Revolt” program, which allows electric vehicle (EV) users to charge their vehicles using 100 percent wind energy at no extra expense.  Consumers pay standard rates to charge their cars, and GRE retires renewable energy credits to cover every kilowatt-hour of...

G&T Cooperatives Join DOE Grid Study

The Department of Energy (DOE) has invited two generation and transmission cooperatives, Great River Energy and Hoosier Energy, to join 15 other electric utilities in the Partnership for Energy Sector Climate Resilience to help strengthen the grid against extreme weather and impacts from climate change.  Read more about the Partnership’s goals here.

Minnesota Supreme Court Upholds Strict Interpretation of State’s “Buy the Farm” Law

Great River Energy will be required to purchase 218.85 acres of land on which it will construct transmission lines, rather than the 8.86 acre strip it wished to purchase, a recent Minnesota Supreme Court decision held.  The decision was based on the state’s “Buy the Farm” statue, which requires utility companies to buy out property owners upon request when building power lines.  Click...

New Great River Energy CHP Plan Online

Minnesota-based Great River Energy’s (GRE) Spiritwood coal plant came online last month in North Dakota.  The combined heat and power plant is nearly twice as efficient as conventional coal plants.  In addition to generating power for GRE’s members, the plant will produce steam energy for an adjacent malting facility and a soon to open biorefinery.  Click here for more.

Great River Energy Burns Lignite More Efficiently

Minnesota-based Great River Energy (GRE) can now burn lignite coal more efficiently, thanks to a moisture-reduction process.  Because of its high moisture content, lignite has traditionally been used only at “mine-mouth” plants located close to a production source, but a newly-patented refining process allows lignite to produce more energy and to be transported before use.  Click here...

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