DOE Names Two 2012 Wind Cooperatives of the Year

This is an excerpt from the First Quarter 2013 edition of the Wind Program R&D Newsletter.

New Orleans—The U.S. Department Energy (DOE) presented the East River Electric Power Cooperative of South Dakota and the Golden Valley Electric Association of Alaska with 2012 Wind Cooperative of the Year Awards at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association TechAdvantage 2013 Conference held in New Orleans in February 2013. The awardees were selected by a panel of experts from the wind industry, utilities, government, national laboratories, and cooperatives.

East River Electric Power Cooperative of Madison, South Dakota, is a wholesale electric power supply cooperative serving eastern South Dakota and western Minnesota. The cooperative is regarded as one of the earliest champions to install the first utility-scale wind turbines in the Dakotas. In 2009, the co-op created South Dakota Wind Partners LLC (SDWP), which is a model for community-based, locally-owned wind development that is fully financed by South Dakota residents. In 2010, SDWP proposed a 10.5-megawatt (MW) addition to the 151-MW Prairie Winds SD1 project and worked with East River to convene investor meetings across the state. This approach helped raise $16 million in just 60 days, with investments from more than 600 residents. The 10.5-MW project has been in operation since 2011, and is a community-financing model for domestic wind power that other providers can emulate.

The Golden Valley Electric Association of Alaska is focused on generating 20% of its peak load electricity—the power supplied when customer demand is highest—from renewable energy by 2014. As part of this commitment, Golden Valley developed the 25-MW Eva Creek Wind Farm in Ferry, Alaska, in 2012. The remote site is located at the end of a 10-mile dirt road, contributing to unique construction challenges. The Eva Creek Wind Farm project is expected to help the cooperative meet its renewable goals ahead of schedule, reduce dependence on oil, and save Golden Valley members as much as $4 million in annual electricity costs by the end of 2013. To read more about these awards, see DOE's Progress Alert. For more information about DOE's outreach and stakeholder engagement initiative, visit the WINDExchange website.