Seems a bit ludicrous, but desperate times cause folks to do foolish things. Thefts of copper, bronze, aluminum, and bronze are on the rise, at abandoned commercial buildings, empty homes, and—most dangerously—at power substations near neighborhoods.

We need your help to keep our equipment safe, prevent outages, and save lives. At an electric co-op in Oklahoma recently, metal thieves took off with about $100 worth of wire in a substation, but left behind a $1 million repair bill after a fire destroyed regulators, switches, and a $600,000 transformer. More than 3,500 consumers were temporarily left in the dark after the incident, although the co-op moved quickly to reroute power to affected areas.

It’s hard to understand why folks would put their life on the line for a few dollars. Many law enforcement officials believe that methamphetamine users are responsible for much of the problem. And the damage done to our system packs a big punch, since equipment can be ruined without the protection copper wires provide.

There’s also the potential for loss of life.

In 2010, metal theft-related deaths occurred in North Carolina, West Virginia, Illinois, and Ohio. The cost for scrap copper goes up and down, but recently it’s been on the rise—and so have robbery attempts. In January 2011 scrap copper sold for five times the amount it went for in 2001. We use copper to ground our equipment, protecting it from electrical surges and lightning by giving electricity a safe path to ground. We use a lot of copper wire in our substations, where we step-down high-voltage electricity arriving from distant power plants before it travels to your neighborhood. Then another transformer near your home—either mounted on a utility pole or in a green box on the ground—lowers the voltage again so you can use the power at home. Copper is an essential component every step of the way.

Our linemen are highly trained professionals who understand the dangers of working with electricity and take proper safety precautions. To protect the public we surround our substations with secure fencing and post warning signs. But some thieves will not be deterred. Please help us prevent these thefts. If you notice anything unusual, such as an open substation gate, open equipment, or hanging wire, call Northern Plains Electric Cooperative immediately at (800) 882-2500. If you see anyone other than our utility personnel or contractors around substations or other electric facilities, call the police.

It’s great to see how excited children can be about cooking something special. When my son is older, I hope he’ll do the same for me. I’ll rest easy knowing I’ve made the kitchen as safe as possible for the experiments (and mountain of dishes) to come.

Every month I check all of our appliance cords. Our toaster was replaced last year—after some early-on motherly tributes, the cord got too close to the toaster and melted. Since an average of 3,600 home fires each year start with toasters and toaster ovens, it’s best not to take chances.

I’ve also installed special outlets in the kitchen and our bathrooms (anywhere near water, really) called ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs). If a problem occurs—an appliance overheating or a wayward coffee maker tipping into the sink—power is shut off. A red test button reminds me to check these outlets monthly. They’re my first line of defense.

Even cold appliances pose a safety risk—refrigerators are responsible for about a thousand fires annually. Every three months I have [the kids/my son/daughter] help me take off the small panel at the base of our fridge and vacuum away dust and debris. Not only does this prevent a fire, it makes our fridge more efficient. By getting [the kids/my son/daughter] to help I teach [them/him/her] how to take care of [their/his/her] own kitchen some day.

A third of all home fires start in the kitchen, but every room could hold potential danger. May isn’t only a time to honor mothers—it’s also National Electrical Safety Month. Please take the time this month to check your home for electrical hazards. Spending a few minutes to check for problems can make all the difference when you’re faced with a potentially unsafe situation. To learn more, take a home safety tour at virtualhome.esfi.org. There’s also a wealth of safety knowledge available at www.SafetyatHome.com, and www.SafeElectricity.org.

On Mother’s Day and every day, we want to help you keep your family safe. Sharing electrical safety tips is just another way we’re looking out for you. To learn more about our commitment to safety, visit Northern Plains Electric Cooperative at http://www.nplains.com.

Northern Plains Electric Cooperative TODAY, 5 p.m. at New Rockford-Sheyenne Public School

See you there

Myth. Screen savers reduce energy use.
Facts. Screen savers don’t cut energy use. Screen savers were
developed to mitigate a problem called “screen burn-in” that can
occur in both cathode ray tube (CRT) and liquid crystal display
(LCD) computer monitors and TV screens. Burn-in occurs
when a given image, such as a logo or a menu bar for a computer
program, appears on a monitor for a long period of time. The
mechanics are different for CRT and LCD displays, but the
result is essentially the same—over time, these long-duration
images can get “burned” into the screen so that the viewer sees
a “ghost” of these images even when they’re not supposed to be
there. By using a screen saver, you prevent any specific images
from being displayed in the same location when your computer
is dormant for a long period of time, thus preventing burn-in.
But it takes just as much energy to display a screen saver on your
screen as it does to display any other program. To save energy,
adjust your computer’s power management settings to automatically
shut the monitor down after a specified period of idle
time, and simply turn off the monitor if you are not going to be
using it for 15 minutes or more.

Myth. Computers, monitors, and other office equipment will
use less energy and last longer if they’re left running all the time.
Facts. Turning equipment off overnight does not shorten its
life, and the small surge of power that occurs when some
devices are turned on is much smaller than the energy used by
running equipment when it’s not needed. In fact, leaving computers
and other office equipment on overnight and on
weekends wastes significant amounts of energy and also adds to
the wear and tear on the equipment. In general, turn off equipment
you are not using or make sure that energy-saving features
on networks or individual machines are enabled. Some office
equipment, including printers and scanners, features small
transformers that use energy even when the equipment is
turned off. Plug all such devices into a power strip so that they
can be shut down completely with one flick of the switch.

Myth. Surge protectors reduce energy use.
Facts. A small number of transient-voltage surge suppressor
(a.k.a. surge protector) manufacturers and vendors persist in
making energy-saving claims for their products despite the fact
that such claims were thoroughly debunked decades ago. Even
if there were some mechanism by which surge protectors could
save energy (and there isn’t), the reality is that there is simply no
opportunity for these devices to do so because they are dormant
well over 99.999 percent of the time. They become active only
when some event (which may be on the customer or the utility
side of the meter) creates a very high voltage spike. Even in a
“noisy” (in an electrical sense) industrial environment in which
such spikes are relatively frequent, their duration is so short—
measured in millionths of a second—that when added together,
they occupy a minuscule percentage of plant operating time.
Surge protectors are an effective way of protecting your electrical
equipment against voltage spikes, but don’t buy one to cut
energy costs, because it won’t.

That’s because most members contribute to the Operation Round Up program which donates to individuals and worthy causes each year. To do it, the members simply “round up” their utility bills, paying a full $100, for example, instead of $99.28.

The extra pennies, or $465,000 since the program launched in 1998, is then distributed to people like Rock Rindy of Carrington. Rock, a community go-getter and former president of the Operation Round Up board, fell ill in 2007, leaving him unable to work but with bills to pay.

Want to know more? Check out this video about Rock and his story.

Learn more about Operation Round Up and all facets of Northern Plains Electric Cooperative at the annual meeting beginning at 5 p.m. April 10 at New Rockford-Sheyenne Public School.

And have a happy and blessed Easter!

Riebe, of rural Pingree, joined the board before it operated by the name “Northern Plains.” Within his first few years of serving, Tri-County merged with Baker electric cooperatives to create what is now the geographically largest cooperative in the state.

General Manager Jay Jacobson said he will miss Riebe’s ideas and open mind.

Riebe, with a background in agriculture and a full-time job at Arrowwood National Wildlife Refuge, understood the various needs of cooperative members, Jacobson said. Riebe was open to changes and innovation in regards to renewable energy, smart meters and organizational changes, all the while keeping in mind the pocketbooks of Northern Plains’ nearly 11,000 accounts.

With his free time, Riebe said he and his wife Elaine hope to travel and hit up area auction sales.

Thanks for your service Bill Riebe!

With the recent snow giving me cabin fever, I can spend time making my home more energy efficient and save for a summer vacation!

You can too with these simple steps. Here’s a list of our recommendations for year-round energy and money savings!

March: Stop air from escaping your home and money from escaping your wallet! Head down to your home’s basement and seal those leaky ducts.

April: A little caulk can go a long way. Air leaks in your home add up. Caulking cracks and openings to the outside could save more than $200 a year.

May: Make sure your refrigerator is on your spring cleaning to-do list. Throw out expired items, clean the refrigerator inside and out, and check the temperature gauge. For maximum operating efficiency, a refrigerator’s temperature should be between 37 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

June: When was the last time you changed a filter? Replacing furnace and air conditioner filters regularly can have a big impact on a home’s energy use. Dirty filters can restrict air flow and reduce the overall efficiency of your cooling system, forcing it to work harder on hot summer days.

July: Your home’s cooling costs can skyrocket—right along with the temperature outside—during summer months. Keeping your thermostat set between 78 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit can save up to 8 percent on monthly cooling bills.

August: Heading out of town on vacation? Be sure to unplug all of your electronic devices like computers, monitor, printers, TV and cable boxes, DVD players, and microwaves. Electronics with digital displays and instant-on features consume energy even if they’re not in use.

September: Be a “fan-atic.” While they don’t replace an air conditioner or a heat pump, fans move the air so everyone feels more comfortable. On a milder day, a fan is a much more energy-efficient choice than cranking up the air conditioning. Fans cool people, not rooms, so turn them off when you leave.

October: Get ready for winter by insulating your attic. Adding nine or more inches of insulation could save you more than $150 a year.

November: As the weather cools down, pull up your window shades. Keeping blinds open during cold weather lets heat from sunlight in, reducing the need to turn up your home’s thermostat.

December: Put a new ENERGY STAR appliance at the top of your Christmas wish list. Upgrading appliances like washing machines to ENERGY STAR-rated models can save up to $140 per year.

January: Lowering your thermostat just a few degrees during winter months can save as much as $85 per year. Programmable thermostats make it easy to save by offering pre-programmed settings to regulate a home’s temperature throughout the year.

February: Adjust your water heater. Turning down the temperature gauge to below 120 degrees Fahrenheit can heat up your savings.

Northern Plains Electric Cooperative is dedicated to being an energy efficiency resource for its members. To learn more about how you can save money through energy efficiency practices, call us at 800-882-2500.

For even more information, check out TogetherWeSave.com, an online portal to energy savings tips that uses real dollar savings projections—based on your individual electric rate and climate zone—to motivate small changes in behavior that add up to big savings.

Once you arrive at the site, enter your ZIP code to be redirected to Northern Plains’ customized section. You can watch videos that provide detailed instructions about energy savings practices, add up your potential savings with a Virtual Home Tour, and much more.

Source: Touchstone Energy® Cooperatives

So, what do you do to cut back on your energy bill?

P.S. It’s after 7 p.m. here and nary a snowflake is fallen near my abode south and east of Jamestown. What about you?

Snow and ice storms are an inevitable part of the winter season. However, they can lead to downed power lines and outages. Remember the following tips to stay safe and warm should you find yourself in the dark after a severe winter event:

Never touch a fallen power line, and assume all wires on the ground are electrically charged. Call your electric co-op at 800-882-2500 to report it immediately. Avoid contact with overhead lines during cleanup and other activities.
In the event of an outage, an alternate heating source—such as a fireplace, propane space heater, or wood stove—may be used. Extreme caution should be taken.

 

Plan to stay in an area of the home where the alternate heat source is located.

 

Fuel- and wood-buring heating sources should be vented. Be sure to follow manufacturer’s directions.
Make sure carbon monoxide detectors and smoke detectors are working properly.

 

Do not use a gas-powered oven for heating. A gas oven may go out or burn inefficiently, leading to carbon monoxide poisoning.

 

Do not use a gas or charcoal grill inside the home. Do not use charcoal briquettes in the fireplace.

 

If you use a portable generator to power a heating source, be sure the generator is located outside your house for proper ventilation. Do not use a generator in an attached garage. Follow manufacturer’s directions for operating the generator.

 

Take special care not to overload a generator. Use appropriately sized extension cords to carry the electric load. Make sure the cords have a grounded, three-pronged plug and are in good condition.

 

Never run cords under rugs or carpets.

 

Never connect generators to power lines. The reverse flow of electricity can electrocute an unsuspecting utility worker.

Ideally, your family will stay warm until the power comes back on. But keep an eye on family members for signs of hypothermia, which include shivering, drowsiness, and mental and physical slowness. The elderly and young children are particularly vulnerable to hypothermia. Call 911 immediately if you notice these symptoms. At least one telephone in the house that does not depend on electricity should be available in the case of a power outage.

Sources: Consumer Product Safety Commission; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; National Ag Safety Database)

 

For more info, check out the American Red Cross’ Winter Ready Checklist here.

So about that snow… send me pictures and I’ll post. (katiea@nplains.com) Then we can compare snowfall levels throughout the service area. Bragging rights!

Stay safe everyone!

MedCenter One in Bismarck has been wonderful to my family and me. My son was born with complications, but I remember vividly the MedCenter One nurse with hair like the Disney mermaid. She wore a black vest and on it was a stork who carried a teddy bear in it’s mouth. She was one of the first women to hold my son. She held him before even I did.

That’s why I’m so excited to share this video regarding Amber’s Dream with you. Amber was a little girl who struggled with cancer for four years. For days, she and her family would seek treatment at MedCenter One just like my family did.

In December 2007 at the age of 15, Amber lost the battle with cancer. But her spirit remains within the halls of MedCenter One.

Thanks to all the people at MedCenter One. And thanks to the generous donations from Basin, Capital, KEM, Mor-Gran-Sou, Slope and Roughrider electric cooperatives!

That’s why I’m ransacking my brain, thinking of how to capture cooperative principles in one picture, movie or song.

The International Cooperative Alliance is sponsoring a worldwide competition to promote 2012 as the International Year of Cooperatives. The goal is to capture the attention of young people, which is likely why all entrants must be between the ages of 16-35. The competition allows three categories: photograph, video and music.

So, what are the principles of cooperatives? I’m so glad you asked.

For the visual learners: This movie includes cooperative principles through the perspective of the electrical industry.

For the auditory learners:

The Seven Principles of Cooperatives

1. Voluntary and Open Membership

Cooperatives are voluntary organizations, open to all persons able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender, social, racial, political or religious discrimination.

2. Democratic Member Control

Cooperatives are democratic organizations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting their policies and making decisions. Men and women serving as elected representatives are accountable to the membership. In primary cooperatives, members have equal voting rights (one member, one vote) and cooperatives at other levels are organized in a democratic manner.

3. Member Economic Participation

Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of their cooperative. At least part of that capital is usually the common property of the cooperative. They usually receive limited compensation, if any, on capital subscribed as a condition of membership. Members allocate surpluses for any or all of the following purposes: developing the cooperative, possibly by setting up reserves, part of which at least would be indivisible; benefiting members in proportion to their transactions with the cooperative; and supporting other activities approved by the membership.

4. Autonomy and Independence

Cooperatives are autonomous, self-help organizations controlled by their members. If they enter into agreements with other organizations, including governments, or raise capital from external sources, they do so on terms that ensure democratic control by their members and maintain their cooperative autonomy.

5. Education, Training and Information

Cooperatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their cooperatives. They inform the general public — particularly young people and opinion leaders — about the nature and benefits of cooperation.

6. Cooperation among Cooperatives

Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through local, national, regional and international structures.

7. Concern for Community

While focusing on member needs, cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies accepted by their members.

So, what’s your idea? I promise, I won’t steal it!

For more information, click here and here.

Old refrigerators, especially those more than 17 years old, tend to use a lot of energy. A refrigerator bought before 1993 uses more than twice as much energy as a new ENERGY STAR refrigerator. So you’re spending a lot of money to keep that refrigerator running. What’s more, refrigerant wears out and seals start to leak over time, causing a decline in the performance of an older refrigerator.

If you have moved your old refrigerator to an uninsulated location, such as a garage, it will use even more energy during hot weather. A fridge in a 90 degree environment, for example, uses nearly 50% more energy than one in a 70 degree environment. And if the temperature falls below about 40 degrees in the winter, the refrigerator’s thermostat may not run its cooling and defrost cycles for the appropriate amount of time.

So just by pulling the plug on that old refrigerator, you can save a lot of money each year.

For other tips on how to save energy—and money—visit Touchstone Energy’s energy-saving website or call the energy experts at Northern Plains Electric Cooperative. Find out how the little changes add up at http://www.TogetherWeSave.com.

To get you started, here are five quick tips that will save both energy and money. To learn about additional ways to cut your energy bill this spring, visit TogetherWeSave.com, or contact an energy expert at Northern Plains Electric Cooperative, 800-882-2500.

1. Seal the cracks and gaps around your home.  Spring may be the right time to put away those storm windows, but it is also a good time to add weather-stripping and caulking around leaky window panes.  TogetherWeSave.com shows how easy it is to use a caulking gun to seal up leaks around your house around doors, vents, ductwork and windows. A typical member at Northern Plains can save more than $200 annually.

2. Change filters regularly. Furnace and air conditioner filters need to be changed monthly and this can really help lower monthly energy bills.  Dirty filters can restrict air flow and reduce the overall efficiency of your cooling system and make it work even harder on hot summer days.

3. Clean the refrigerator inside and out.  Now is a good time to not only throw out the leftover fruit cake from the holidays, but also to check the temperature settings on your refrigerator.  Ideally, a refrigerator’s temperature should be between 37 and 40 degrees for maximum operating efficiency. When it’s time to replace that old refrigerator, be sure to buy an ENERGY STAR® rated appliance. Energy-efficient appliances can save Northern Plains members as much as $100 a year based on calculations from the TogetherWeSave.com website.

4. Think sun block.  TogetherWeSave.com demonstrates that by pulling the shades on your windows this spring and summer, you could save about $35 a year.  Your local hardware or do-it-yourself stores has lots of inexpensive window coverings. Best of all, by blocking the sun, your house will stay cool and comfortable year-round.

5. Enjoy the spring breezes.  Use a clothesline throughout the warmer months to let the sun and breeze dry clothes naturally.  This will reduce both energy and water bills, and add a genuine clean scent to your family’s laundry. You can learn more about ways to lower your monthly energy bill by visiting TogetherWeSave.com or by calling the energy experts at Northern Plains.

So where are we deficient? And don’t worry about hurting our feelings (so sweet!). Bluntness and honesty are appreciated here. Consider this a safe space

If you don’t find the answer you seek or you’d just like to elaborate to make sure we got the message, PLEASE comment below.

Thank you, thank you!

Why attend the district meeting?

Three reasons:

* Because your Northern Plains directors are elected at them. Directors are the people who manage the co-op, the same way a school board manages a school district. They are the bosses. They have the power. They make decisions about your money on your behalf. Ensure your vote is heard! District 3 director (which includes the Pingree area) Bill Riebe announced his retirement, so his seat is open for election.

* Because there’s a lot going on in the world of energy right now and that effects YOU (and the price you pay when you flip the switch). Northern Plains General Manager Jay Jacobson will tell you more about it as well as inform the audience about last year’s business.

* Because there’s FREE food and prizes! Our Northern Pains staff has been working hard to ensure our members not only learn something, but that they have a good time too.

What if I can’t make it tonight?

No problem! You can attend one of the other two meetings this week.

* Wednesday, Feb. 8, Benson County Events Center in Maddock

* Thursday, Feb. 9, Rolla Public School

See you there!

What to do? What to do?

Well, we’ll GIVE THEM AWAY of course! But only to our “friends”…

So here’s the deal, you have FOUR chances to win.

* “Like” us on Facebook. (Those who already do are automatically entered!)

* Leave a comment on this blog

* “Like” the Facebook page of our allied cooperative, Dakota Valley

* Leave a comment on Dakota Valley’s blog

All entries must be received by 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10.

We’ll select two winners (one for each cooperative) on Monday. Each winner will receive two tickets to the Saturday, Feb. 25 performance of the Former Harlem Globetrotters & Harlem Comedy All-Stars Charity Basketball Game. The event benefits the Stutsman County Reserves Deputy Association and the Jamestown volunteer firefighters. It begins at noon at the Jamestown Civic Center.

Each ticket admits one adult or two children under 12. General admission is $10 in advance or $15 at the door.

If you don’t win, but want to support this wonderful cause anyway, call 701-368-8389.

Good luck!

Questions about blog or the contest? Email me! katiea@nplains.com

Naivety, coupled with never driving on ice save for slippery roads before, allowed for disillusionment.

“I’m in,” I said. “Let’s go!”

Tasked with retiring lines submerged in the ever-rising Devils Lake Basin, lineman stationed in the Cando office drive diesel pickups over the multiple miles of ice almost every day.

“Drive with the car doors open,” the female office workers warn, pointing at inky newspaper photos of vehicles half submerged. “And don’t wear your seat belt.”

Cando, located 120 miles north of Jamestown and 40 miles south of Canada, is home to a population shrinking. Rural residents emigrate from everywhere, sure, but here, residents also move because they and their property are literally drowning.

Farms and homes, still populated with bright green John Deere tractors and manicured shutters, sat empty and lifeless as water has inundated the property and owners deserted it for higher ground. Other owners had summoned the wherewithal to at least move their farm trucks and classic cars to neighboring hills in hopes the water would recede before swallowing them too.

These vehicles site upon a hilltop southeast of Cando, N.D. Their owner likely moved them there to prevent the ever-rising lake from engulfing them. The Devils Lake region began flooding in the 1990s. It continues today.

My boss, Connie, has told the tale in North Dakota Living several times.

The lake was 25 miles from any of this property when these families settled here, she said. In a few years, the lake has risen so high, those farmers and ranchers have given up sections and even quarters of farmland in addition to their homes and finally their livelihoods, she surmised.

The water surrounding this farmstead can reach depths of up to 30 feet (notice the water levels around the barn, and the building with only its roof peeking through). In March 1993, Devils Lake had a surface area of 44,230 acres. At its June 2011 record elevation, Devils Lake covered about 211,300 acres, according to the North Dakota State Water Commission.

Northern Plains documented the water’s wrath in this video called “Roads to Nowhere: the Devils Lake Dilemma.”

Hence, the retiring power lines.

Linemen retire power lines because left standing but unused, the lines become a hazard for farm equipment, trucks and even wildlife. In Cando, however, the power lines could “cut someone’s head off” given all the boating and fishing there these days, one lineman said.

The lake’s depth exceeds 30 feet in places, so uprooting the poles in summer is obviously, out of the question. And last year’s winter, with all the snow, left the lake unnavigable. But this year’s weather and lack of precipitation means conditions are just about right for power-line removal. A few degrees cooler might help the linemen’s wives sleep at night.

Temps in Cando exceeded 30 degrees Wednesday, but Northern Plains employees were hard at work, driving over five miles of ice to their destinations, passing a house so engulfed, only its chimney poked through.

The lineman chopped the pole while a contracted service, consisting of father-son duo Dan and Jake Peterson of Minnesota, busted the ice with a track hoe and removed the submerged remains.

This track hoe, driven by Dan Peterson of Minnesota, removes power lines that were retired because of the rising water in the Devils Lake Basin.

Expenses to the cooperative continue. The labor and materials are un-billable expenses, and are directly paid by Northern Plains and its members.

Taxpayers foot the bill too.

For the last few years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) seeks  another levee raise and extension for the city of Devils Lake. The cost of this project is estimated at about $155 million, according to the water commission. Expenses to state and federal taxpayers have exceeded $450 million, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

For more information, visit the North Dakota Water Science Center.

Related articles

• How to help your neighbor, with little cost to you (nplains.com)

As the winner, Reed, who lives in Courtenay, will head to Washington DC June 16-22 to participate in National Youth Day activities sponsored by the National Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives (NRECA).  There, he will meet with legislative representatives and senators, hear noted keynote speakers and visit many of Washington’s historic landmarks.

Congratulations Reed!

High school juniors and seniors may apply for the annual contest. The student and his or her parent or guardians must be members of Northern Plains Electric Cooperative and complete an essay answering “What would your day be like without electricity?” For more information, visit http://www.ndyouthtour.com or http://www.youthtour.coop.

Check out Reed’s essay:

“A Day Without Electricity”

To be honest I know exactly what a day without electricity is like. My family just so happens to own some land on an Island off the coast of Maine where there is no electricity. We used to think a day without electricity would be easy. I could survive all day without TV or internet.

During Day 1 you can take long walks through the trees and fields with trails on the Island, or walk on the beach looking for beach glass. Catching crabs is another favorite past-time. One thing I can’t help thinking about is what’s going on in the world, but because there is no electricity I guess I don’t really need to know. It’s now dinner time and we are around the table eating instant soup that we heated with our propane stove (which by the way I hate the smell of propane). It gets dark out and because there are no electric lights we have to substitute candle sticks and kerosene lamps. Candle light really does strain one’s eyes to the point of exhaustion. Guess I’ll get some rest.

Day 2 No freshly ground coffee beans, and because we can’t have a toaster I get stuck with cold bread, too. I do get hot oatmeal but there is an enormous amount of energy that is needed to make something so simple, such as: gathering and splitting wood, bringing it inside and starting a fire, and waiting for the temperature to get hot enough to boil the water. We are here on vacation though so I’m just gonna live with it. I spilled some saltine crackers on the floor during lunch today and realized we don’t have a vacuum cleaner so I had to find the old Bissel carpet sweeper and I broke into a sweat rolling it back and forth a few dozen times.

Dad ran into some frustrations too, when he started trying to make routine seasonal  repairs. Some siding to the house blew off over the winter and my Dad was going to fix it. He found some boards that were the right width and then realized he had to hand cut them with a hand saw. “Wouldn’t it be nice if I could just use an electric circular saw?” he asked. Then came the problem of getting it attached to the house. Wishing he had an electric air nailer, all he could find was a hammer and some finishing nails.  He also would’ve loved to charge his cordless drill, cell phone, and computer.

Day 3 Mom decided she didn’t want any cold bread today. Without a waffle iron or an egg beater your choices do get limited. So she made 2 pounds of bacon on our propane stove. “Things would be so much easier if I had an electric fry pan” she’d say. We decided that we would all take showers today by laying out those black shower bags that the sun is supposed to warm, but as fate would have it, it became cloudy and overcast so we never got hot water from our so called “solar-energy.” We started a fire in the woodstove and tried to keep it going by gathering some damp wood, putting it in front of the fireplace to dry-out, and of course taking shifts to make sure the fire wouldn’t go out. Of course we didn’t have an electric heater for a quick warm-up.

Day 4 we woke up to the splat, splat of rain on the roof. It was freezing cold and I immediately put some long johns on and went downstairs to warm myself up by the fireplace, but, of course, someone fell asleep during their shift and let the whole fire die-out. I then fetched some kindling and started it up again. Later in the morning the rain cleared and it turned out to be a sticky, humid day. Since we don’t have an electric fan or air-conditioning, I took a cold dip in the ocean. Ten days later we left the Island, loaded to the gills with dirty laundry which we couldn’t wait to wash in our modern electric washer and dryer.

We always have a good time when we’re there but we sure miss the comforts of our shocking friend: electricity.

Care to win an all-expense paid trip to the nation’s capital, courtesy of your local electric cooperative? The week-long expedition will include visits to historic monuments, museums and the U.S. Capitol as well as a learning experience regarding cooperatives and the energy industry.

To qualify, you must:

* be a junior or senior in high school in the fall 2012

* you and your parents of guardians must be served by Northern Plains Electric Cooperative

* complete an essay answering “What would your day be like without electricity?” Essay may not exceed two standard two standard 8 1/2 by 11-inch typewritten, double-spaced pages

* submit the essay, a cover letter including name, date of birth, school and grade in 2012, parent or guardian’s name, address and telephone number to Connie Krapp at conniek@nplains.com. Entries must be received by MONDAY, JANUARY 30, 2012.

* be available to travel June 16-22!!

For more information, call 252-1474 or visit http://www.ndyouthtour.com and http://www.youthtour.coop.

The Jamestown College junior originally “auditioned” for the Fox television series  about a year and a half ago while her family was on vacation in Orlando. The “audition” was part of a Disney World attraction, which landed her a golden ticket, and to the front of the line for a real audition in Aspen, Colo., last summer.

At 7 p.m. on Wednesday, “American Idol” will air those auditions from Aspen. It’s unknown whether she’ll appear on Wednesday’s show.

Mums the word on the results, however. Barnick and her family signed a confidentiality agreement that everyone who auditioned or was in attendance was required to sign.

Barnick is known throughout the Jamestown area, singing for grand openings, political events, fundraisers, church functions, weddings, college plays (when she was still in high school!) and more. Her dad, David, farms south of Jamestown and her mother, Lisa, works for The Jamestown Sun.

Here’s a story I wrote about her last year. And here is one from Jamestown College’s newspaper.

Alexis is a super-sweet young lady. My husband says her voice sounds like a deeper version of Jewel. In addition to Alexis’ vocal talents, the 20-year-old also plays guitar and piano.

Best wishes, Alexis! We can’t wait to hear more

More than 60 employees, ranging from the board president to linemen and cashiers, spent eight hours assembling Wiregrass Electric Cooperative’s (Hartford, Ala.) first Habitat for Humanity home.

The employees used the day to honor the American hero and help a member of their community.

And, in true electric cooperative-style, the home was designed with energy efficiency in mind.

The home is expected to cost about $65,000. Once it’s complete, the owner will pay a monthly mortgage of $100-$250. Construction should be complete in March.

A big thanks to our friends in Alabama for their spirit of giving and commitment to community.

For more information, visit this article in Electric Cooperative Today.

Mike and Melissa Vetter, Buchanan, N.D., receive a donation from Operation Round Up after the family lost their house to fire in August 2007.

You should.

Charity Schmitt

Because, if you’re a member of the North Dakota Electric Cooperative, you helped them.

Carson Snavely and his mother, Kelly Jo Snavely of Cando, N.D.

The individuals in these photos received assistance from the 78 percent of Northern Plains Electric Cooperative members who participate in the Operation Round Up program. Operation Round Up is a program funded through cooperative members and gives to local individuals and organizations in need. Members “round up” their electric bill to the nearest dollar; the remainder of the funds go to ORU. Average member donations are $6 per year.

Northern Plains Electric’s Operation Round Up program has helped more than 600 individuals and organizations since it began here in 1998. Many of the people who receive ORU donations are suffering from medical issues and many of the organizations need money to better educate the public, serve their communities or feed the hungry.

Donations are available to anyone in the Northern Plains service area, but if you’re reading this from afar, check with your local cooperative to see if it offers the program too. Our allied cooperative, Dakota Valley, offers the program for its members. Read about Dakota Valley’s ORU here and here.

Here’s a quick Q&A:

What is Operation Round Up?

Operation Round Up is a program in which electric bills are rounded up to the next highest dollar and the balance is collected for charitable purposes. Northern Plains Electric Cooperative has distributed more than $460,000 since the program began in 1998. For more information, check out the upcoming “Northern Notes” section in the February issue of North Dakota Living or call the Northern Plains office at 800-882-2500.

How can I participate in Operation Round Up?

In order to participate in Operation Round Up, you probably don’t have to do anything! Your bill may already be enrolled in Operation Round Up.  If it is typically “rounded up” to even numbers–$68 instead of $67.44, for example, then, most likely, you are already enrolled.

If you are NOT enrolled, you can easily become a participant. Just call the Northern Plains office in Carrington at 800-882-2500

How do you apply for Operation Round Up funds?

Applications are available at both the Cando and Carrington office or online at nplains.com. The correct form must be completed and forwarded to the cooperative. The Operation Round-Up board reviews all applications and makes decisions on fund disbursement.

For more information, check out the February edition of your North Dakota Living magazine or visit the Northern Plains Electric Cooperative website.

(As a benefactor of Ronald McDonald House generosity myself, I can testify to the wonderfulness of that organization!)

Ronald McDonald‘s Car Mobile, a tour-bus-sized caravan with all the items found in a traditional dentist’s office, will provide care to children in that area beginning in February.

The service is important, said Mary Klecker-Green, communications manager at Basin Electric Power Cooperative, not only to protect smiles and reduce bad breath, but also because poor dental health can lead to poor physical health as well.

The Office of the Surgeon General under the department of Health and Human Services, would agree with her.

“(Oral diseases) can affect our ability to eat, the foods we choose, how we look, and the way we communicate. These diseases can affect economic productivity and compromise our ability to work at home, at school, or on the job,” the office said in its National Call to Action to Promote Oral Health in spring 2003.

Our hats off to Ronald McDonald House, Basic Electric Cooperative as well as KEM Electric Cooperative, Linton, McKenzie Electric Cooperative, Watford City, and Slope Electric Cooperative, New England, who partnered to provide the care.

Read more here and here.

Related articles

• Electric Co-op Association Fighting Climate Policy Ironically Laments Financial Impact of “Historic” Extreme Weather (thinkprogress.org)
• Ronald McDonald House Family Room volunteer helps families in crisis (pennlive.com)
• API Outsourcing Joins the NRECA National Discounts Program (prweb.com)

* Energy independence one of Conrad’s final priorities: Sen. Kent “Conrad (D-N.D.) said he’s also working with his colleagues to also craft a national energy policy that will reduce America’s dependence on undependable and insecure nations.”

* N.D. wind projects sail while S.D.’s die in the breeze.: “North Dakota is poised to add hundreds of megawatts of wind energy in 2012, while development has slowed to a near stop in South Dakota.”

Source: Northern Plains Electrical Cooperative

What to do if you drive over downed power lines

1). DON’T get out of the car

2). Stay seated

3). Try to drive away

Check out this video: How to stay safe around downed power lines

What To Do If An Appliance Sparks or Smokes

Avoid touching the appliance itself, but unplug it immediately (or cut the power if it’s controlled by a switch). If there is no other way to turn off the appliance, disable the power feeding the circuit at your breaker box. Once the item has cooled off completely, have it serviced by the appropriate professional.

If the appliance catches fire, don’t try to put it out with water! If you can safely put out the fire with an extinguisher rated for electrical fires, great. If you have one shred of doubt, don’t even try. Whether you can put the fire out or not, you must immediately get everyone out of the house and call the fire department when you have reached a safe place. Why? The wiring in your walls may have also caught fire and even if you managed to put out the blazing appliance, you may have a fire smoldering inside your wall. Don’t return home until the fire department tells you that it’s safe to do so.

What To Do If An Appliance Plug Sparks or Smokes

Cut off the power to the outlet immediately. Once you have disabled the outlet, unplug the device and let it sit until it has cooled off. Check your breaker box for signs of a blown fuse or tripped breaker and reset/replace if necessary. Inspect both the appliance’s cord and its plug. If either appears to be damaged, it will need replacement. If they appear fine, the problem may be your outlet and you may need to consider replacing the outlet itself.

What To Do If A Light Bulb Breaks Off In A Socket

Okay, so this isn’t exactly a major emergency, but it does create a dangerous situation that can easily be overcome. Unplug the lamp or turn off the switch to the installed fixture and put on safety goggles, particularly if the bulb is in an overhead receptacle. Using a piece of completely dry bar soap, carefully push one end of the bar against the edges of the broken bulb and twist it free. Discard soap.

* North Dakota cities top the charts of two American Lung Association’s surveys: Cleanest U.S. Cities for Ozone Air Pollution and Top 25 Cleanest U.S. Cities for Year-Round Particle Pollution. Those charts may be part of the reason the National Rural Electrical Cooperative Association is calling new guidelines from the Environmental Protection Agency “too hasty.” Co-ops fear they will have to pass the costs from the $10 billion final rule directly onto their consumers.

* Amid recession, consumers look to stretch their wallets by cutting energy. One quick fix? Unplug the gaming device Santa gave you… it’ll save $90+ per year.

Then replug all those cords into one power strip with an on-off switch. (If you’re like me, you have three or four awaiting use in the bottom of a desk drawer.) With the power cord, you and your family can power each machine on and off with one simple click… and save $150 in the process.

Check out a demo at Touchstone Energy’s TogetherWeSave.com here.

See, even when they aren’t on, your TVs, DVRs, Nintendo Wii systems, etc., use power. That wastes resources and hard-earned money… about $150 per year for the average home, according to TogetherWeSave.com. (Here‘s what TogetherWeSave.com assumes is an average family home.)

Tips like these come in handy when the need for energy increases in winter. Plus, Dakota Valley and Northern Plains consumers can expect rate increases beginning in January and April respectively. So implement these tips now, and you won’t notice an increase come 2012

Other ways to reduce wasted power and to save money:

* Set your thermostat to cheap: for each degree you lower your thermostat in the winter, expect to see a savings of about $180/year. So if you usually keep your house a toasty 70 degrees, reduce that heat to 68 degrees, and invest the $360 you just saved into a pair of wooly slippers.

* Adjust the blinds: Allowing the sunshine in during winter and keeping it out in summer can save your household about 50 bucks a year. The sunshine naturally warms your home, so in the winter, it gives your heating elements a warming boost…. at no charge! So close the curtains in summer, and open them when the snow falls.

* Beat the (water) heat: Water heaters need not be set for more than 120 degrees. Reduce your settings from 135 degrees to 120 degrees and save the $60 or so you save each year for water skis, water falls or water towers… anything but wasted energy on your water heater.

Check out other tips at TogetherWeSave.com.

So, how do you save money on power bills?

Through the ERC program, qualifying Dakota Valley members may borrow up to $5,000 at five percent interest to purchase and install energy-efficient electric heating and cooling systems and electric water heating systems. Eligible projects also include those which increase energy efficiency—such as replacing doors and windows and adding insulation. Also, the ERC loan program may be used by cooperative members to purchase and install closed-loop geothermal heat pumps at cooperative-served sites. A qualifying member, with board approval, may receive a loan for 50 percent of the cost of a total heat pump project (funding may not exceed $10,000).

For more information about the cooperative’s ERC loan program, contact Northern Plains Electric at justask@nplains.com, call (800) 882-2500,, or visit nplains.com.

North Dakota might have a booming energy economy, but you can’t tell it by the quality of air surrounding the state’s power plants.  The North Dakota Department of Health has successfully designed, implemented and enforced air quality programs that puts us at the top—one of only 12 states in the nation which complies with all federal ambient air quality standards.
Included in the state’s clean air program is a plan that has been in the works for four years.  The health department’s plan for reducing pollution-caused haze requires North Dakota’s coal-based power plants to upgrade equipment that has been proven to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 60 percent.
But the folks at EPA have other plans.  It has drafted rules that would require North Dakota to dump its own plan in favor of an EPA proposal costing $700 million MORE than the state’s plan.  To justify this added cost, EPA insists its plan will cut emissions of nitrogen oxide by 90 percent.
At a hearing in mid-October in Bismarck, North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple questioned those claims.  “The technology that EPA proposes isn’t even proven to work with our lignite coal, and would cost the state 14 times more than the state plan,” said Dalrymple.  “EPA’s plan makes no economic or environmental sense.”
Your voice is needed
The governor expressed his opinion of EPA’s plan to override North Dakota’s authority to regulate its own industry.  He urged EPA to abide by the Clean Air Act which allows states to regulate their own industries.

Your cooperative urges you to join the governor in relaying this message to the EPA.  It’s important that EPA hears from you and all North Dakotans who believe that we are fully capable of regulating our own air quality without spending exorbitant amounts of money on technology that hasn’t been proven to work with North Dakota’s lignite.

Please submit your written comments to EPA by the deadline, Nov. 21!  For more information and to submit your comments, please visit http://www.stopepand.com/ where you may fill out a form that will be emailed to EPA.   Or log into your Facebook account and visit this page:  http://www.facebook.com/StopEPAND.  The “take action now” image below will take you directly to the form. Don’t hesitate to stand up for North Dakota.

Where can I see the regional haze in question?
Nowhere in North Dakota.  In 2010, the American Lung Association ranked Mercer County (home to several coal-based power plants) as one of the 26 cleanest counties in the US.  Billings County, home to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, is the third cleanest.  While the EPA plan to reduce regional haze must be focused on what is visible to the human eye, its proposal will not provide perceptible improvement in visibility.

Do you know someone facing a challenge?  Consider submitting an application to Northern Plains Electric Cooperative’s Operation Round Up program on their behalf.  Operation Round Up charitable gifts are making a difference in the lives of people right here in our region.

Operation Round Up is funded by Northern Plains member-consumers who “round up” their electric bill each month. Funds are available for private consumers’ as well community-based, non-profit organizations within the cooperative’s service area.

The Northern Plains Operation Round Up board is accepting applications on a continual basis. Funds will be awarded at the end of each quarter to worthy individuals and organizations. The board will meet again in December 2011 to view applications and award charitable gifts.

Anyone interested in additional information, including how to apply for the beneficial program, should please contact Northern Plains Electric Cooperative by emailing tamia@nplains.com  or calling (800) 882-2500. Guidelines and downloadable applications are also on our website here.

Friends and family are hosting a support benefit to support Russell during his long recovery process.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Knights of Columbus Hall, located on First Avenue, Jamestown, North Dakota

Meal & Silent Auction: 4:30-7:00 p.m.
Pulled pork sandwiches, knepfla soup and bars for $7.00/person or $20.00/family

Live Auction: 7:00 p.m.
Items include guns, quilts, pies and more.

A donation account is also set up at First Community Credit Union, Jamestown.

This event is supplemented by Stutsman County Thrivent Chapter 3137

BY ERIK GERMAN, The Daily

BISMARCK, N.D. — It’s easy to look at the accident that paralyzed Russell Carlson, 62, and see only gross misfortune. A faulty ladder and a 14-foot fall left the North Dakota wheat farmer trapped in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

Rural Jamestown farmer Russell Carlson, pictured here in October 2010, was often seen on his Harley Davidson motorcycle before the July 2011 accident that paralyzed him from the waist down.

“It’s frightening,” said Carlson, a gray-bearded bear of a man who looked profoundly misplaced in a hospital room. “I probably haven’t come fully to grip with it yet. It’s gonna be a hell of a change.”

But visit with Carlson for long, or talk to family and friends who inhabit the high plains surrounding his farm, and a brighter picture emerges. For anyone facing personal misfortune, there’s perhaps a lesson in Carlson’s refusal to submit to bitterness. And for a country facing widespread economic misfortune, there may be a lesson in how Carlson’s community has come to his aid since his fall. In an act reminiscent of an old-time barn-raising, neighbors are helping harvest Carlson’s 3,000 acres of wheat and soybeans and an organization called Farm Rescue has pitched in. All those involved insisted that, in their part of the world, such efforts are nothing remarkable at all.

“That’s just what we do around here,” said Kathy Blouin, 48, a neighbor who spent several days helping the Carlsons. “We can’t think of it any other way.”

There’s something unique about North Dakota, and it goes beyond jokes about the weather and blandly earnest plains-dwellers. Some researchers have actually found ways to calculate how supportive and cohesive various communities are. By a number of measures, North Dakota leads the nation in the kind of community spirit that saved the Carlson’s farm.

Carlson’s accident began with a mundane task. On the drizzly afternoon of July 26, he stood atop an aluminum extension ladder, nailing down a piece of sheet metal roofing that the wind had loosened from the barn. Suddenly, the hinged clasps that keep the ladder extended broke free, causing the 6-foot-2 man to topple to the ground. Seconds, perhaps several minutes passed, Carlson can’t be sure. He awoke, fished the cellphone from his pocket and dialed his brother, Richard.

Russell Carlson, director for Dakota Valley’s allied cooperative Northern Plains Electric, received harvest help from Farm Rescue after suffering a devastating fall that left him paralyzed.

“I think I’m paralyzed,” Carlson said into the phone. “There’s — there’s no feeling.”

Tears slipped down Carlson’s cheeks as he remembered. The veteran of the Army’s 82 Airborne Division who once spent his free time riding Harley-Davidson motorcycles isn’t accustomed to crying. He’s numb from the chest down and says his chances of walking again are worse than slim. The simplest skills must be relearned.

“I couldn’t even sit on the edge and balance myself,” Carlson said, recalling his first days in the hospital. “Any kid can do that.”

Carlson blames no one for the accident. He doesn’t plan to sue the ladder company, or anyone else.  “Not everything should be a lawsuit,” Carlson said. “I could go back and get mad at somebody. But what’s it gonna change?”

Carlson’s brother and partner on the farm, Richard, 65, has tried to remain similarly upbeat. “It could’ve been worse — we could have been going to a funeral three weeks ago,” Richard said, resembling a clean-shaven copy of his brother while seated at the kitchen table of his three-bedroom farmhouse. “You look at the positives. He’s got his arms and he’s got his head yet. You just have to work with that.”

Still, Richard said he’ll miss walking alongside Russell on land their father first bought in 1946. The brothers have been in business together nearly 30 years.

“We don’t need to finish each other’s sentences because we already know what the other is thinking,” Richard said, fighting to keep the tears in his voice at bay. “It’s never going to be the same, that’s for sure.”

Richard glanced out the window, eyes wet, and shifted talk to the coming rain. Harvest could be delayed again, he said.

Richard’s wife, Lori, touched Richard’s arm. “The best way we deal with emotion around here,” she said, winking at a visitor, “is to switch it to farming.”

Thanks to an outpouring of community support, the Carlsons’ farm will be just fine this year. Two weeks ago, Richard had fired up his mammoth red International combine to begin harvesting alone. He was still calibrating his machine’s moisture tester when half a dozen neighbors and other volunteers arrived almost simultaneously, looking to lend equipment or just lend a hand.

Russell Carlson, from Jamestown, North Dakota, during a recent rehab session at St. Alexius hospital in Bismarck, North Dakota. Helping him is physical therapist Beth Martinson. Carlson is paralized from the waist down after a July fall from a ladder at the family farm.

Mark Gehlhar, 59, came in his pick-up. Kathy Blouin, 48, showed up with a triple-axle grain truck.  Bobbi Rode, 43, arrived with carloads of food — two days worth of bratwursts, sloppy Joes, and a buttery, brownie-like dessert she calls “jeans bars” because you’ve got to loosen your jeans after you eat ’em.”

Had the neighbors not come, Lori Carlson said the family’s entire yearly income would have been at risk. As she stood in her kitchen that day, watching friends, neighbors and strangers pick the wheat crop Russell was too injured to harvest, she became overwhelmed.

“It’s not my way to necessarily cry at the drop of a hat,” said Lori, 52. “But it was heart-wrenching and heart-warming.”

Significant help in the form of two John Deere combines came from a North Dakota-based charity called Farm Rescue.  Since 2005, the group has trucked the two massive green harvesting machines and other equipment to farms in several states, helping growers laid low by injury or illness.

“We don’t give out a dime of money,” said Bill Gross, the founder of the Jamestown-based group, based a few miles from the Carlsons’ farm. “We actually go out and do the work.”

With a budget of about $250,000, the charity accepts applications from farmers in need and then helps those it can. The volunteers and donated machinery come during the season’s two critical periods — planting and harvest — when growers’ financial futures hang in the balance.

Bill Gross, founder and president of Farm Rescue.

The son of North Dakota farmers who fell on hard times in the 1980s, Gross said he founded Farm Rescue to help when small growers have become fewer and more vulnerable than ever. As farming becomes more industrialized, the risks of career-ending injuries have only increased.

“We’ve had farmers burned up in combines, run over by combines or grain trucks, with broken backs, broken necks. We’ve helped farmers that have an arm cut off in grain augers, just crazy stuff,” Gross said. “They’re out by themselves working with equipment that has a lot of moving parts, they’re fatigued and that’s how these things happen.”

Gross said the group formalizes the labor neighbors spontaneously provide in times of need. “What we do really does go back to the days of the small family farm, to the days of barn-raisings,” Gross said. “The only difference is we do it in a more structured manner.”

In many ways, the group embodies the public-spiritedness that ought to count as one of North Dakota’s key natural resources. Neighborliness, of course, is hard to pin down, but social scientists have consistently found the state to be rich in “social capital,” a term that tries to capture the degree of social cohesiveness or cooperation within particular societies.

One way to measure is by looking at the number of organizations in a given region — cooperatives, nonprofits, community groups, volunteer associations — dedicated to public good rather than profit.  One recent study cataloguing cooperatives, for example, found that on a county-by-county basis, North Dakota scored higher than any state.

“That’s consistent with other studies actually,” said one the paper’s co-authors, Stephan Goetz of Pennsylvania State University. “It’s not just a fluke in our data.”

In the 2000 book “Bowling Alone,” researcher Robert Putnam found the Northern Plains consistently scored high by all measures of social capital — cooperation, public-spiritedness, you name it.  For two specific measurements — the average number of associations residents belonged to and the general degree of social trust — North Dakota scored the highest in the nation.

Part of the explanation lays in North Dakota’s settlement patterns, said Curtis Stofferahn, a sociologist at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. Immigrants from closely knit, highly cooperative European countries like Sweden and Norway are spread out thinly here, farming in harsh weather with crops highly vulnerable to price shocks.

“We live on the edge of economic catastrophe,” Stofferahn said. “In a sparsely settled rural population, people are cooperative by necessity. We provide assistance to our neighbors when they’re in a desperate situation and there’s a notion that if the tables were turned, my neighbors would respond in kind.”

Blouin, who mowed lawns for a neighbor recovering from a triple bypass operation the same week she helped with Carlson’s harvest, has a simpler explanation. Sure, neighbors have helped her out in the past, and they’ll help her out again. But thoughts of reciprocity don’t enter into it.

“It’s not a question you even ask yourself,” Blouin said. “It’s just what neighbors around here do. We help each other out. Just like the good ol’ days.”

The Daily is a national news brand publishing content exclusively for the iPad. www.thedaily.com

This is a professional position offering a generous benefit package. Please submit resume complete with employment and salary history postmarked by Oct. 21, 2011 to Northern Plains Electric Cooperative, 3322 Highway 281 North, Jamestown, ND 8401, or e-mail to: conniek@nplains.com. No telephone inquiries, please.

Thanks to all of our employees for their continuous hard work. See the video below, produced by the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives, honoring North Dakota’s rural electric cooperative employees.

Items for bid:

2000 Ford F350, 191,884 miles, fiberglass body
2002 Ford F550, Diesel, 154,947 miles, cab chasis
2000 Ford F350, 181,068 miles, fiberglass body
1996 Chevy ¾ Ton Ext Cab Pickup, 193,237 miles
2002 Dodge Caravan, 142,130 miles
Tandem Axle Trailer w/Penta Hitch
6’ Heston 3-Point Rotary Mower
(Items above are located at our Cando, ND office.)

1991 International 4800 Pitman Digger Truck, 132,760 miles, 4 X 4 Diesel
2005 Chevy, 166,303 miles, 3500, cab chasis, 8.1 Litre
(Items above are located at our Carrington, ND office.)

All items are to be sold “as is” with no warranty.  Northern Plains reserves the right to reject any or all bids.
Questions? 1-800-882-2500  •  nplains.com

Printed in the August 2011 edition of the Northern Notes magazine.

2 – Number of times Devils Lake has reached its spill elevation in the last 4,000 years

2.5 – Number of feet Devils Lake has risen this year.

3.5  - Number of feet Devils Lake has to rise before it spills down the Sheyenne.

6 – Number of inches taken off annually by present west-end outlet.

22 – Number of people since 1993 who have died after their vehicles were submerged in Devils Lake Basin water.

10,000-15,000 – Number of acres of land swallowed each time Devils Lake rises one foot.

44,230 – Number of acres covered by Devils Lake in 1993.

209,000 – Number of acres covered by Devils Lake today.

261,000 – Number of acres covered by Devils Lake at its spill elevation of 1458.

Here’s a tip from Northern Plains Electric Cooperative that can help you drive a stake through the heart of these vampires, saving energy and money.

One way to identify  energy vampires is to look for devices with remote controls—TVs, DVRs, and audio equipment, for example. Then target gaming consoles, computers, monitors, and printers as well as chargers for cells phones, iPods, small DVD players, and laptops. Chargers draw energy even when they’re not charging anything.

An easy way to seal the coffin on energy vampires is to plug components of your  computer or home entertainment system into a power strip. With a single flip of a switch, you can fully cut power to them.

In addition, don’t forget to unplug any appliances—such as coffee makers and toaster ovens— with digital clocks when you aren’t using them. As TogetherWeSave.com has shown, pulling plugs and employing power strips can save you $222 in electric bills per year

For other tips on how to save energy—and money—visit http://www.energysavers.gov or Touchstone Energy® Cooperatives energy-saving website, www.TogetherWeSave.com, or call the efficiency experts at Northern Plains Electric Cooperative.

Insider Tips with Cooperative Energy Expert Tim Johnson features advice on energy efficiency, new technology and electric appliances. Have a question for Tim? Leave a comment on this post with an email address and he’ll reply.

How a heat pump water heater works:

There are two types of heat pump water heater. The add-on unit is installed on an existing electric resistance water heater. The other, an integrated or drop-in unit, replaces an existing electric water heater. The heat pumps work in essentially the same way, though the add-on units aren’t efficient enough to qualify for an ENERGY STAR rating.

The heat pump draws heat from the surrounding air and uses it to heat water in a tank, like a reverse refrigeration system. Heat pump water heaters have at least one backup electric resistance element in the tank, for use when the ambient air is too cold for heat pump operation or larger amounts of hot water are needed. The cool exhaust air is released into the area where the heat pump water heater sits, cooling and dehumidifying the surrounding air. The new-generation models on the market cannot duct the exhaust air outside. However, manufacturers plan to remedy the external ducting issue.

The heat pump water heater uses electricity to move heat from one place to another, rather than to generate heat. As a result, the unit uses roughly half the electricity of a conventional electric water heater.

Major Benefits:

Water heating is the second largest energy end use in homes, accounting for between 15% and 25% of residential energy consumption, according to the ENERGY STAR Web site. Heat pump water heaters have an energy factor (EF)—a measure of efficiency—of 2.0 or higher, more than double that of an electric resistance water heater, which has an average EF of 0.90.  An ENERGY STAR qualified heat pump water heater with an EF of 2.0 has the potential to save 2,662 kWh annually.

DOE has estimated that a heat pump water heater costs $243 annually to run, compared with $539 for a conventional electric water heater.

• Cooling and dehumidifying made easy. Heat pump water heaters are most efficient in warm and damp climates where the unit is able to draw its energy mainly from the surrounding ambient air. In such a climate, the unit also can cool and dehumidify the area it’s in, by releasing the unit’s exhaust air indoors.

Drawbacks:

• Price. A heat pump water heater generally costs more than twice as much as an electric resistance water heater. Excluding installation and any financial incentives, the retail price of an integrated unit is around $1,500. Depending on the retail cost of electricity and the installed cost of the heat pump water heater, including any financial incentives, the payback period is as little as three years. In areas with low electricity rates and limited financial incentives, however, the payback period will be longer.
• Installation. A heat pump water heater can generally be installed in a conditioned or unconditioned space. However, the space must be at least 10 feet square to ensure adequate air exchange for the heat pump. An open basement, a utility area or—in some climates—a garage is appropriate. Professional installation also is important. Make sure the contractor you hire understands all installation requirements.
• Noise. A conventional electric water heater operates almost noiselessly. Most heat pump water heaters, however, operate at between 60 and 70 decibels, about the same level as a window air conditioner. Consider the when deciding where to install a heat pump water heater.
• Use in Northern climates. Because the heat pump draws energy from the surrounding air, heat pump water heaters installed in locations where the ambient air dips below a given level will experience reduced efficiency. This may be an issue for a heat pump water heater installed in a garage. For example, if the heat pump is designed to work at ambient air temperatures of 45° F or higher, the water heater’s electric element will operate whenever the air temperature drops below that level, reducing energy savings.

What’s ahead

If you’re in the market for a new water heater, a heat pump unit may be right for you, especially if it will be used for its dehumidifying capabilities, like in a damp basement.

These are early days for the new-generation heat pump water heaters, and the technology is evolving. Testing of the product will provide valuable information on its performance. As manufacturers receive feedback, changes, large and small, may be made to their models.

A small portable gasoline-powered electric generator can give power for appliances, sump pumps, air conditioners, heaters and other items that keep your home safe from flood waters and high or low temperatures.
It’s a small cost to protect your investments, and is the most economical way to supply power during a power outage. Use a portable generator of the proper wattage for your needs–at least 4,000 Watts for starters.
Portable generators give peace of mind and protection.

Generator Safety: Portable generators are useful when you need temporary or remote electric power, but they can be hazardous. The primary hazards? Carbon monoxide poisoning, electric shock or electrocution, and fire.

Electrical Hazards: Plug appliances directly into a generator or use a heavy-duty outdoor-rated extension cord. NEVER plug the generator into a wall outlet or connect it to your home’s wiring. Doing so, without first disconnecting from the utility grid, will endanger utility lineworkers and your neighbors. If you require whole-house use, have a licensed electrician install the equipment to safely connect emergency generators.
Carbon Monoxide Hazards: Always use generators outdoors. NEVER use generators in homes, garages, basements, or any enclosed areas, even with ventilation. Install battery-operated or plug-in (with battery backup) carbon monoxide (CO) alarms in your home, and follow manufacturer’s instructions. Test alarms often and replace batteries when needed.

It’s been nearly 20 years since Devils Lake began swallowing land, farms and infrastructure in a feeding frenzy that just doesn’t seem to end.  Since 1993, it has risen some 31 feet, inundating 170,000 acres of land, and submerging farms, businesses and dreams.

And still no relief from rising water
Land, livelihoods and lifestyles lost
Printed in the August 2011 edition of the Northern Notes magazine. Photos and story by Connie Krapp

John Elsperger grew up on a farm between Maza and Lake Alice.  Today, there’s nothing much left to Maza (south of Cando) which was taken over by a weed infestation.   Lake Alice was taken over too—by something much more hostile.  The bucolic pond—and seven more like it in the region–have been swallowed by the burgeoning Devils Lake.  And if something doesn’t change soon, the farm of Elsperger’s childhood will be swallowed, too.

If that does happen, it wouldn’t be the first.  Hundreds of farms in the Devils Lake region were flooded out during the past 18 years. But this spring, Devils Lake advanced farther than expected by Elsperger and many others like him.  I knew the water would come up again this spring, but I never thought it’d advance this far,” says Elsperger, who together with his son, farms approximately 3,000 acres in the Cando-Maza area.  “Last year, only 10 percent of our land was under water.  This year, we couldn’t get to more than 70 percent of it.”

Diana & John Elsperger

Standing southeast of Cando at an intersection of gravel roads that disappear into the lake in three directions, Elsperger points to an expanse of water extending to the horizon and explains, “This is where we raised a beautiful crop last year.  It used to be more than 20 miles from Devils Lake.  Now, it’s part of it.”

Little help for landowners losing land and livelihoods
Unlike many belonging to the league of Devils Lake region farmers who lost land to water, Elsperger still has hopes that he and his son will qualify for a program that reimburses farmers for loss of the use of their land—USDA’s Prevented Planting Program. “In order to qualify, you must have planted the land the two previous years,” he explains.  “Unfortunately, so many of the farmers around here lost eligibility years and years ago.”

Elsperger says he and his wife, Diana, have witnessed unending heartache during the past decade.  “Looking at the area south of Church’s Ferry across the region toward Devils Lake, I can’t help but think about all the abandoned farms and people who have left,” notes Diana.  “It’s beyond sad.”

Despite seeing so many of their neighbors and friends losing their livelihoods to Devils Lake’s insatiable thirst, the Elspergers hold out hope that the land they’ve farmed for generations won’t be entirely lost to water.    “The ground here in the basin is absolutely saturated–there is nowhere to store any more water.  The sponge is full,” says Elsperger, who serves as vice president of the Devils Lake Basin Joint Water Resource Board (Basin Water Board) and a member of the Towner County Water Board.  “We have to get some of this water off now, so there’s room for spring runoff.”

Pressure is on to find a solution
Since 1993, the lake has swallowed 170,000 acres of farmland, devastated two small cities, interrupted rail service, broken or disrupted businesses, stolen 1,100 jobs and cost US taxpayers $1 billion.  Its wallop on the regional economy is $195 million annually, and for every foot the lake rises, it takes out another 10,000 to 15,000 acres.  In response to all this flooding, roads and highways were raised and repaired countless times and still there isn’t a smooth ride anywhere in the Devils Lake basin, which covers an area of 3,810 square miles and encompasses parts of nine counties.

“I am hopeful that, after the tragedies we saw play out in Minot and Bismarck, that people will understand that we have to allow gravity to gradually draw this water down before the lake reaches 1458,” says Elsperger.  “If we can get this water off in a controlled manner, it’s safer for everybody.”

Jeff Frith, manager of the Basin Water Board, echoes Elsperger’s concern.  “Some folks think it will happen sooner—that water will break through to its natural overflow even before it gets to 1458 feet,” he says.  “What we do know, though, is that once it rises to 1458 feet–if not controlled– the lake will spill over into the Tolna Coulee and rage down the Sheyenne River at 12,000 to 14,000 cubic feet per second for an estimated 96 days.  To put that into perspective, Valley City struggled this spring when water came at 7,700 cubic feet per second for a few days.”

Jeff Frith

Plan to pump in place
To date, efforts to stabilize the rapid rise of Devils Lake (which has risen more than 31 feet since 1993), has centered around eight powerful pumps at work on the lake’s west side just south of Minnewaukan.    Known as the West Outlet, these pumps send 250  cfs into the Sheyenne six months a year.

“The state is spending $325,000 per month to operate those pumps and they aren’t having much effect at all,” laments Frith.  “They really are more symbolic than anything else.”

Frith says a similar outlet the state is adding to the east side of the lake (which will be operational next June) won’t be much more effective.  “The outlet will pump 350 cfs from the east end.  If you then total the output of all pumps on both outlets, you are talking about a total effect of 600 cubic feet per second—which would lower the lake by a maximum of one foot per year,” he says.  “The trouble is that lately, the lake has been rising about  two-and-a-half to three feet each year.”

What would offer hope to the people of the Devils Lake region, says Frith, is a structure added now that would allow officials to regulate the flow of water through the Tolna Coulee to the Sheyenne.  “We need to move this water in an orderly fashion,” he says.  “If we could start moving 1,000 to 1,500 cubic feet per second, we could lower the lake two to three feet yet this year.  This is the only meaningful way to provide relief for the people here and at the same time protect the folks downstream.”

Todd Sando, North Dakota State Water Commission Chief Engineer, says the state’s outlets are effective in a typical year of a wet cycle.  “For 16 of the 19 years of this flood, the outlets would have kept up just fine, even in a wet cycle,” he explains.  “But 2009 and 2011 are far from typical.”

Sando says the outlets have been the only legal, social and environmentally-responsible way to address the dilemma of Devils Lake.  “From a strict engineering perspective, though, it’s not the most effective.”

But Elsperger and others hold a little hope in the other step the state is taking to tame Devils Lake:  installing a control structure in Tolna Coulee that will allow for natural flow and natural erosion–but only after the lake rises to 1458 feet.  “We want that water moving,” says Sando.  “It is a winter project that will be in place by next spring.”

Escaping catastrophe?
After 18 years of searching for a way to tame the wild waters of Devils Lake,  Elsperger is hopeful that plans to harness the waters will be in place in time.   “I understand the concerns people downstream have about water quality and flow,” he says.  “We have a daughter who lives in Valley City.  I certainly wouldn’t advocate for anything that would hurt her or her community.”

He says what worries him the most is what will happen to Valley City and other downstream towns if water flows uncontrolled.  “Our hearts go out to the people in Bismarck and Minot,” he says.  “I don’t want to see my daughter—or any of the other folks downstream—go through a catastrophe like that.”

Click to view slideshow.

Related articles

• Wild Wayward Devils Lake; Part 1: The queen of the island (nplains.com)
• Latest video now on YouTube channel (nplains.com)

 

The queen of the island
Printed in the July 2011 edition of the Northern Notes magazine. Story and photos by Kirsti Craig 

“They call me the queen of this island,” Tammy Tollefson, Northern Plains Electric member and rural Penn resident, says with a slight chuckle.
She fits the bill; her home is high on a hill, surrounded by a moat of sparkling blue waters.

The 1,500-acre island she – and her boyfriend, Chad Hoffert – have to themselves includes their own country church, four other recently abandoned farmsteads, and acres of inaccessible farmland. Any queen would be envious of such a kingdom. But this resourceful Dakotan feels more like a martyr than royalty. She’s living a life the 15 other residents of the landlocked patch of prairie northwest of Devils Lake were forced to leave behind when floodwaters inundated the last road to home in April.
Together with two aging horses and two loyal dogs, Tammy is fighting. Fighting for her way of life, her home, and a road to get there. It’s a path few would dare take, but for Tollefson, it’s the only one considered.
Life on the island is eerily quiet, even for rural North Dakota. No passing cars on the roads, no tractors in the untilled fields, no mail in the boxes, and no yard work in process on the abandoned farms. As Tollefson drives a Polaris Ranger ATV across the gravel roads of the land she’s lived on for 28 years, she talks about the options, the past, the present and of the uncertain future. “Everyone has started calling me Tammy Revere,” Tollefson explains.
“I’m going out and spreading the message that some want to forget about. The rural people – the farmers, landowners and rural residents – are the hardest hit by this flood. Haven’t we suffered enough? When will we be taken care of?”
“None of my neighbors were able to stay and do what I’m doing,” Tollefson says of her life on her landlocked farmstead. “Some were elderly, another family had young children, and another woman is disabled. I’m living like this and fighting this fight for everyone who can’t.”
Some wonder why she doesn’t leave her home like the others.
“My property sits on a hill 14 feet above the highest level Devils Lake will reach before it creates a natural outlet,” Tollefson says. “I’ll never flood, and most of my neighbors are the same. But the roads to get here have. All I want is a road home.”

The road less traveled

Tammy Tollefson lost her road to high water. Here’s how she’s coping:

Step 1: After parking her heavy pickup at a bin site for the night, Tammy drives the lighter-weight van across a mile-and-a-half of roads covered in up to a foot of water.

Step 2: She parks the van along the side of the road. Tammy uses a borrowed ARGO all-terrain-vehicle (ATV) to maneuver through a half-mile of muddy, waterlogged farmland.

Step 3: Before reaching the deepest water in the field, Tammy parks the ARGO to float in a duck boat across approximately 150 feet of three-feet-deep water. A guide rope ensures the wind doesn’t carry the boat off course.

Step 4: A waiting Polaris Ranger ATV takes Tammy the 1.5 miles to her farmstead, located in the trees on the horizon.

Learn more about Tammy’s long road home through her YouTube videos seen here.

Offices will be closed on Monday, July 4, 2011 for the Independence Day holiday. Have a safe and happy holiday weekend!

Twenty-eight solar panels and two wind turbines generate all electricity for Northern Plains member Greg Spinningsby’s log hunting cabin.“The combination of both works well because one source always seems to be going strong. They complement one another nicely,” he says.

How much will I be paid for electricity I sell back to Northern Plains (NPEC)?
4.3 cents per kilowatt-hour (KWH), as set by our board. How will I know how much electricity I sell back to NPEC? NPEC will install a new, member-purchased revenue meter, to correctly meter the electricity the cooperative delivers and receives, after your renewable energy project is completed in accordance with the cooperative’s requirements and after the electrician has submitted an electric wiring certificate covering the interconnection of the project. The meter price begins around $200; three-phase and transformer rated meters cost more.

How can I calculate the full value of the electricity I produce?
The electric bill shows the value of the electricity sold to NPEC. To manually calculate the value of the electricity you produced and used, not sold, a separate member-owned meter is installed to measure the entire output of your renewable energy project. On the last day of each month, read your member-owned meter to calculate the total KWH generated. Then, subtract the number of KWHs sold back into the power grid, as shown on NPEC’s monthly bill. The difference is the amount of electricity generated and used. Because this amount has offset electricity normally purchased from NPEC, it should be valued at the co-op’s retail rate. For most accounts the average cost is 8.8 cents per KWH.

Do I have to sign a contract before I can interconnect with the power grid?
No. However, upcoming federal regulations may require it.

Are there minimum requirements for the interconnect equipment?
Yes. It’s the member’s responsibility to provide interconnection equipment which meets the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) P1547 guidelines and standards for interconnection to distributed generation installations under 10-MW. It must ensure that when NPEC’s distribution system is down, your generator doesn’t continue delivering electricity into the power grid. Please provide technical specifications of the interconnection to NPEC for approval prior to interconnection. We require a lockable outdoor disconnect on the power output of your generator with access available at all times for our line workers.

Does NPEC require I carry liability insurance?
No. However, members normally carry liability insurance against personal or property damage, which may include coverage on the interconnection and operation of the generator. Ask your insurance agent.

My electric heat is currently on NPEC’s sub-metered off-peak rate. Can I continue with this program if I install a consumer-owned generation system?
No. Though, you may continue to participate in NPEC’s special off-peak or discounted electric rates if your electric heat or grain drying is wired and metered separately from that which serves the consumer-generation facility.
If you install a consumer-owned generation facility and wish to continue receiving the discounted rate on your electric heat or grain drying use, you need to run secondary wires from the existing transformer to a dedicated electric heat and/or grain drying service panel so that the electricity can be metered separately from all other loads.
For dual heat/off peak systems, our load control receiver (LCR) must be able to interrupt service to the electric heat at any time. Under this option, the power output of your consumer-owned generation system cannot be used to provide any of the sub-metered electric heat and/or off-peak grain drying energy.

What is the size limit on single-phase service locations?
“We’ve determined a maximum size of 150 kilovolt amps (kVA). This allows a total of 150 kilowatts (kW) for residential loads, or a total of 200-horse-power (hp) for grain handling systems and other motor loads.”

Is this something new at the cooperative?
“No, however explaining it in a policy is new. In the past, we’ve determined the maximum size on an individual basis. With our old method it was possible to consume all of the available capacity at one location. This new broad spectrum approach makes it fairer for everyone on a circuit. And the policy was designed so it would minimize objectionable events that occur as a result of motor starting and the like.”

What problems are addressed because of the policy?
“We’re now able to share the capacity in our electrical system on an equal basis. And it’s an attempt to improve power quality on the circuit and reduce some of the objectionable events like blinks and brown-outs.”

Why was the size set at that level?
“We needed to set a size that would be fair to everyone. We chose 150 kVA because on most circuits we could add 150 kW load at every account on that circuit and provide good quality of service. This doesn’t mean we can’t have problems. In order to do this we have built a system that will accommodate that capacity at each location. If we can’t accommodate it now, we’ll make changes so we can.”

Does the transformer capacity size limit mean I’m limited in the number of motors or other load at my location?

“Our limit actually applies to what our customers operate at their account. We recognize that consumers may have electrical devices and motors at their location that collectively total more than the transformer capacity. What is important to us is that motors or other building loads are not on line at the same time to exceed the capacity of the service.”

What will happen if I turn on more load than I have transformer capacity?
“It’s likely that others on the circuit will have negative power quality because of it and you will definitely have poor power quality on your farm. If the load becomes too great the fuse on the transformer will trip or it could cause a failure of the transformer. You’ll be without electricity until the repairs are made.”

Will motor starting impact the capacity limitation at my single-phase account?
“We’ll build a single-phase electric system that will start one 10-hp single phase motor, or multiple 10-hp single phase motors starting individually. Experience shows that 15-hp single phase motors are problematic to the system. They have a high in-rush at starting and cause lights to blink. We don’t limit the number of 10-hp motors but we do limit the maximum size of service to a 10-hp motor. There are other steps a member could take. For example, he could install a 25-hp motor on a variable frequency drive (VFD). A consumer could also run a three-phase motor on a single-phase line if they have a VFD capable of converting the single-phase source to three-phase. On a three-phase service, any motor larger than 30-hp must have a VFD installed. Area electricians will be able to help choose the right VFD for the situation.”

What are my options if I want to add more load at my account greater than this limit?
“There are several options. If you have load that exceeds 150 kVA, it’s possible to bring in a second single-phase line from another circuit that will allow for another 150 kVA to the site. However, the cost of building that extra line mostly goes to the customer and is about $22,000 per mile. Consumers who want capacity greater than 300 kVA may want to invest in a three-phase line extension.”

Since all of the member consumers of the cooperative receive service from the electric lines, why should I pay extra to bring in a new three-phase service?

“We provide a basic arrangement of three-phase and single-phase lines throughout our service area capable of providing every account location with capacity for 150 kW of load. Those lines are provided at cooperative expense with the cost of the lines included in everyone’s rates.Because only some consumers need capacity greater than this, the decision was made that this cost should not be shared among all consumers, but rather kept out of the rates and directed to those consumers needing the additional capacity.”

Why doesn’t the cooperative build three-phase lines at cooperative expense out to everyone that needs three-phase service?

“It would be wonderful if we could build three-phase lines to every account and, at the same time, maintain affordable rates. However, three-phase lines are expensive to build— $45,000 a mile—and costly to maintain. With our policy of keeping construction costs for lengthy line extension out of the rates – directing it instead as a separate charge to the consumer needing the extension – we are letting those consumers make the decision if whether it is economically feasible for their circumstance.”

Is there a size limit at a three-phase service location?

“Yes, but it’s substantially higher. We’ll put in up to a 1,000-kVA transformer. If a customer requires more than that they become categorized as a large power consumer which means they will be governed by different policies.”

U.S. Department of AgricultureRural Development (USDARD) State Director Jasper Schneider announced in February that Northern Plains Electric Cooperative was selected to receive $740,000 through the Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant Program (REDLG). In turn, Northern Plains will “pass through” those funds to Allied Agronomy, which is building a $2.5 million plant just north of Jamestown.

Northern Plains Electric’s Director of Business Development, JoAnn Rodenbiker, worked closely with Allied Agronomy’s General Manager Gene Erpelding in their application for USDA Rural Development funding.

The new plant includes a 30,000-square-foot warehouse facility which will provide an environmentally safe way to  transfer agricultural chemicals from bulk semi loads into EPA-approved 250-gallon containers for retail customers. The project, funded by USDARD, Allied Agronomy and CoBank, is expected to create six new jobs and retain 28 jobs.

“This financing will help support our agriculture industry and spur economic activity,” Schneider said. “This is a good  example of a public and private partnership to promote growth and job creation.”

The REDLG program, which is administered by USDARD, provides funding to rural projects through local utility cooperatives such as Northern Plains. Under the program, USDA provides zero-interest loans which, in turn, are passed to local businesses for projects that will create and retain employment in rural areas.

REDLG’s highly competitive national program generally has more requests than funding available. USDARD judges recipients based on a 10-part application that includes descriptions of the nature of the project, number of direct full-time jobs created and overall business plan.

Under the REDLG program, USDA is investing more than $8.5 million to help rural communities. The loan funds will be  leveraged by more than $80 million in private and public financing; grant funds will be leveraged by more than $54 million in public/private funding.

For more information on this program, visit the USDA website.

Learn more about Allied Agronomy by reading our story here.

Allied Agronomy is a growing business – growing crops (or helping farmers do so), growing in services, growing in employees, growing into new facilities. You can find branch locations of the company throughout east-central North Dakota–Edgeley, Kulm, Jud, Gackle,  Jamestown and Sheyenne. Allied Agronomy’s newest facility, located west of Jamestown along the U.S. Highway 281 bypass, is being funded with the help of Northern Plains Electric Cooperative’s rural economic development program.

“Northern Plains Electric’s service area, especially the Highway 281 corridor, is a very agriculture-dependent area,” says JoAnn Rodenbiker, Northern Plains Electric Cooperative’s director of business development. “This was a natural fit for a  company like Allied Agronomy.”
The changing nature of farming practices keeps farmers relying on Allied Agronomy’s expertise to help ensure quality crops in their fields come harvest. Agriculture’s best practices and regulations continually change. Such changes created a need for many of the design decisions associated with the Jamestown building.
“New EPA regulations, taking effect in August 2011, require all semi loads of liquid pesticides be contained on a diked pad when it dumps,” says Gene Erpelding, Allied Agronomy LLC general manager. “This facility was built so we could contain that vessel during the dumping process.”
In addition to its full service agronomy services, Allied Agronomy sells corn seed, soybean seed and crop protection  mixes. The building is equipped with a 100- by 220-foot insulated cold storage warehouse. In it, pallets loaded with bags of seed or treatments are stacked, some towering 15 feet above a grown person’s head. The site has over 60,000 units of soybean storage alone, and is equipped with both exterior and interior-protected storage for the products.
A fully-automated and controlled system within the facility prepares seed with inoculants before being hauled to the   farmer for planting.“All we have to do is key in the variety and quantity,” Erpelding says. “The machine does the rest. And nothing can be  tampered with.”

The latest in technology is also at work in the six-office suite, which includes a reception area and conference
room. A flat-screen television acts as an up-to date road map, showing the exact locations of all company vehicles. The  dispatcher can send the nearest employee precise directions to the next location via the vehicle’s GPS system.

“This new software is so efficient,” Erpelding says. “We can manage our equipment with ease. And all our business locations are on one network, allowing employees to work easily with one another, no matter what office they work from.”

Efficiencies like these will enable the company to continue growing – in the farm fields and within the market – for years to come.

Northern Plains Electric Cooperative offices will be closed on Monday, May 30, 2011 for Memorial Day. Have a safe and happy holiday weekend!

Older manufactured homes, especially those built before 1994, may be plagued by leaking ducts and inadequate insulation. Leaky ductwork can reduce the efficiency of your heating and cooling system by as much as 20 percent. A good time to check for leaks is on a windy day, when you’ll be able to find drafty spots.

Experts recommend going after big leaks first. That means plugging all holes around chimneys, vents, water pipes, and heating system ductwork. Seal any duct leaks with mastic. Avoid the use of duct tape, which can dry out and disintegrate when used. Adding insulation to floor, walls, and ceiling cavities can improve energy efficiency, but may be a job for a professional contractor.

Once you’ve sealed major leaks, look for smaller ones—around windows, doors, electrical outlets, and light switches. Seal gaps around windows and doors, using caulk on non-moving parts. And replace any worn weather stripping.

Caulk or expanding spray foam are perfect in spots where plumbing, wiring, vents and ducting penetrate through walls. Installing foam outlet gaskets behind electrical outlets and light switches—especially on outside walls—can save energy, too.

For safety’s sake, make sure that all combustion appliances, such as furnaces, stoves, and water heaters, are properly vented.

For other tips on how to save energy—and money—visit www.energysavers.gov, Touchstone Energy® Cooperatives energy-saving website www.TogetherWeSave.com, our website www.nplains.com or call our efficiency experts at 1.800.882.2500.

Former Northern Plains director Doug Geier (wearing hat) visits with current members of the board between the meal and meeting.

Printed in the May 2011 edition of Northern Notes.
photos and story by Kirsti Craig

Northern Plains Electric Cooperative hosted some 200 members and friends at the Events Center in Maddock on Tuesday, April 5 for its 14th annual meeting festivities. Included on the evening agenda were a complimentary dinner, door prizes, business meeting and overview of Operation Round Up.  Gail Peterson, of Maddock, catered the member appreciation dinner. Shelby Brandvold, a ninth-grader at Maddock High School, sang the national anthem.

The winner of the 2011 Youth Tour Essay Contest was recognized during the event. Bobbie Lentz of Rolla will be attending the National Rural Electric Youth Tour in Washington D.C. this June as the winner. The 2011 Northern Plains/Basin Electric $1,000 scholarship winner, Logan Gunderson of York, was also introduced.

Northern Plains Electric’s Board Treasurer, Russell Carlson of Jamestown, reported on the sound financial condition of the cooperative. Board President Tracy Boe, of Mylo, commented briefly on the cooperative’s fourteenth year of business.

“The most persistent challenge we face in this industry is the rising cost of wholesale power,” Boe said. “That cost comprises 64 percent of all Northern Plains expenses. But there is a bright side to our energy story—and that is in the ownership we have in generation. As one of the 135 cooperatives which own Basin Electric Power Cooperative, we are part owner in a vast complex of energy facilities.”

These energy facilities include wind farms, waste-heat recovery and new power plants that Basin built during the last decade.

“As we traverse through another year of business at Northern Plains Electric, we are encouraged by our place in the electric industry,” Boe said. “Although we face cost challenges each and every year, we can still very proudly point out that the rates we charge our members are indeed affordable. In 2010, North Dakota tied with four other states offering customers the lowest rates in the nation. Thanks to our successful cooperative model, we will make every effort to  maintain that record in 2011.”

As members stop to register, Northern Plains Manager Jay Jacobson and Maddock Lineman Doyle Schwanke visit with David Holje of the Maddock Historical Society.

Operation Round Up: friends helping friends

Kate Johnson presented an overview of Operation Round Up (ORU) activities in 2010.

“Thank you to all members of Northern Plains for giving to this program,” Johnson said. 79 percent of Northern Plains members participate in the program that rounds a member’s bill to the nearest dollar and places that amount into a fund to be disbursed in the region.

Johnson explained through ORU, Northern Plains Electric members helped 65 individuals and organizations in
2010 by distributing $38,300.

“We’ve assisted those with individual medical needs, community projects, fire departments, ambulances and schools,” Johnson said. “And we’re always looking to help others.”

Johnson encourages members not enrolled to sign up for the program.

“When you hear about the good we are doing, it makes it all worth it.”