“Earth Eater” is a new style for Freedom Mine

The Coteau Properties Company, which operates at the Freedom Mine near Beulah, ND, has a new bucket in rotation.
“Earth Eater” is the name the manufacturer gives this particular bucket, but it’s the style of the bucket that matters to Operations Manager Justin Burggraff.
Burggraff said the placement of the chains, on the outside of the bucket [...]

4.5 miles of line in Northeastern Montana

Last week, Jared Barnhart, Steve Crane and Tracie Bettenhausen headed up to Culbertson, Montana. Transmission System Maintenance crews are up there working on the power line that will run from Culbertson Generation Station to the Western Area Power Administration tap.

The line runs about four-and-a-half miles. There are 33 transmission poles along [...]

Minot wind project expands

Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s wind projects are growing.
In a July 20 letter, the Rural Utilities Service gave environmental approval for Basin Electric to build three new 1.5-megawatt wind turbines south of Minot. The project, called Minot Wind 2, will have a generating capacity of 4.5 megawatts. Minot Wind 2 will be built next to Minot [...]

A new transmission line going up

Workers set the first structure in the Belfield-to-Rhame line on July 21. Construction on the 230-kilovolt transmission line started in early May at the Rhame end of the line in southwest North Dakota and has been proceeding north to Belfield.
The transmission line structures along the 74-mile line are a galvanized steel, single-pole design. The line [...]

Culbertson Generation Station in the news

KXMC, the CBS News station in Minot, ND, did a story on Culbertson Generation Station, our newest peaking plant under construction near Culbertson, Montana.
Watch the story here: Basin building power plant in Montana

Construction of the peaking station near Culbertson, Mont., began June 29. The power plant will be Basin Electric’s first in the state of [...]

Burning Hills Singers are on fire

Medora’s Badlands and annual musical are a favorite North Dakota attraction to people from all over the world. The country-western music and dance, coupled with the beautiful scenery and storytelling, make this quaint little town a hotspot for people looking to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Tucked away in the [...]

Topping out the steel at Basin Electric’s first power plant

The steel was “topped out” on the Leland Olds Station Emissions Control Project July 14. During a construction project, a “topping out” ceremony happens when the final beam of steel is placed. A Christmas tree and American flag decorate the steel for good luck.
The last piece of steel on this project supports the ductwork for [...]

Ready… set… heave! Big vessel lifted and set for new unit

When a vessel in the phenosolvan unit began leaking in Dec. 2007, it meant the Great Plains Synfuels Plant had to be shut down for five and a half weeks. During that time, two cracks were found and repaired.
Now, work is progressing on a project to prevent another unscheduled plant outage [...]

Line crews clean up after the storm

Miles of power lines were destroyed during a tornado in and around Dickinson, ND, Wednesday night. Last night, KFYR-TV ran a story featuring the work one of our members, Roughrider Electric, is doing to clean up.

Watch the story here: Crews working to restore power

Supporting energy education

We need to make sure someone is around to keep running our power plants. One of the ways Basin Electric is doing that is through its involvement with Bismarck State College (BSC) and its National Energy Center of Excellence (NECE).
This facility, dedicated in 2008, is for students who are interested in pursuing careers in the [...]