Basin Electric: The Flip Side

Last remaining shovel from Leland Olds Station 1963 groundbreaking?

basinelectric — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:59:13 +0000

There’s history to dig up in Chris Baumgartner’s office.

Chris Baumgartner, manager of member relations, keeps a piece of history in his office.

The Basin Electric manager of member relations has an old rusty shovel in his office. He got it from a friend, Jeff Umphlett, the general manager at Big Horn Rural Electric Company in Basin, Wyoming.

Jeff got it from his dad, Jim Umphlett. Jim says the shovel was always just sitting in the corner of the boardroom at Shoshone River Power Inc. in Cody, Wyoming. But when Shoshone River was bought out by Pacific Power & Light in 1986, Jim grabbed the shovel along with other memorabilia. He says at that point, the shovel was in mint condition. He believes it was used by a Tri-State G&T representative at the Leland Olds Station groundbreaking on June 22, 1963.

So what else to do with a perfectly good shovel? Jim used it in his garden until 2002, when he moved into a home that didn’t require yard maintenance. During the move, he collected a bunch of stuff to give to his son, Jeff, who was working for a co-op.

Jeff took it home. He started telling people about the shovel. You could just barely make out the words: “Leland Olds Station Groundbreaking 1963″

Jeff had an idea. “Here’s a guy (Chris Baumgartner) who’s so passionate about his job, so proud to work for Basin Electric, so I gave him the shovel.”

Chris keeps the shovel in his office as a conversation piece. He says he’s been told it should go into the Basin Electric vault. But until he’s forced to move the shovel to another location, he’s keeping it right where it is. It deserves a break.

(From left): BEPC President Art Jones, U.S. Senator Quentin Burdick, ND Governor William Guy, REA Administrator Norman Clapp, Maud Olds (Leland Olds' widow), Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Water and Power Development Ken Holum and John Olds (Leland Olds' son).

Basin Electric employee returns from mission to Djibouti, Kosovo

basinelectric — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:52:47 +0000

Around Basin Electric, he’s known as the building superintendent. But Dan Job has another title. In the North Dakota National Guard, he’s Command Sergeant Major Dan Job.

During the last week, Dan flew with Major General David Sprynczynatyk to Djibouti, Africa, and Kosovo, to check in with two North Dakota National Guard units. The mission was kept secret until their return.

While he was overseas, Dan visited with three Basin Electric employees who are serving. Kelsy Hovey, Basin Electric pilot, is serving in Djibouti. Basin Electric business analyst Kim Miller and Dakota Gasification Company warehouse supervisor Jill Thomas are serving in Kosovo.

North Dakota National Guard unit serving in Djibouti, Africa.

(from left) BEPC employee Dan Job, BEPC employee Kelby Hovey, ND National Guard Major General David Sprynczynatyk.

In Djibouti, the soldiers are flying C-12 fixed wing aircraft, transporting personnel, supplies and doing some medivac for several countries located in the horn of Africa. In Kosovo, 650 soldiers are conducting a peacekeeping mission.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll run several stories about the Basin Electric employees who are serving with the National Guard. And the Jan/Feb 2010 edition of Basin Today will carry a full story.

Construction coordinator view of PrairieWinds 1

basinelectric — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:13:25 +0000

Jesse Johnson, BEPC

It’s a pretty good haul to the top of a wind turbine. Just ask Jesse Johnson, construction coordinator on the PrairieWinds ND 1-owned project south of Minot, ND.

Johnson says it takes about 20 minutes to safely climb the ladder to the top of the 262-foot towers. He says there are three sections of ladder, with a resting platform between each section. The last section, which reaches the nacelle, is about 10 feet tall.

Jesse Johnson, construction coordinator, climbs a Minot Wind 2 tower.

Johnson says the project is moving very quickly. Crews are working around the clock to build, wire and inspect the towers. He says as of today, 13 towers are wired and mechanically complete. (You may remember, last Friday we reported that 40 towers were structurally complete.) There will be 80 turbines in total for the PrairieWinds 1 and Minot Wind 2 projects.

Each blade is 121 feet long. Johnson says it is important to NOT have a fear of heights when working with wind turbines.

Johnson says work on the Minot Wind 2 project (three towers) is on pace to be complete by the end of the week. PrairieWinds 1 is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2009 or early 2010.

Panorama picture taken from northernmost turbine in PrairieWinds project.

Questions about wind energy? Check out our “Wind Facts” page here: Basin Electric Wind Facts

Half the turbines on ND PrairieWinds projects complete

basinelectric — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:28:20 +0000

Today, the PrairieWinds 1 and Minot Wind 2 joint projects are 50% complete, structurally.

PrairieWinds 1 consists of 77 turbines; Minot Wind 2 consists of 3 turbines. As of today, 40 turbines have the rotors set on top, as seen in the photo below.

There are four main erections crews working in around-the-clock shifts on these projects.

Construction started in August, and is on schedule to be complete by late this year or early 2010.

Check out our YouTube playlist on wind for video: Basin Electric – Wind

These wind projects are located south of Minot, ND.

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Montana Limestone receives safety award

basinelectric — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:27:19 +0000

Burl Booth and Dave Tabor, Montana Limestone Company

Dave Tabor, quarry superintendent (right), and Burl Booth, operator 1 (left), display the 2008 Sentinels of Safety Award.

Montana Limestone Company received this award from the Mine Safety and Health Administration in October.

The award recognizes zero lost-time accidents and zero reportable health and safety incidents in 2008 at the company’s quarry and fine grind plant.

Remembering Veterans Day

basinelectric — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:40:29 +0000

Kimberly Miller, BEPC

At least one Basin Electric employee is serving overseas right now. Kim Miller is serving with the National Guard in Kosovo. We plan to have a story about her in our Jan/Feb 2010 edition of Basin Today.

When first contacted about agreeing to a story, Kim e-mailed this: “Basin Electric continues to amaze me with the level of support it provides to those of us who choose to be involved in the military. It is truly humbling.” We’re excited to hear more from her.

On October 27, we featured the story of a Basin Electric employee who was able to take the Roughrider Honor Flight with his father: Basin Electric employee joins father on trip for WWII vets

Here are a couple more videos to help you remember why our veterans are so honored:

more about "101 AVN CURAHEE – InHouston", posted with vodpod

This video is actually considered a Memorial Day tradition at WCCO in Minneapolis. It’s called “The Friday Squad.”

Salazar says Great Plains Synfuels Plant helps ND lead the way

basinelectric — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:11:23 +0000

A member of President Barack Obama’s cabinet has visited North Dakota twice in the past eight months.

The first time, on April 25th, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar toured the Great Plains Synfuels Plant. See that blog post here: Member of Pres. Obama’s Cabinet visits Great Plains Synfuels Plant

The second time was yesterday, at the Great Plains Energy Expo and Showcase, hosted by U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan. Salazar’s visit to the Synfuels Plant came up a number of times during his speech at the Expo.

In the video below, you’ll hear Salazar say coal is an important part of the United States’ energy future. Salazar says the United States needs to invest in the type of technologies he saw at the Synfuels Plant.

Salazar: “And oftentimes when we’d speak about it, we would speak about coal as coal being to the United States as oil is to Saudi Arabia. That’s because we know we have huge abundant resources in this country.”

Salazar: “Demonstrating functioning carbon capture and sequestration project, that’s the Dakota Gasification facility. And I went there because I know that coal is important to our country’s future. And I know that North Dakota and its technology can lead the way in terms of how we can capture carbon and how we can develop the coal resources of these United States.”

Basin Electric CEO and General Manager Ron Harper asked Salazar during the question-and-answer segment about a permitting process for sequestering carbon dioxide in federally-owned lands.

Salazar: “My hope is that the public lands are a place where we actually move forward with demonstration projects for carbon capture and sequestration.”

Video clips from Basin Electric’s 2009 Annual Meeting

basinelectric — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:46:09 +0000

This is your one stop shop for all the video clips we captured at Basin Electric’s Annual Meeting. This should give you a quick and easy way to get a feel for what is on Basin Electric’s agenda for the coming year.

1. President of the Board of Directors Wayne Child talks about the detrimental effects of hasty climate change legislation.

2. CEO and General Manager Ron Harper talks about the economic impact of coal and the investment Basin Electric has made in environmental technologies.

3. Keynote address: Senior Lecturer at McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin John Doggett talks about energy, economy and pollution of China versus United States. Also, below, watch an additional YouTube clip of Doggett’s presentation

4. Senior Vice President of Generation Wayne Backman talks about the origin of Basin Electric and how the cooperative has grown since 1961.

5. Senior Vice President of Transmission Mike Risan talks about how transmission was an integral part of accepting Corn Belt Power as a new Class A member of Basin Electric.

6. Senior Vice President of External Relations and Communications Mike Eggl talks about how the demand for electricity is increasing, while climate change legislation will increase the cost of generating electricity.

7. Treasurer of the Board of Directors Kermit Pearson talks about Basin Electric’s firm financial standing in the midst of worldwide economic turmoil.

8. Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Clifton “Buzz” Hudgins talks about the amount of money Basin Electric will have spent in 2009 on generation and transmission construction.

9. Senior Vice President and Dakota Gasification Company Chief Operating Officer Gary Loop talks about efficiency goals and a culture of accountability.

10. Senior Vice President and Dakota Coal Company Chief Operating Officer Bob Bartosh talks about how Montana Limestone Company will provide limestone to the new scrubber at Leland Olds Station near Stanton, ND.

Basin Electric presses for reasonable climate change legislation

basinelectric — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:37:31 +0000

Global climate change. Some members of the U.S. Congress stand ready to act on legislation.

But can every American afford the solution?

Basin Electric is not opposed to reasonable climate legislation: we stand ready to help solve the issue of climate change.

During Senior Vice President of External Relations and Communications Mike Eggl’s Government Action Report, he showed a video documenting all the work Basin Electric has done to address climate change legislation. Watch it below.

More resources:

Our Energy, Our Future
Find a Balanced Solution

Deuces Wild! Dueling Pianos perform at Basin Electric Annual Meeting

basinelectric — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:06:07 +0000

This year’s Annual Meeting banquet entertainment is known for their raucous bar show, performed in several cities across the country.

But for our purposes, Deuces Wild! Dueling Pianos toned it down a bit. The show was great!