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January/February 2010

Warroad building lifts spirits, page 2

‘Climategate’ opens controversy, page 5

The Deal is done, page 7

The year at a glance, page 8

2 Minnkota Messenger • January/February 2010

Warroad building lifts spiritsGenerosity of Marvin company helps make things happen

Harriet Obenchain celebrated her 99th birthday in December. But it was her fi rst birthday in the new $23.5 million Warroad Senior Living Center.

For 14 years, Obenchain lived in the Warroad Care Center. Now she stays in a state-of-the-art facility designed to meet her individual needs.

“Th is is wonderful,” Obenchain said. “I just like to close the door and do my own thing like I always have with my own home. But you’ve got to have help when you need it.”

Build and rebuildWhen the Warroad Care Center ran into

fi nancial trouble, people looked for another assisted living option in the city.

Th at’s when Marvin Lumber and Ce-dar Company – which includes Marvin Windows and Doors – got involved. Th e Warroad-based company contributed the majority of the construction cost, as well as covered the debt accrued by the previous facility. And it was no surprise the company donated the more than 700 windows for the new building.

“Th e facility was at a point where, fi nan-cially, it wasn’t doing well,” WSLC Admin-istrator Rod Kutter said. “We were having a hard time competing with other facilities. So at that point we decided that we either needed to make major renovations or build a new facility. Th at’s when the Marvin fam-ily stepped in.”

But as construction moved into the fi nal stages, the wait for residents like Obenchain ended up being a year longer than expected. Th e facility was 85 percent completed when a fi re broke out and burned it to the ground in April 2008.

“Th e fi rst thing you think about is the residents. Th ey had been waiting and wait-

Harriet Obenchain enjoys the added space at the Warroad Senior Living Center.

Residents start taking their places in the dining room for lunch at the Warroad Senior Living Center.

ing to move in,” Kutter said. “We had people from the outside doing all kinds of things in preparation. We were in the old facility and could continue to function, but their life was turned upside down. Th at’s what you really feel sorry for.”

Debris was immediately removed and the project started once again, with con-struction completed in September 2009.

Th e 135,000-square-foot WSLC fea-tures 49 skill-care rooms, 32 assisted living units, 22 apartments for independent liv-ing and 10 rooms in its Alzheimer’s unit. Th e independent living and Alzheimer’s units are new features. Th e facility is near full occupancy and can hold around 115 residents.

Sizing things upEach double-occupancy room is 400

square feet, compared to 230-square-foot rooms in the old facility. And the building sits on 24 acres.

“Each resident has a private room so they don’t have to share a bathroom like

in the old facility,” Kutter said. “Th ey’ve got room for families to come and visit, instead of having to sit on the edge of the bed.”

Because of that extra space, energy effi ciency was heavily incorporated

into plans.Th e primary heating source is radiant,

while the independent living unit uses baseboard hot water. Each is provided through electricity from Warroad Mu-nicipal of the Northern Municipal Power Agency (NMPA). Minnkota and NMPA, an association of 12 municipal utilities, formed a joint system in 1981.

Residential wings converge into a “hometown” area that includes a chapel, wellness center, beauty/barber shop, hobby hut and a movie theater.

Rod Kutter

(continued on page 4)

Courtyards surround the new building, providing ample space for recreation.

January/February 2010 • Minnkota Messenger 3


Triple-pane windows help control the temperature during the winter and each window is outlined with radiant paneling to prevent draft s.

But the major advantage? Each resident has the ability to control the temperature in their own room.

“Th ey didn’t have personal control of their heating and cooling,” WSLC Housing Services Director Marlene Dahlquist said. “Th e old heater system was set up so that we could control it in one room with the valves, but then three or four of the rooms were on that. If you had someone who was hot and someone who was cold, you couldn’t make them both happy.”

Staff saw other upgrades as well. Th e facility scrapped their paper charting prac-

tices and installed digital monitors. Th ey are positioned throughout the building to help staff identify patient needs.

“It’s very time-effi cient,” Kutter said. “In a lot of the old facilities you always came in and the nurse was sitting behind the desk and not out on the fl oor.”

Kutter also cited accuracy as a primary reason for the change.

“A lot of times you sit and do four or fi ve things with the resident and when you go back to write about it you forget what you did,” he said.

Th e walls also are lined with alert buttons that can be used to notify the entire staff of an emergency through individual pagers.

Hometown designTh e WSLC doesn’t bring to mind a tradi-

tional assisted living facility but refl ects the character of the Warroad community.

Th e wings of the facility are known as neighborhoods, each of which include staff work areas, a nursing station, a pantry serv-ing area and a bathing suite.

Th ose wings converge into a “downtown” area that includes a chapel, a movie theater, a fi tness center, a physical therapy room, a club room, a beauty shop, a café and several private rooms for family events.

Old cafeteria-style dining is out. Each neighborhood has its own dining area, as well as its own courtyard and screen porch.

“In the old facility we had a steady stream of people going to the dining room and going back,” Kutter said. “Th at took a lot of time. Here, they can just meander over. It’s not structured like in the military where you eat at 11:45 and if you’re not there, you don’t eat.”

While the facility has had major upgrades, Dahlquist says the commitment to resi-dents remains the same.

“As far as our services, I don’t know if they’ve changed a whole lot,” Dahlquist said. “It’s just a nicer place to do them in.” ☐

Nurse Rydell Matthias uses a touch screen computer to access a patient’s chart.

Marlene Dahlquist checks in with resident Thais Kofstad.

Resident John William Iverson.

‘Climategate’ opens controversyU.S. signs Copenhagen Accord

To anyone who is skeptical about the science of global warming, “Climategate” is the big-gest scandal ever.

Climategate is the term being used for hun-dreds of e-mails recovered in November from the infl uential Climatic Research Unit (CRU) in England. By far the most embarrassing e-mail is from 1999, in which CRU Director Phil Jones brags he’s used a trick to “hide the decline.” Th at means hiding the studies from tree rings that show the Earth has been cooling since 1960, when actual recorded temperatures show a trend toward warming.

And the fact that global temperatures have gone down in some years was in other e-mails, with one scientist lamenting: “We can’t account for the lack of warming at the moment and it is a travesty that we can’t.”

To long-term skeptics, Climategate is proof that the mankind-caused global warming theory is based on deception, according to a CBS News report.

On every side we are told that the science is settled, that 2,500 of the world’s top climate scientists agree that these terrifying predictions will all come true unless we take drastic action, Christopher Booker of the Daily Mail said. So carried away have they all been by this belief that scarcely a single politician dares question it.

A detailed study of the contributors to the

most recent IPCC report has shown that the number of scientists responsible for the key chapter on the extent and causes of global warm-ing – on which everything else in the report depended – was not 2,500, but barely 50, Booker said.

U.S. signs Copenhagen AccordDespite the upheaval in the scientifi c com-

munity, world leaders gathered in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December to discuss an agreement to reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

Th e climate talks in Copenhagen ended with the announcement of the Copenhagen Accord. But the historic meeting may have done more harm than good. More than 110 presidents and prime ministers gathered with representatives from 193 countries during the 12-day summit, accounting for 40,500 tons of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere.

Nonetheless, each of the participating coun-tries pledged to cut carbon emissions, with the United States agreeing to a 17 percent reduction from 2005 levels.

Th e agreement also sets targets to prevent the Earth’s average temperature from rising 2 de-grees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Starting in 2020, the plan calls for $100 billion a year in aid to poor nations to deal with climate change. However, the agreement is not legally binding. ☐




Minnkota Power Cooperative and Minnesota Power completed in late 2009 a monumental deal in which Minnkota receives needed en-ergy and capacity and Minnesota Power gains a

transmission line to transport wind generation.What is known as the Young 2 Deal had been in the

works for about two years.Minnesota Power purchased from Square Butte

Electric Cooperative a 465-mile, Center to Duluth DC transmission line. Minnesota Power will use the trans-mission line to deliver wind energy that it is developing at Minnkota’s Milton R. Young Station near Center, N.D., to its service area near Duluth.

In return, Minnkota receives an increas-ing allocation of the Young 2 output of en-ergy and capacity. Between 2013 and 2026 Minnesota Power’s current 50 percent allo-cation of Young 2 will transfer to Minnkota. By 2026 and thereaft er, Minnkota will pur-chase 100 percent of the Young 2 output.

Th is will give Minnkota 227.5 megawatts of additional capacity and the related energy will be its future power supply, likely at least until 2030.

Young 2, which began producing elec-tricity in 1977, is owned by Square Butte and operated by Minnkota. Square Butte was formed by the Minnkota-associated cooperatives to meet the increasing electri-cal demand of their consumer-owners and to provide electricity to Minnesota Power.

“Young 2 is a power plant that we know well because we operate it,” said David Loer, Minnkota president & CEO. “It is low-cost and already in place. It will eliminate our need to build a new coal-fi red power plant such as we were considering with Young 3.

“I think we all understand now that building a new coal-fi red plant today would be very diffi cult, time-consuming and expensive.”

Minnkota plans to build a new transmission line from Center to deliver all Young 2 energy to the Prairie substation near Grand Forks.

Th is approximately 250-mile, $300 million, 345-ki-

lovolt transmission line will be built and in service by early 2013. Called the Center to Grand Forks line, it will allow Young 2 energy to be delivered into the Minnkota system and it will also help the overall northern Red River Valley service area with additional voltage support.

“When compared to the Young 3 option for addi-tional generation, the Young 2 Deal provides a signifi -cant fi nancial benefi t to our system. Likewise, the Deal provides benefi ts to the Minnesota Power system,” Loer said.

“We have a long-standing business relationship with Minnesota Power. Th at sound business relation-

ship has helped both parties negotiate the terms of the Young 2 Deal. Th ere have been some hurdles along the way, all of which have been worked out based on the trust-ing business relationship with our neighbor and corporate friend, Minnesota Power.”

Minnesota Power, an ALLETE com-pany, is building the Bison 1 Wind Energy Center near Center. Th e 33 turbines will allow for an annual output of 300,000 megawatt-hours of energy. Th e estimated 75-megawatt, $180 million project will be constructed in two phases, with half of the turbines up and running by December 2010 and the second half completed by Novem-ber 2011.

Minnesota Power plans additional phases of wind projects.

“Th e DC line is a signifi cant piece of our wind development eff orts in North Dakota,”

said ALLETE CEO Don Shippar. “Our strong working relationship with Minnkota was key to putting together this innovative agreement which will bring long-term value to each company’s customers and shareholders.”

Th e DC line will connect from Center to Minne-sota Power’s substation in Hermantown, Minn., and be used to deliver the wind-fueled electricity to customers in its service territory in northern Minnesota. It puts Minnesota Power at the forefront of long distance wind energy transport. ☐

Minnkota, Minnesota Power complete monumental transaction

The Deal is done


The year at a glance2010 includes Young 2

major plant outage

The Minnkota Power Cooperative board of directors approved the 2010 budget and an accompanying rate adjustment at their board meetings in December

2009 and January 2010.Budget highlights include a 5 percent

adjustment to the wholesale power rate in 2010, a major plant maintenance outage at the Milton R. Young Station Unit 2 and a tentative 9 percent rate increase currently planned in 2011.

“Th e 2010 budget projects an average member-owner wholesale power rate of 51.6 mills per kilowatt-hour (kWh), up from 44.9 mills/kWh for 2009,” said Gary Spielman, vice president of fi nance and administration. “Th is is primarily due to the impact of a 5 percent increase in all rate components on March 20, 2010, and continuation of a 5-mill energy surcharge through Oct. 20, 2010.”

Despite the general increase and the tem-porary surcharge, Minnkota will continue to have a wholesale power rate that is below the average of other generation and transmission

(G&T) cooperatives. Th e nationwide average in 2008 was 52.8 mills/kWh.

Energy sales expected to increaseEnergy sales to Class A members are

estimated to be 3,799,110,000 kWh in 2010. Th is represents an increase of 7.7 percent over 2009. Th e increase in energy sales for 2010 assumes a normal weather pattern and the delivery of 232,900,000 kWh to supply energy to new pumping loads for the Key-stone oil pipeline.

Total revenue for 2010 is anticipated to be $266.3 million. Energy sales to distribu-tion members account for $196.3 million. All other energy sales amount to $60.2 million.

A long-term power sale of $17.8 million and $42.4 million in non-fi rm pool energy sales account for the energy sales to others. Th e non-fi rm pool sales in 2010 are expected to increase due to additional energy available from contracted wind resources.

Operating expenses for 2010 are bud-geted at $261.4 million. Th is represents an


Other Revenue$9,620,000

3.6%

Energy SalesOther

$60,382,11022.4%

Energy SalesMember Co-ops$196,264,000

74.0%

2010 Total Revenue$266,266,110

increase of $47.3 million from 2009. Most of this increase is in power supply expenses.

“Every three years Minnkota schedules a major plant maintenance outage for each unit at the Milton R. Young Station. Th e last one for Young 2 occurred in 2007. So this year Young 2 is budgeted to be off line for an extended outage in the fall,” Spielman said.

“As a result, Minnkota will incur addi-tional maintenance and replacement energy costs.”

New capital projects on the horizonTh e construction budget for 2010 is pro-

jected at $136.8 million. Systemwide, power delivery projects will cost $65.4 million. Power production projects total $70 million and administrative projects amount to $1.4 million. In 2010, signifi cant amounts will be spent at Young 1 for environmental and elec-trical projects that are already under way and

28.9 30.232.0

34.6 35.8 35.838.1

39.8

44.9

51.6

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 budget

46.6

5.0 mills/kWhSurcharge

Average Wholesale Power RateMember Cooperatives

Mills/kWh

scheduled to be completed in early 2011.New and replacement tools and work

equipment budgeted for 2010 total $.6 mil-lion. Approximately one-half of the amount is slated for the acquisition and replacement of work vehicles.

Rural Utilities Service (RUS) loan appli-cations in the amount of $424.8 million were submitted in December 2009. Th e loans will be used to fi nance transmission and genera-tion capital projects through 2013. Deprecia-tion and interest expense will increase as the projects are completed and funds are bor-rowed.

“Minnkota remains a fi nancially strong and viable organization,” said David Loer, president & CEO. “Our employees are aware of the impact that our budget has on the 11 member-owners. We remain committed to providing the best energy value in the region.” ☐

“ Every three years Minnkota schedules a major plant maintenance

outage for each unit at the Milton R. Young Station. As a result,

Minnkota will incur additional maintenance and replacement

energy costs.”– Gary Spielman, vice president of fi nance and administration


NewsbriefsMinnkota receives project award

As the Milton R. Young 2 chim-ney has risen up during the past

year’s construction, Minnkota Power Cooperative has inched closer to completing all of its environmental upgrades.

And the October 2008 project is gaining statewide recognition along the way.

Th e Young 2 chimney project has been awarded the 2009 North Da-kota Ready Mix & Concrete Prod-ucts Association Gold Star Project Award – Commercial Category.

Knife River, the concrete supplier for all of the Young Station project foundations, nominated the project. Minnkota also partnered with en-gineering fi rm Burns & McDonnell and general contractor Maertens-Brenny Construction Company in completing the 140-foot-wide, 11-foot-thick foundation to support the 550-foot-tall chimney.

Th e concrete base was poured continuously during a 21.5-hour period. Th e pour required about 200 workers and 6,425 cubic yards of concrete.

Concrete was delivered by 30 ready-mix trucks from two batch

plants set up at the Young Station, as well as two remote locations near Stanton and Washburn, N.D.

Th e foundation pour was com-pleted with no injuries or accidents, no rejected loads and almost fi ve hours ahead of schedule. To Knife River’s knowledge, this was the larg-est continuous pour ever conducted in North Dakota.

“Th is project, particularly the foundation pour, required intense planning and, just as importantly, contingency planning,” said Craig Bleth, plant environmental super-intendent. “A number of potential problems were planned for, such as failure of a batch plant, failure of a number of delivery trucks, fog and rain. Th ese potential problems could not be allowed to impact the suc-cessful completion of the project.

“Much planning was done as a group, including Minnkota; how-ever each contractor had their own additional planning to do to see that work-arounds could be enacted without compromising quality.”

Th e chimney will be put into ser-vice following the fall 2010 planned maintenance outage. ☐

More than 6,000 cubic yards of concrete was required for the base of the new Young 2 stack.

The annual meetings of Minnkota Power Coop-

erative, Inc. and Square Butte Electric Cooperative will be held Friday, April 9, at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks, N.D.

More than 200 delegates, guests and employees are expected to attend. Reports on operations and year-end results will be presented, along with generation and transmis-sion projects.

Other business to be con-ducted will include the elec-tion of directors and adoption of policy resolutions on issues of importance to the Minnkota and Square Butte cooperatives.

Th e Square Butte annual meeting begins at 10 a.m., with President Gary Mathis, Gonvick, Minn., presiding. Th e Minnkota annual meeting starts at 1 p.m., with Chairman Robert Huether, Lisbon, N.D., presiding.

Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. A noon hour lunch will be served. Th e meeting activities conclude at 4 p.m. A spouses’ program and lun-cheon also will be held in the Alerus Center. ☐

Annual meetings to be held April 9 at Alerus Center


Helping your home or business take advantage of cost-eff ective,

energy-effi ciency programs is the focus of PowerSavers – a Conserva-tion Improvement Program formed by utilities in the Minnkota Joint System.

For those considering effi ciency upgrades, the timing couldn’t be better. Th ousands of dollars in rebates and incentives are available.

But the best deal may be coming with the addition of two new pro-grams that give custom-ers free access to energy-saving measures.

Th e Commercial and Residential Direct Install programs off er customers the opportunity to go through a quick energy assessment of their home or business with a staff member from their local utility. While on site they will install energy-saving measures free of charge and off er other energy-effi ciency tips. Th ese items include CFLs, bath and kitchen faucet aera-tors, low-fl ow showerheads, pre-rinse sprayer valves and LED exit light retrofi ts where applicable.

Th ese programs are valued at $58.53 for residential customers and $337.53 for commercial accounts. At the same time, residential customers could see savings of $166 on their annual bill, while commercial ac-counts could have $414 in savings.

Getting startedMembers from your local utility

attended training seminars for the Residential and Commercial Direct Install programs in early December.

Did your mailing address change? Do you wish to be removed from our mailing list? If so, let us know. Call (701) 795-4213 or e-mail [email protected].

Did you recently move?

Newsbriefs

UPCOMING EVENTS

➤ Feb. 15-17, NRECA annual meeting, Atlanta, Ga. ➤ Feb. 26, Minnkota board meeting, Grand Forks ➤ March 4, Red River Valley Cooperative Power Association annual meeting ➤ March 25, Wild Rice Electric Cooperative annual meeting ➤ March 26, Minnkota board meeting, Grand Forks ➤ March 27, Clearwater-Polk Electric Cooperative and Roseau Electric Cooperative annual meetings ➤ March 31, Red Lake Electric Cooperative annual meeting ➤ April 7, PKM Electric Cooperative annual meeting ➤ April 9, Minnkota and Square Butte annual meetings ➤ April 10, Nodak Electric Cooperative annual meeting

Notable ➤ March 28, Minnkota incorporated, 1940

PowerSavers launches new effi ciency programs

Aft er reviewing the forms and learning the basics of each program, the group conducted its fi rst Direct Install quick energy assessment at Oak Hills Christian College, located outside of Bemidji, Minn., on Lake

Marquette. Oak Hills was an

ideal place to conduct several of the assess-

ments. Th e college has cafeterias, dorm rooms, offi ces

and other unique areas. Each zone of the cam-

pus was exam-ined by the class,

followed by discus-sion to determine the

best energy-effi ciency improvements for that area.

“We have quite a variety of old and new when it comes to electri-cal and heating systems and lighting,” said Chuck Allen, Oak Hills director of facilities and mainte-

nance. “We have stuff that has been put in during the past year that is pretty effi cient, and stuff that is years and years old that we’re looking to replace in the future.

“We were pretty well aware of where we stood, and they helped con-fi rm the direction that we need to go.”

Th e group performed an abbre-viated audit, identifying potential savings within the campus over a three-day period. Th ey installed 107 pieces of energy-effi cient equipment at no cost to the college.

As a Beltrami Electric Coopera-tive member, Oak Hills now has an energy savings potential of 12,676 kilowatt-hours (kWh) and $891.87 annually.

Energy conservation and ef-fi ciency have reached a new level of importance for Minnesota coopera-tives and municipals. State legisla-tors are transitioning utilities from a spending requirement to an energy savings program. Minnesota re-quires utilities to save 1.5 percent of annual retail energy sales. ☐

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PRESORTEDSTANDARD

POSTAGE PAIDPermit No. 313

Grand Forks, NDP.O. Box 13200 • Grand Forks, ND 58208-3200

On the cover: A stone mantle frames the fi replace in one of the common areas in the new Warroad Senior Living Center in Warroad, Minn. Story on pages 2-4.

MINNKOTA POWER COOPERATIVE, INC.P.O. Box 13200

Grand Forks, ND 58208-3200(701) 795-4000

January/February 2010

Minnkota Messenger is published bimonthly to communicate Minnkota Power Coop-erative’s perspectives and concerns to its members, elected offi cials, employees and other business audiences.

For subscription or editorial inquiries, call (701) 795-4280 or send e-mail to [email protected].

Minnkota is a generation and trans-mission cooperative supplying wholesale electricity to 11 member-owner distribu-tion cooperatives, three in eastern North Dakota and eight in northwestern Minneso-ta. Minnkota also serves as operating agent for the Northern Municipal Power Agency, an association of 12 municipal utilities in the same service region. Together, the Joint System serves more than 130,000 customers.

Visit Minnkota’s Web site at www.minnkota.com.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Chairman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Robert HuetherVice Chairman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Collin JensenSecretary-Treasurer . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jeff rey Folland

Steve Arnesen, Keith Brendemuhl, Terry Diffl ey, Donald Holm, Larry Knoke, Kelly Lundeen, Rus-sell Okeson and Harvey Tallackson.

President & CEO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . David Loer

Communications Supervisor . . . . . . . . .Kevin FeeContributing Writer . . . . . . . . . . Ben FladhammerGraphic Artist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mary MerrillPhotography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kevin Jeff reyPrinting and Mailing . . . . . . . . . . . Minnkota Print

Services Department

BNI receives conservation award

With 80 years of experience in the lignite industry, BNI Coal has established itself by producing the lowest-cost lignite for Minnkota Power Coopera-

tive’s Milton R. Young Station.But recently the Center, N.D.-based company has received praise for its

commitment to sound land use and reclamation practices. Th e Oliver County Soil Conservation District, whose board is composed of

local landowners, presented BNI with its highest Conservation Achievement Award. It’s the fi rst time in 61 years the award wasn’t received by a landowner.

“To be recognized by the Oliver County Soil Conservation District for our reclamation practices really defi nes the culture of BNI Coal,” said Jay Volk, BNI environmental supervisor. “BNI does not view reclamation as simply a regulatory requirement, but more importantly a commitment to the environ-ment, landowners, neighbors, county and our customers.”

BNI mines approximately 4.5 million tons of coal every year, which is the equivalent of 210 acres. Getting that coal above ground requires excavating trenches as deep as 140 feet.

Mining and reclamation plans are carefully monitored by the North Da-kota Public Service Commission’s reclamation division. Volumes of premining data are compiled and sub mitted to the North Dakota Public Ser vice Commis-sion for review.

When mining is fi nished, BNI replaces the overburden and shapes and contours the area to its fi nal topography. Th e sub soil and topsoil are replaced, surface rocks are removed and the area is re-veg etated according to the ap-proved plan. ☐

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