Great River Energy with Vince Herda

 on February 25^th was presented by Vince Herda of GRE, Great River Energy.

            Great River Energy is a cooperative that generates electricity for rural Minnesota. It sells its power to 1.7 million customers through retail co-ops. He talked of the problems in their industry, mainly talking about power sources for their generators. 73% of their power is generated using coal, 10% using wind, and 4% using hydroelectric facilities. Power generated using coal is the least expensive source for them, but they are concerned about the environment, and are continually increasing their use of wind power and water generators.

            They do not provide power for our area, but do cover most of the state. They are members of the US power grid, and he talked of the requirements of the federal program. All major power generating companies are members, and they back up each other in case of sudden spurts in usage or in an emergency. To be a member of the grid, you have to be able generate enough power to satisfy your customers’ needs plus 5%. He said that the power grid requirements are changed every 4 seconds.