North Dakota’s system of 16 distribution cooperatives brings electricity to 250,000 state residents. It is an astounding success story.

Electric cooperatives were formed for the purpose of providing rural customers with electricity in a reliable and affordable fashion. More and more residents bought into the idea as electricity began to replace other energy sources in rural areas. Electricity rapidly became available to areas previously thought much to costly to provide such a service. The cooperatives were born.

“We think we’re all in it for the members at the end of the line and try to do things for the communities,” said Maxine Rognlien, a member of the statewide board of cooperatives. “The customers have a say in what goes on.”

Indeed, customer-owned electrical cooperatives operate much differently from other businesses. Customers own the business and have a say in the operation.

While customer ownership has never changed, there has been vast improvements in how electricity is brought to a customer and how it is monitored.

“Oh, big time!” said Tom Rafferty, member services manager for Verendrye Electric Cooperative. “When we started in 1939 power poles were put in by hand. They actually dug with shovels. Now we have digger trucks with big power augers that can dig a hole in minutes and place the pole in the hole. That’s an example of mechanical technology.”

Perhaps the greatest advancements seen by electric cooperatives have been much less subtle. The meter man, the guy or gal who used to physically read meters to report on electrical usage, has disappeared. Today meters are read from a computer at any time during the day.

“There’s smart meters that turn electricity on or off remotely. Customers can go on-line and see how much electricity they are using anytime of the day,” said Rognlien.

“We went from manually reading meters to getting the information on your cell phone or in our office,” added Rafferty. “We can switch power from one circuit to another with the click of a mouse. We can detect problems on our system from our office.”

The mission of some of North Dakota’s 16 electrical co-ops remains much as it was when they were first organized to serve rural customers. Verendrye’s role has changed much over the past several years, primarily due to growth of businesses within the Verendrye service area.

“We’re very diversified,” said Rafferty. “We are very fortunate with rural, industrial and commercial accounts. The Minot Air Force Base is our number one account. We also serve Dakota Square Mall, Walmart, several Minot hotels and the YMCA to name some of them.”

Verendrye does not produce any electricity but rather is a distribution co-op. They are one of 137 co-ops that own Basin Electric which is responsible for supplying the electricity to members of North Dakota electric cooperatives. Electric cooperatives have invested nearly $1 billion in distribution facilities in North Dakota and more than $2 billion in environmental equipment and controls.