Basin Electric Power Cooperative

Basin Electric Power Cooperative has a long-standing commitment to the environment, the communities we serve, and the cooperative business model. Our membership deserves the reliable, affordable, and responsible electricity we provide that supports community resiliency and economic opportunity across rural America.

 

The service Basin Electric and our member electric cooperatives provide rural America is essential — reliable, affordable, and responsible energy delivered to 3 million consumer-owners at homes, schools, businesses, and more across a nine-state region that stretches from the Canadian border to the Mexican border and across the Great Plains. The Basin Electric family of electric cooperatives and our employees work hard every day delivering on our commitment to maintain a safe and reliable flow of electricity to enrich lives.

 

RELIABLE & SUSTAINABLE

Especially in the Upper Great Plains, reliable electricity is more than just a convenience — it’s a necessity for survival in many instances. Our members endure harsh weather conditions for more than half the year while continuing their routines of commuting to and from work, keeping livestock fed and watered, drying grain, sending children to school, operating machinery, running businesses, and more.

 

Basin Electric was founded to provide power to rural America, and our culture of stewardship, innovation, and adaptability has proven successful as we have kept the lights (and heat) on. For more than 60 years, our generation and transmission assets have been the engines of commerce for a service territory that feeds and fuels the nation and the world.

 

We will always honor our commitment of providing our membership with energy that is safely produced, reliable, economic, and environmentally responsible. Basin Electric was the first utility in the nation to require that the land mined for coal be returned to its natural state. That requirement was written into Basin Electric’s first coal contract long before laws and regulations required this. We simply did it because it was the right thing to do.

 

LEADERS IN RENEWABLE GENERATION

Basin Electric’s commitment to adding renewable generation dates back 20 years with the construction and commissioning of its first wind project. Since then, the cooperative has constructed a number of wind projects of its own, including the largest wind project in the nation that is solely owned and operated by a cooperative. We have also secured purchased power agreements for a large amount of wind-generated power. In fact, we more than doubled our wind capability in just five years, from 2015-2020, and expect it to continue growing into the future.

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Basin Electric has invested in and committed to more than $6 billion in renewable resources through direct investments and annual payments under purchased power agreements.

 

As of year-end 2021, Basin Electric has more than 2,100 megawatts (MW) of green and renewable capability including nearly 1,800 MW of wind generation, 44 MW of recovered energy generation, and more than 300 MW of hydroelectricity through winter peaking power purchased from the Western Area Power Administration.

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COMMUNITY FOCUSED

Basin Electric is committed to the communities where our members serve and where our employees live and work. These communities have supported the cooperative throughout the years by providing a strong workforce, essential services, and a sense of pride in a “together we can” approach. In appreciation for that support, Basin Electric expresses its cooperative spirit by extending a helping hand to our members and communities by donating time and funds to a wide variety of charitable and non-profit organizations.