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Great River Energy publishes its 2008 social responsibility report

Maple Grove, Minn. (Oct. 08, 2009) – Great River Energy has just published its first social responsibility report. The report provides information on the organization’s social responsibility efforts for 2008. The report can be viewed online at: http://www.greatriverenergy.com/aboutus/socialresponsibility/2008_social_responsibility_report.pdf

While this is the first report for Great River Energy, social responsibility has been at the heart of the organization since it was formed in 1999. As a cooperative owned by its 28 member cooperatives, Great River Energy exists to serve its membership and is dedicated to helping the communities in which it operates.

Great River Energy maintains a triple bottom line commitment to economic, social and environmental responsibility to its members. Every decision is carefully considered and held up to these three standards striving to achieve a balance between the three components.

Great River Energy’s 2008 social responsibility report details the organization’s environmental stewardship, community and employee activities in 2008. The report provides a baseline performance review and sets goals for our future social responsibility endeavors.

Highlights from the 2008 report:

Environmental:

• Obtained International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 registration for Stanton Station, in Stanton, N.D. The ISO 14001 registration demonstrates conformance to a voluntary international standard that reflects global consensus on superior environmental practices. Great River Energy also maintains ISO 14001 registrations for Coal Creek Station, Pleasant Valley Station, Lakefield Junction Station, Elk River Station and its complete transmission system.
• Sponsored the first free statewide compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) collection and recycling program in Minnesota. Some 23,388 bulbs were collected and recycled through the program during the last seven months of 2008.
• Achieved Platinum LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, for the Great River Energy headquarters facility in Maple Grove, Minn. It was the first Platinum LEED-certified building in Minnesota and one of the first 100 in the world.

Community:

• Donated money, materials and services totaling more than $650,000 to a variety of nonprofit organizations in Minnesota and North Dakota.
• Distributed more than $70,000 in scholarships to students in North Dakota and Minnesota.
• Raised more than $65,000 for charities in Minnesota and North Dakota through an employee giving campaign.

Employees:

• Named one of the Best Places to Work in Minnesota by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.
• Achieved an 85 percent participation rate in our employee health management program.
• Coal Creek Station, near Underwood, N.D., was the first power plant in the United States to become registered to the Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHS S) 18001 standard. The purpose of the OHS S program is to promote overall safety, improve personal safety, and conduct third-party audits of safety and safety training programs.

To view the Great River Energy 2008 social responsibility report please visit: http://www.greatriverenergy.com/aboutus/socialresponsibility/2008_social_responsibility_report.pdf

About Great River Energy

Great River Energy is a not-for-profit cooperative which provides wholesale electricity to more than 1.7 million people through 28 member distribution cooperatives in Minnesota and Wisconsin. With more than $2.8 billion in assets, Great River Energy is the second largest utility in the state, based on generating capacity, and the fifth largest generation and transmission (G&T) cooperative in the United States. Great River Energy’s member cooperatives range from those in the outer-ring suburbs of the Twin Cities to the Arrowhead region of Minnesota to the farmland of southwestern Minnesota. Great River Energy’s largest distribution cooperative serves more than 120,000 member-consumers; the smallest serves just over 2,400. For more information, visit www.greatriverenergy.com.

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For more information:

Jennifer Howell, Communications

Great River Energy

Office: 763-445-5708

jhowell@grenergy.com