Great River Energy Names New CEO

Elk River, Minn. (May 12, 2005)
Yesterday, the Great River Energy (GRE) Board of Directors, on a unanimous vote, selected David Saggau, Great River Energy vice president and general counsel, as its new chief executive officer.

“All of the candidates were very good,” said Henry Hanson, GRE Board Chair. “But the Board decided David Saggau is the person we want to lead this cooperative into the future.”

“David has my wholehearted congratulations,” said current CEO, Jim Van Epps. “He will be a fine leader of this organization. I look forward to helping him transition into the CEO office.” Van Epps will retire on August 31.

Since 1999, David Saggau has led Great River Energy’s legal division and is the organization’s chief legal officer. Saggau came to Great River Energy with 10 years of previous legal experience in the electrical industry. He was an attorney for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in Washington, D.C. and a senior regulatory attorney for New England Electric Systems (NEES) in Massachusetts. Saggau also was Cooperative Power’s attorney for three years. He received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of North Dakota.

Great River Energy, the second largest power supplier in Minnesota, is a generation and transmission cooperative providing electric energy and related services to 28 distribution cooperatives in Minnesota and Wisconsin. It is the 4th largest G&T in the country. Headquartered in Elk River, Great River Energy has 700 employees in Minnesota and North Dakota. www.GreatRiverEnergy.com