091205 fly ash sales record release

Underwood, N. Dak. (September 12, 2005)
Headwaters Incorporated sold a record 69,670 tons of fly ash from Great River Energy’s Coal Creek Station in August 2005. This amount shattered the previous record for any month, which was set in July 2005 with 58,685 tons.

A bulk of that fly ash is used to replace a portion of Portland cement in concrete production. Concrete made with high quality fly ash from Coal Creek Station is stronger and more durable than concrete made with cement alone, making it a value added product.

“That fact, along with continued shortages of Portland cement in many parts of the nation this past year, has resulted in the record sales,” says Al Christianson, Great River Energy’s North Dakota business services representative.

Great River Energy produces about 440,000 tons of marketable fly ash per year at its Coal Creek Station near Underwood, N.D. Sales were a record 400,000 tons in 2004, and have steadily increased in recent years.

Christianson points out that the environmental benefits of increasing fly ash sales are significant and include:

• A savings of $375,000 in landfill disposal costs for every 100,000 tons of fly ash used in making concrete products; and

• A reduction of 1.0 to 1.1 tons of greenhouse gases for each ton of fly ash used as a cement replacement.

This spring, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognized the positive impacts of increasing fly ash usage by awarding Great River Energy with a national first place environmental achievement award through the agency’s Coal Combustion Products Partnership (C2P2).

Since 2003, Great River Energy has been a Champion of EPA’s Coal Combustion Products Partnership to promote the benefits of coal combustion products – including fly ash. As a C2P2 Champion, Great River Energy has developed and committed to goals to increase the use of fly ash.

In recent years, Great River Energy has partnered with Headwaters Incorporated, South Jordan, Utah, in the investment of over $27 million in infrastructure – including the construction of an 85,000-ton fly ash dome and terminals in Minnesota and Colorado – to increase sales of fly ash.

Headquartered in Elk River, Minn., Great River Energy is a not-for-profit generation and transmission electric cooperative providing wholesale electric energy and related services to 28 distribution cooperatives in Minnesota and Wisconsin serving 1.5 million people. Great River Energy is the second largest power supplier in Minnesota, in terms of generating capacity, and the fifth largest utility of its type in the United States.