 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Press Room | |
|
Great River Energy integrates into Midwest ISO RTO membership will reduce transmission costs, improve system reliability Elk River, Minn. and Carmel, Ind. (December 1, 2004) Great River Energy, the second-largest power supplier in Minnesota, joins the Midwest ISO as a transmission-owning member. The integration was a smooth transition for both Great River Energy and the Midwest ISO. Great River Energy and the Midwest ISO have been meeting at least weekly since September to manage this integration. These meetings supplemented one-on-one interactions to complete more than 200 transition tasks. In addition to reliability coordination services already in place, the transfer of functional control and processing of requests for transmission service are now active at the Midwest ISO. “This is a big day,” said Will Kaul, Great River Energy’s vice president of transmission. “We expect our membership in the Midwest ISO will have both operational and economic benefits for our members, including lower energy costs for wholesale power transactions.” James P. Torgerson, president and CEO for the Midwest ISO, called Great River Energy’s integration into the Midwest ISO “a significant development for this organization.” “Great River Energy’s voluntary membership in the Midwest ISO brings most of Minnesota into our organization and will increase system reliability within the region,” he said. “We will now have better coordination with the facilities that we oversee, allowing us to extend the benefits of a regional grid to even more customers throughout the Midwest.” “We’re pleased to have Great River Energy as a member,” Torgerson added. Kaul noted that Great River Energy, a generation and transmission cooperative that provides electricity to 28 cooperatives in Minnesota and Wisconsin, conducted a comprehensive analysis of the costs, benefits and risks of membership in the Midwest ISO. “Our analysis showed that joining the Midwest ISO was the right thing to do for Great River Energy and for our member cooperatives,” Kaul said, noting that the cooperative and Split Rock Energy, its power marketing subsidiary and designated Market Participant, have met all milestones for market preparations. Great River Energy will participate when the Midwest ISO begins operating Real-Time and Day-Ahead Energy Markets on March 1, 2005. “We’re on track for the March 1, 2005 launch of the Midwest ISO’s Energy Market, and look forward to participating in the market and reaping the benefits of regional dispatch,” Kaul said. About Great River Energy Great River Energy, the second largest power supplier in Minnesota, is a generation and transmission (G&T) cooperative providing electric energy and related services to 28 distribution cooperatives in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Great River Energy, the nation’s fourth largest G&T, owns and maintains 4,474 miles of transmission line and 2400 megawatts of generation assets. Its member cooperatives serve 580,000 customers or 1.3 million people. www.GreatRiverEnergy.com About Midwest ISO The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the Midwest ISO as the nation’s first RTO on December 20, 2001. Midwest ISO, in its role as a regional transmission organization, monitors electric reliability throughout much of the Midwest – an area that encompasses more than 97,000 miles of interconnected, high voltage transmission lines in 15 states and one Canadian province. Midwest ISO is responsible for more than 107,000 MW of peak load and 132,000 MW of generation. Midwest ISO is responsible for coordinating the operation of the wholesale electric transmission system and ensuring fair access to the grid. For more information on the Midwest ISO, visit www.midwestiso.org. CONTACTS: | ||
|
|