Great River Energy’s Pleasant Valley Station receives international environmental certification

Mower County, MN (July 8, 2003)
Pleasant Valley Station, a natural-gas power plant owned by Great River Energy, has received ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 14001 certification of its environmental management system (EMS). This certification demonstrates conformance to an international standard that reflects global consensus on good environmental practices.

“Great River Energy is the only generation and transmission cooperative in the United States with ISO 14001 certified facilities. This is a significant demonstration of our commitment to being an environmentally responsible company,” says Mary Jo Roth, manager, environmental services, Great River Energy.

ISO 14001 is a voluntary international standard for excellent environmental practices. It requires that a company continuously evaluate and improve its environmental performance. As part of the certification process, an independent registrar completed a rigorous audit of Pleasant Valley Station’s EMS and environmental programs.

Pleasant Valley Station is a 487-megawatt natural gas-fired peaking power plant located in Mower County, Minn. The plant was constructed in 2001-2002 and includes three combustion turbines.

“Pleasant Valley Station is a new generating facility, and obtaining certification at this time allows the plant staff to incorporate environmental goals seamlessly into the normal operating activities of the plant. That’s a big benefit,” says Nathan Domyahn, peaking plants supervisor, Great River Energy.

In December 1998, Great River Energy also received ISO 14001 certification for its Coal Creek Station, a coal-based power plant located near Underwood, ND.

Great River Energy is a not-for-profit generation and transmission cooperative providing electricity to 28 distribution cooperatives in Minnesota and Wisconsin. It is the second largest power supplier in the state of Minnesota, and the fourth largest cooperative of its type in the nation.