Great River Energy operates in a region with a growing appetite for energy. Our service area stretches across Minnesota and into Wisconsin. We serve many of the Twin Cities outer-ring suburbs, an area that consistently has been one of the nation’s leaders in job growth and energy usage. We must continually monitor this growth and plan for the future. Here are examples of our future plans.

New Corporate Facility:

Great River Energy’s proposed headquarters -- a four-story, 166,000-square-foot state-of-the-art corporate office facility will be located on a 12.5-acre site in the Arbor Lakes development of Maple Grove, Minn.

Great River Energy is pursuing LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) platinum certification for the facility. The LEED Green Building Rating System is a voluntary national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings that rely on on-site renewable resources.

“The city of Maple Grove has been instrumental in helping us achieve our goals with this project, particularly our green goals,” explained CEO David Saggau. “We are pursuing a LEED platinum certified building so that our headquarters facility will become a showcase of energy efficiencies in the state of Minnesota.”

An artist’s rendering of the proposed Great River Energy headquarters facility. The Rural Utilities Service is issuing an Environmental Assessment in connection with possible impacts related to the construction and operation of a Generation and Transmission Support Center in Maple Grove, Minn. Download the Environmental Assessment here: Environmental Assessment (PDF) Figure 5.1 (PDF)

Transmission Planning:

The state of Minnesota has adopted a biennial transmission planning process to ensure the integrity of the state’s electric transmission system. Great River Energy and Minnesota’s other transmission-owning utilities a biennial transmission planning report with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission in the fall of odd-numbered years. These utilities have joined to sponsor the Minnesota Electric Transmission Planning website and public meetings concerning transmission issues so that the public can become more directly involved in planning.

Please visit the site for more information about Minnesota's Biennial Transmission Plan

Great River Energy is working with other Minnesota utilities to develop a vision for transmission infrastructure investments needed in the state during the next 15 years. The effort is called CapX 2020, short for Capacity Expansion by the Year 2020. The study also looks at ways to relieve transmission congestion.

As they prepare long-term recommendations, the companies are seeking input from a variety of sources, including regulators, power producers and other utilities. More information about the effort is available on the CapX 2020 website.

Integrated Resource Plan:

Great River Energy’s Integrated Resource Plan outlines what power resources are currently available to Great River Energy and how we will consider new resources for the future. The plan also analyzes the future electricity needs of Great River Energy’s customers. Great River Energy files its resource plan with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission every other year.

2005 Great River Energy Integrated Resource Plan (600 kB pdf file)