by Brad Dolinksi CEO
Good afternoon NIECI!
It’s a beautiful July day as I write this. We got back from a fishing trip in Canada with my aunt and uncle, Cathy went immediately out to inspect the garden. Apparently, the deer came in for a snack while we were gone. I guess they wiped out the lettuce, peppers, and peas. The first thing that came up in the discussion was a fence. Nope, I like to watch the deer. I threw out the suggestion of going to a farmers’ market. That didn’t win me any points. We’re going to try a little spray to keep the critters out. I know I’m going to end up putting up a fence, not thrilled about that but, oh well.
Before the fishing trip, Lloyd Kongsjord and I attended the strategic planning session for Great River Energy. This is a deep dive and discussion surrounding the state of our business. We touched on many subjects, and I want to rattle off a few points with you.
You have heard me before talking about how the system as we knew it is changing. We are moving away from centralized power (where one plant serves a large geographical area). We are moving to a system that relies on intermittent power from multiple locations. The new model creates inefficiencies in the delivery of power to our homes and businesses. We will need to build more transmission lines than we have needed in the past.
There are multiple ways to conquer this challenge. We can stick our head in the sand and do nothing, or we can spend a significant amount of money and be part of the change. As we heard at the strategic planning session it is more of a benefit to take the second option and invest in new transmission lines. As an investor or builder of these lines we can benefit from the use of these new lines for years to come. The example given, if we do nothing, we can expect our transmission rates to increase roughly 10%. As an investor or builder of these lines we will be closer to a three percent increase. The costs are going up, they will increase less if we own vs rent.
The next subject that I want to discuss with you is power supply. How are we going to make the power that comes to your homes and businesses? We had several great discussions about this topic at our annual meeting this year. I was excited to hear the engagement of our members and I have been looking for ways to continue this dialogue with you. GRE didn’t disappoint at the strategic planning session. Many of the same discussions that I heard at our annual meeting were brought up at the strategy session. We have contracts with GRE to ensure the power comes on when you hit the switch in your home. They have a duty to serve our load needs through this contract.
GRE uses multiple methods to meet these needs. We are a member of MISO; this can be a very effective and efficient way to meet the needs of our Member-Owners. MISO is like the farmers’ market I talked about earlier, everyone brings their production to market, and you take what you need, sometimes at a very attractive price. When supply is limited, we have several hedges to choose from that we own. This model is changing greatly by the decision to be carbon free by 2040. Carbon emitting resources are leaving the market. What are we going to do in the future to supply the needs of the Member-Owners? We are entering into contracts to supply these needs: wind, hydro from Canada, coal from North Dakota plants are all resources we are using to meet these needs. Once again, we need to discuss nuclear energy for the future.
After the annual meeting I had a few follow-up discussions from several of my Member-Owners. One of these discussions brought up a good idea. I want to hold an education session about nuclear energy in 2024. Nuclear energy has changed, it isn’t the same plant I remember Homer Simpson working at when I grew up. What is it? What are the pros and cons of nuclear energy? What are the dangers and what do we do about these dangers? I am working with Mike Brasel from Lake Region Electric Cooperative and Senator Hauschild to host a meeting this fall. I will get the information out to all of you when this meeting is scheduled. I want to have a learning session, let’s ask some questions and continue the conversations we had at the annual meeting.
Summer sure feels like it is flying by. I surely hope you are enjoying a little time to rest and relax. I finally had to just plant the food plot; I have been trying to whip the field into shape. Between rain, fishing, and weather in general I gave up and just seeded it. I’m crossing my fingers it takes off well enough to replace some of Cathy’s garden. If you haven’t ever tried tillable radish tops in lieu of lettuce, I encourage you to give them a try.
By your side! Miigwech
Brad
