Above: Basin Electric Power Cooperative (Basin Electric) is set to build a new natural gas-fueled generation facility in Williams County, North Dakota, pictured in this artist’s rendering. The nearly $4 billion project, called the Bison Generation Station to be constructed near the town of Epping, will produce approximately 1,490 megawatts (MW) of electricity, one of the largest electric generation projects in the cooperative’s history. Comprising two units of roughly 700 MW each, the facility will help meet electric load growth in the region that stems from industrial work, manufacturing, residential members, and small businesses, including farms and ranches.
The power grid is a complex system. For electric co-ops in this part of the country, the system is owned and maintained on three different levels or tiers.
The parts you see close to home such as meters, green boxes, lines, and poles, are just a small portion called the distribution system. That’s the part of the system that Sioux Valley Energy is responsible for.
The bigger power lines and substations that scatter the landscape are part of the second tier called transmission. The Cooperative’s power suppliers, East River Electric Power Cooperative and L&O Power Cooperative, represent the transmission tier.
The third level of the system is the power generator. Basin Electric Power Cooperative generates electricity from a diverse energy mix including coal, natural gas, wind, and solar.
