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Power Suppliers

The electricity that is supplied to the members of the Woodbury County Rural Electric Cooperative comes from two main fuel sources.

One source is coal from mines in North Dakota and Wyoming.  This coal is burned in power plants operated by Basin Electric Power Cooperative in Bismarck, North Dakota.  Basin Electric’s power plants are some of the most efficient in the industry and provide 60% of the power supplied to the members of Woodbury County REC. 

The second source of fuel is falling water from the dams on the Missouri River.  These dams are operated by a branch of the government called the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA).  Hydropower is some of the cheapest power available and provides 40% of the power supplied to the members of Woodbury County REC.

Basin Electric is constructing wind generation as well which is helped financed through “Prairie Winds” project.  At this time wind energy is a small amount of Basin’s overall generating capacity.  However, this energy source is growing and will play a larger role in the future.

The power generated by Basin Electric and WAPA travels over high voltage transmission lines to a large substation in Northwest Iowa.  At this substation the power is combined and goes out on additional high voltage transmission lines owned by the Northwest Iowa Power Cooperative (NIPCO) which is the wholesale power supplier for Woodbury County REC.  NIPCO’s transmission lines connect to six substations located in Woodbury County which are owned by NIPCO.  From those substations power travels out on lines owned by Woodbury County REC to the members of Woodbury County REC.

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Woodbury County REC :: Copyright© All Rights Reserved
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Woodbury County REC :: Copyright© All Rights Reserved
1495 Humbolt Avenue  ::  Moville, Iowa 51039
712.873.3125  ::  1.800.469.3125  ::  helpdesk@woodburyrec.com
Site Developed in part by Basin Electric Power Cooperative