Basin Today


Basin Today is a quarterly magazine sent to members, employees, and industry partners. The stories are also posted on this website. If you are interested in being added to the mailing list, contact Basin Today editor Kalli Senske.

Recent Posts

Engagement excellence: the lonesome creek station way

What does it take to create an exceptional team in a high-stakes environment? According to Doug Hunter, Basin Electric operations and maintenance...

Powering growth: meeting member needs

In his latest CEO column, Todd Brickhouse shares details about Basin Electric's newest facility, Bison Generation Station, that is being built to...

A family tradition: Dawson Kaylor follows his parents' footsteps to Dakota Gas

Dawson followed his parents’ footsteps to Dakota Gas, a subsidiary of Basin Electric, where since January 2024 he has worked as a shift...

Passing the torch: Basin Electric board of directors welcome a new director to the boardroom

The old saying, “When one door closes, another one opens” can apply to many experiences we have throughout our lives: business opportunities,...

How we serve with the station operating team

Employees across Basin Electric work tirelessly to ensure we can charge our cell phones, heat our homes, turn on the television, and perform daily...

Warm people, cool mountain: small ski area brings big fun

Nestled in the Bear Paw Mountains, Bear Paw Ski Bowl is Montana’s smallest ski hill that makes a big impression. Having reliable, affordable...

Beneath the surface: Dakota Gas uses seismic surveys to monitor carbon capture and storage project

Dakota Gas began injecting carbon dioxide into the Broom Creek formation last February, where it stores captured CO2 about 5,900 feet underground....

Reliability to power western North Dakota

A new transmission line is on its way to completion in western North Dakota, allowing for more electricity to be added to the grid in a few short...

1 million metric tons of co2 captured and sequestered at Dakota Gas

The Great Plains Synfuels Plant recently became home to the largest geologic sequestration project in the world.

The Nordlund family brings a taste of home to PGS Phase IV

Keith Nordlund, operator technician at Basin Electric’s Pioneer Generation Station, and his family are the proud owners of Nordlund Family Ranch...

How We Serve: Auxilary Operating Team

“I take pride in the fact that while most of the world is sleeping or going about their daily business, the work we do in our division, in addition...

Investing for the future at the 2024 Annual Meeting

Held August 13-15, the theme for the 63rd Annual Meeting was “Investing for the Future,” which highlights the many ways the cooperative is...

40 years and counting: celebrating decades of service

On August 1, 1984, Unit 1 at Antelope Valley Station began commercial operation, and on July 28, 1984, natural gas made synthetically from lignite...

Eye'll be seeing you

The team at Eye Love Spearfish, a member of Butte Electric Cooperative, a Basin Electric Class C member, knows all about eyes. “We’re very thankful...

Distributed generation's critical role in maintaining reliable electricity

As Basin Electric’s membership continues to grow, one resource is proving it’s a critical piece of the cooperative’s all-of-the-above energy...

When the stakes are high, Dakota Gas employees are prepared

When it comes to training, there’s no substitute for hands-on exercises to gain experience for real-world scenarios.

How We Serve: Tax Team

With teamwork being one of Basin Electric’s core values, it’s important to highlight the different departments the Tax team collaborates with, as...

Basin Electric's largest substation built to support membership growth

To meet the expected growth of the membership, construction of a new 19.5-acre substation is underway to replace the 345-kilovolt substation at...

A cornerstone for peace: The International Peace Garden

Both the International Peace Garden and International Music Camp are grateful for their local electric cooperative that offers reliable electricity...

How we serve: Instrumentation technicians

Instrumentation technicians at Leland Olds Station keep operations running smoothly with proactivity and diligence.

Easement brings continued long-term power and reliability to members

Strong relationships between Basin Electric, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Whetstone Valley Electric Cooperative provided the acquirement of a...

Scheduled outages provide reliability for members

Scheduled outages at Dakota Gas and Laramie River Station play a crucial role in maintaining reliability and efficiency.

Iowa Lakes Electric member is pleased with the co-op's reliability and affordability

In addition to the reliability and affordable cost, Baumann says he’s been very happy with the degree of personal relationships and support his...

Basin Electric breaks ground on generation facility to power a growing membership

Pioneer Generation Station Phase IV, a natural gas-fueled, dispatchable generation facility is an important component to Basin Electric’s...

Energizing education at Bismarck State College and Mitchell Technical College

Basin Electric is committed to providing reliable and affordable electricity to its members for many years to come, so ensuring there is a...

Basin Electric's strategic roadmap meets member needs, today and tomorrow

Basin Electric’s strategic roadmap meets member needs, today and tomorrow.

Basin Electric lineworkers form bonds on energized transmission lines and with each other during live line training

Basin Electric’s high-voltage transmission lines carry up to 345,000 volts of electricity.

Transmission buildouts ensure continued reliability

As energy needs continue to grow in Basin Electric’s service area, so does the need for additional generation and transmission resources.

How we serve: Warehouse team

The warehouses at Basin Electric’s generation facilities play an important role for the facilities and for the entire Basin Electric membership.

Changes approved to Bylaws, Resolutions at 2023 Annual Meeting

A change to Basin Electric’s bylaws was approved at the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Membership.

Basin Electric experts explain transmission congestion

With Basin Electric’s most recent load forecast projecting growth over the next 10 years and the clean energy transition in full swing,...

How We Serve: Environmental Controls

Between environmental controls and the work of the scrubber operator, dispatchable generation at plants like Laramie River Station are able to...

Innovative solutions for carbon management

Basin Electric has made a responsible decision to put resources into figuring out how to capture and store carbon dioxide (CO2) to continue...

North West Rural Electric members contribute to the success of Annual Tulip Festival

While the Tulip Festival doesn’t take place on co-op lines, the impact it has on its members is immeasurable, both financially and in terms of...

Construction begins on Pioneer Generation Station Phase IV

Construction has begun on Pioneer Generation Station Phase IV (PGSIV), Basin Electric's newest generation project near the existing Pioneer...

Fixed on Physics: How Basin Electric maintains reliability and stability when the laws won't change

The Laws of Physics say that at the very second electricity is being used, it must be generated somewhere. So, every time you turn on a light...

Ensuring reliability: Aging substation infrastructure replacement initiative continues to make progress

As new technology emerges it's critical to the lifespan of a substation to upgrade equipment before there's a problem. Basin Electric is on track...

From rookie to retiree: the 'transmission' of Tom Christensen

On Dec. 30, Tom Christensen, Basin Electric senior vice president of Transmission, Engineering, and Construction, retired after nearly 40 years of...

How we serve with the GIS team

At Basin Electric, the team of GIS specialists makes sure we're heading in the right direction to provide members with reliable electricity.

Value during volatility: Protecting the membership in times of uncertainty

In recent years, the energy industry has been challenged by market price volatility. Because Basin Electric is dedicated to providing reliable,...

Basin Electric to add megawatts at Pioneer Generation Station

Basin Electric is pursuing its largest single-site electric generation project since the 1980s.

Basin Electric focuses on sustainability

At Basin Electric, sustainability is the commitment we make to our members to meet their needs while ensuring future generations will thrive.

Adding major transmission infrastructure in western North Dakota

The Southwest Power Pool (SPP) conducted an Integrated Transmission Planning study and in 2021 determined the need for extensive new transmission...

Cracking the code: Carbon sequestration project will benefit environment, co-op

Basin Electric is embarking on an innovative project that will benefit the environment by sequestering and permanently storing carbon dioxide from...