This summer marked the 35th annual Energy Trail Tour season. Over 120 electric cooperative member-owners from western and north-central Iowa participated in three motorcoach excursions in June and July to learn about electric generation and meet the people responsible for delivering electric power to their homes, farms, and businesses. The tours, which departed from Northwest Iowa Power Cooperative (NIPCO) in Le Mars, Iowa, led passengers through the Dakotas to learn about and see, first-hand, where their energy comes from and have some fun along the journey.
Harrison County Rural Electric Cooperative through its generation and transmission cooperative Northwest Iowa Power Cooperative (NIPCO), receives power from Basin Electric Power Cooperative and Western Area Power Administration (WAPA). The three motorcoach tours, which embarked on June 26, July 10, and July 24, included 14 members who participated in tours of electric generation facilities and subsidiaries operated by both Basin Electric and WAPA.
In addition to the educational portion of the tour, members enjoyed good food, great fellowship, and a few surprise stops along the way.
Highlights of the tours include:
OAHE POWER PLANT AND DAM
The first electric-generation stop on the three-day journey brought tour guests to Pierre, South Dakota, to understand the process of hydroelectric generation and the innovation of the rolled-earth dam that created Lake Oahe, the fourth largest reservoir in the United States. Water generated from the Missouri River Dam system served as the original power source for homes and farms in the region until electric demand surpassed generation capacity in the 1970s, leading to the need to source other generation resources.
ANTELOPE VALLEY STATION
The tour included an overview of the model room and a guided walking tour of the coal-fired power plant owned and operated by Basin Electric Power Cooperative. The walking tour included stops at the turbine deck, control room, boiler, and observation deck on the 17th floor. Participants learned the process of electric generation from coal resources and the investments made by Basin Electric in environmental control technologies to reduce emissions at their facilities.
THE COTEAU PROPERTIES COMPANY FREEDOM MINE
Tour guests learned how lignite coal is produced at a surface mine and how the land is returned to its original state. A guided drive-through tour took members through active mining areas where they witnessed giant earthmoving equipment in action. The Freedom Mine delivers approximately 16 million tons of coal and reclaims about 600 acres of mined land annually.
The trip also offered insight into operations at the Great Plains Synfuels Plant and how coal can be refined into synthetic natural gas and a variety of other products, including anhydrous ammonia, carbon dioxide, and diesel exhaust fluid (DEF). Basin Electric owns and operates the Great Plains Synfuels Plant through its for-profit subsidiary, Dakota Gasification Company.
Energy Trail Tour participants also learn about wind generation and renewable energy resources in America’s energy mix. The tour provides a “mobile classroom” on the process of wind generation and how it contributes to an all-of-the-above generation mix that provides reliable and affordable energy to cooperative members.
Over three educational and fun-filled days, members gain a deeper understanding of the cooperative difference, the history of rural electric cooperatives, the Seven Cooperative Principles that guide all cooperatives, and the Touchstone Energy® brand’s four foundations of service: Integrity, Accountability, Innovation, and Commitment to Community. Memories and friendships were made while gaining a deeper and more insightful appreciation for how reliable power is generated and delivered to the light switch.
Harrison County REC’s 2024 tour members included:
Jim and Nancy Dahlgren, Jim and JoAnn Gray, Galen and Kathy Mikels, Brian and Tammy Zehner, Jill Conry and Gail Witt, Madelyn and Cash Brunow, Gene and Patty Hoff.
If you would like to participate in this experience next year, watch our newsletter beginning in February for the opportunity to enter the drawing.
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