6d. Who are the Players?
The Lignite Energy Council is a member-driven association that features:
- 250+ contractor and suppliers
- 6 utilities
- 4 producers
- 1 reserve holder
- 1 research member
- 1 development member
- 1 gasification company
Click or tap through the slides to learn more about Lignite Energy Council members.
Basin Electric Power Cooperative Service Area
The Basin Electric Power Cooperative serves 141 distribution co-ops and has about three million customers.
It produces 1,569 megawatts from lignite and about 2,000 megawatts from sub-bituminous coal.
Minnkota Power Cooperative Service Area
The Minnkota Power Cooperative serves 11 distribution co-ops with 140 thousand customers. It produces 708 megawatts of power. The co-op has more than 360 employees.
Great River Energy Service Area
Great River Energy serves 28 distribution co-ops and 650 thousand customers. It has more than 500 employees in three locations.
Montana-Dakota Utilities Company
The area in blue represents service territory and the red dots denote generation sources. Montana-Dakota Utilities’ customers have grown to more than 135 thousand. It has more than 300 employees in three locations.
Otter Tail Power Company Service Area
The OtterTail Power Company serves about 130,000 electric customers. It produces 149.5 megawatts of power from lignite. The company has more than 400 employees in two locations.
Minnesota Power Service Area
Minnesota Power serves more than 144 thousand customers. It employs about 1,000 workers and produces 225 megawatts of electricity from lignite.
Lignite’s Primary Electric Service Areas
Each of these companies serve the corresponding area on the map. The rural areas in white use investor-owned utilities.