On Tuesday, January 9th Zac Ruzycki of Great River Energy made a presentation  titled “Great River Energy – Leading Cooperatively toward a Cost-Effective and Carbon Constrained Future” to NW Metro Climate Action members and guests. 

Great River Energy is a “generation and transmission” cooperative that  provides electricity to local electric co-ops across Minnesota.  Zac’s presentation led the captivated audience through several topics including changes in the industry, wholesale power markets and MISO as well as the numerous steps GRE has taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It was a fascinating look into the world of energy and how the markets actually work, and what role renewables play now and in future. 

If you’d like to learn more visit the Great River Energy site, where you will find plenty of the information covered during the presentation.

As mentioned, GRE is involved with several innovative programs to promote energy consumption and renewable energy. Below is more information and helpful links on the great work Great River Energy is doing. 

 …GRE’s “Rәvolt” program which offers 100% wind energy at no extra charge for car charging by electric customers who buy electric cars 

…GRE’s headquarters building in Maple Grove is very energy efficient.  It was the first LEED Platinum commercial building in Minnesota

 …GRE’s “Community Storage Initiative”, a program to help homeowners save money and reduce carbon footprint through use of electric water heaters that use cheaper nighttime electricity

…GRE’s partnership in a pilot project to bring electric school buses to Minnesota that will reduce emissions, fuel costs and maintenance costs

…GRE has accelerated the depreciation of its largest coal-fired generating plant so that its members will not be saddled with a “stranded asset” if/when burning coal becomes off-limits 

…GRE appreciates wind energy!  At minute 10:49 of the video linked immediately above, CEO David Saggau says “wind is quickly becoming the new baseload power, and to be viable going forward, all other resources must be flexible enough to be supplement to the wind”. 

NW Metro Climate Action looks forward to a continued partnership with our local leaders in Renewable Energy.