It’s the International Year of Cooperatives!
This is only the second time the international declaration has been made by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly. The first was in 2012.
The yearlong celebration seeks to promote cooperatives and raise awareness of their contributions to overall social and economic development.
• Do not shoot at or near power lines or insulators.
• Familiarize yourself with the location of power lines and equipment on land where you shoot.
• Take notice of warning signs and keep clear of electrical equipment.
• Do not place deer stands on utility poles or climb poles. Energized lines and equipment on the poles can conduct electricity to anyone who comes in contact with them, causing shock or electrocution.
An interim legislative committee tasked with studying the impact of large loads on the electric grid convened for the first time Aug. 27 in Ellendale.
Legislators on the interim Energy Development and Transmission Committee toured the Applied Digital campus in Ellendale and heard presentations from several electric and data center industry professionals and local and state officials.
While the study looks at the impact of all large energy users on the electric system, data centers have emerged as a primary concern.
A new bipartisan bill in Congress would streamline the Federal Emergency Management Agency and speed up delivery of crucial disaster relief funds. The Fixing Emergency Management for Americans (FEMA) Act of 2025 also preserves the agency’s Public Assistance (PA) program, which provides critical funding for electric cooperatives to restore power and rebuild their systems after natural disasters.
McKenzie Electric Cooperative members Corey and Rachel Meuchel are growing greens and community at Meadowlark Acres in rural Arnegard. The 15-acre garden plot opens to the public this month. Families are invited to walk through the rows of produce and pick their own to take home. It is the fruit that blossomed from Rachel’s brain cancer diagnosis in 2023, which you can read about here.
The N.D. Public Service Commission approved plans Aug. 7 for what will become North Dakota’s largest single power plant. Basin Electric Power Cooperative will invest nearly $4 billion to build a 1,490-megawatt (MW) natural gas-fueled combined-cycle power plant near Epping in Williams County.
The plan calls for two 745-MW units to be built in two sections, with the first generating power in 2029 and the second in 2030. Once completed, it will be one of the largest electric generation projects in Basin Electric’s history.
North Dakota’s new law banning student cellphone use in public schools took effect Aug. 1. North Dakota Living turned to students to ask their thoughts on the cellphone ban.
Each year, electric cooperatives from across the country sponsor high school sophomores and juniors to participate in the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour. The all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., immerses students in the democratic process, teaches them about cooperatives and includes a full itinerary of monuments, museums and historic sites.
Colleen George and Heather Lee are a mother-daughter team who used to run a pizza joint in Westhope, but now work alongside each other at Baker’s Market in the small town 2 miles from the Canadian border. Colleen does the baking, while Heather manages the grocery’s produce and deli departments and cooks a lunch special four days a week. Read more about the small-town grocery store and an effort to make the rural grocery business more viable here.
