Where does Beltrami Electric purchase our electrical power?
Where is our electrical power generated?
What is the first thing I should do when the power goes out?
When I call about an outage, what information do I need?
How does the co-op base its rates?
What is deregulation and how will it affect Beltrami Electric?
If I'm building a new home, how much will it cost to run service to my residence?
What is off-peak and why do I hear so much about it?
What is a Turtle meter?
What are capital credits?
When are capital credits allocated?
How are Beltrami Electric board members elected?
Where does Beltrami Electric purchase our electrical
power?
The power Beltrami Electric distributes is purchased from Minnkota
Power Cooperative, our wholesale power supplier based in Grand Forks, N.D. Minnkota is owned by
the 12 distribution cooperatives it serves. The primary source of energy is the Milton R. Young Station near Center,
N.D.
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Where is our electrical power generated?
Minnkota owns and operates a number of generation stations
located throughout the region. The primary generation stations are located in
west-central North Dakota and use lignite for fuel. Other power sources include the
two Minnkota-owned diesel powered generators located in Grand Forks, N.D. and Harwood,
N.D. Some customers have co-generation plants operating on waste wood products.
Minnkota also purchases power from other power suppliers and receives a hydro
allocation from the Western Area Power Administration.
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What is the first thing I should do when the power goes
out?
The first thing you should do is check your circuit
breaker to see if that is where the problem occurred. Next, you should check to
see if your neighbor’s power is out as well. If this is the case, you should
call the outage reporting number 218-444-2540 or 800-955-6083 to report the
outage. It's a good idea to have this number handy in case an outage
occurs.
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When I call about an outage, what information do I need?
When reporting an outage you should tell the operator your
location number, which is located on your bill. Each location number corresponds with the mapping system linemen use
when trying to pinpoint the cause of the outage. If they know your location
number, they have an easier time of locating the problem, thus restoring power
more quickly.
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How does the co-op base its rates?
One tool cooperatives use to substantiate their rates is a
cost of service study. This tells cooperatives how their existing rates are
performing and gives a breakdown of costs to each rate schedule. It also
determines if there is any cross-subsidization between rate classes. Once rate
classes are identified, a rate is designed to recover the costs (both fixed and
variable) associated with providing that customer with power.
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What is deregulation and how will it
affect Beltrami
Electric?
Deregulation refers to the changes in the laws that
regulate electric utilities. In a restructured industry, customers can choose
the generating company from where they purchase their electricity. Currently in Minnesota,
customers receive complete service from the local utility that is assigned by
law to serve their area. Under restructuring, each electric utility would be
divided into three separate units: the generating company, the transmission
company, and the distribution company . Customers could
choose their generating company but the electricity would still be delivered by
the local utility through the same transmission and distribution currently used.
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If I’m building a new home, how much will it cost to run
service to my residence?
New members are required to pay a $50 membership fee, a
$350 (plus tax) setup fee and a $100 security deposit. The security deposit can be waived
upon proof of good credit from your previous electrical utility company.
Existing members requesting a new service are required to pay the $350 (plus
tax) setup fee. If the location of
the service point is more than 500 feet from existing power lines, there is a charge
for each additional foot. Most customers use single-phase power and the charge
is $8 per foot for every foot over 500 feet.
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What is off-peak and why do I hear so much about it?
This is an option that customers can use to reduce the
cost of heating their homes and other buildings. Off-peak is a term used to
describe the load management program, meaning that electric equipment is shut
off during periods of peak electric demand. The specific definition of off-peak
is heating equipment such as underfloor storage cable that is on at night and
shut off each day. These customers have either a dual fuel or a thermal storage
heating system. The reason the off-peak program has become so popular is because
of the savings made possible by the low-cost (kwh) rate and the many
electric heating options available.
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What is a
Turtle meter?
A Turtle is a device
that reads your meter automatically. The name Turtle is
the manufacturer's name for the product that we use. This electronic device records the electrical
use at the location and reports
it to the cooperative's office. Customers with a Turtle installed
have their meters read automatically, rather than having to read it themselves
and record it on their monthly statement.
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What are capital credits?
Since Beltrami Electric is a not-for-profit organization, current
members (consumers) and past members share in any margins the co-op achieves. As
a member of the co-op, you are entitled to a share in these margins. When a
margin is realized in any given year, your share of that margin is recorded as your capital
credit allocation. The goal is to ultimately refund this credit to you in the
form of a check. Meanwhile, it serves to pay back past capital credits and
to provide adequate cash flow for reinvestment in the co-op (i.e. maintenance,
construction, etc.). Credits are based on the amount of
electricity you use. The more you use, the more credit allocated to your
account.
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When are capital credits allocated?
Beltrami Electric's board
of directors considers the return of capital credits on an annual basis. Last
year, nearly $1 million was returned to current and former members. Checks were
mailed in mid-December. Capital credits are also retired to the estates of deceased members
on a present-value basis to ease the closing of the estate.
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How are Beltrami Electric board members elected?
Each year the cooperative holds
district meetings on a rotational basis at which members nominate candidates for
the board of directors from their district. The top two candidates in each
district based on popular vote are then placed on the general election ballot
where members can vote for one director in each district up for election. The
election is conducted my mail and ballots are mailed in mid-April prior to the
annual meeting. Election results are announced at the annual meeting. Board members serve a three-year term
and can serve four consecutive terms before they must step down. They can run
again however, after four years.
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