News Connections

The North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives presented six awards during its annual meeting Feb. 11, recognizing individuals for their generous contributions to the state’s electric cooperatives and communities they serve. Honorees included:

• Bob Grant – Cooperative Leadership, Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative

• Lauren Klewin – Cooperative Leadership, Slope Electric Cooperative

• Erin Oban – Helping Hand, former USDA Rural Development state director and state senator

Are you a small- or mid-sized farm or food business and looking to expand? Do you need additional equipment, staff time, software or business planning? The Business Builder grant offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture North Central Regional Food Business Center (RFBC) may be able to help.

When North Dakota’s 69th Legislative Assembly convened Jan. 7, legislators were welcomed by Gov. Kelly Armstrong, who delivered his first state of the state address to a joint session of the Legislature. In his address, Armstrong laid out his property tax relief and reform plan, devised with input from legislators.

A North Dakota woman is being inducted into the Cooperative Hall of Fame.

On Dec. 6, 2024, the Cooperative Development Foundation announced Lori Capouch as a 2025 inductee. The Cooperative Hall of Fame is the highest honor bestowed on individuals who have made outstanding contributions to cooperatives. She is the first woman from North Dakota to receive the prestigious honor.

With a transition in the White House, a Republican-controlled Congress and a new governor of North Dakota, co-ops stand ready to work with government leaders at all levels to ensure a pro-energy regulatory agenda that protects electric affordability and reliability.

While regulatory and industry initiatives have improved winter readiness, many regions of the country are once again at elevated risk of electricity supply shortfalls in the event of extreme weather, the North American Reliability Corporation (NERC) states in its 2024-25 Winter Reliability Assessment released Nov. 14.

During his second trip to North Dakota in two months, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Under Secretary Dr. Basil Gooden announced a $200,000 grant award to the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives (NDAREC) rural development center. The funding, provided through the Rural Cooperative Development Grant (RCDG) program, will be used by the center to provide technical assistance to cooperatives and mutually owned businesses in rural North Dakota.

Thousands of acres and North Dakota producers have been affected by October’s wildfires.

“It’s hard to imagine what producers are going through right now,” says N.D. Stockmen’s Association (NDSA) President Randy Schmitt, a cow-calf producer from Rugby.

And in the absence of substantial moisture, many fear the threat of additional fires, he says.

As first responders across the state stand ready to respond to wildfire emergencies, others are sharing resources and offering aid.
 

Bismarck native Kennedy DeLap is the newest member of the North Dakota Living team. Her internship started Aug. 5 and will end in December, when she graduates with a master’s degree in environmental journalism from the University of Montana.

The latest move in a U.S. Postal Service (USPS) plan to change the way it processes and delivers mail is taking aim at the frequency of pickups and deliveries for rural customers, a change that could hurt the ability of electric cooperatives to communicate with their members.

The proposed changes would intensify pressure on co-ops, which have already faced sharp postage rate increases in recent years that have raised costs to send their magazines, electric bills and other mail to members.