Cooperatives, municipal reach transmission agreement with NSP
Elk River, MN (October 27, 1999) - Great River Energy, Dairyland Power Cooperative and Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency have reached an agreement with Northern States Power Co. regarding operation of their integrated transmission systems in anticipation of NSP’s proposed merger with New Century Energies.
The agreement includes operational and financial terms.
“We are very pleased we have been able to come to this arrangement with our cooperative and municipal partners,” said Jim Howard, NSP’s chairman, president and chief executive officer. “The agreement maintains the integrated electric network arrangement that has served this area well while allowing us to prepare for meeting customer needs in the future.”
“Because our transmission systems are highly integrated, we wanted to assure that our ability to serve our customers would not be impacted by the proposed merger,” said Jim Van Epps, chief executive officer of Great River Energy. “The agreement helps ensure a smooth transition to a future transmission system for all parties while providing flexibility on important regional transmission issues.”
“SMMPA is pleased we were able to reach an agreement that is fair to all of the participating utilities while preserving the benefits of our existing transmission arrangement,” said Kimball R. Rasmussen, SMMPA executive director and chief executive officer. “In a rapidly changing utility environment, this is a key to maintaining reliable service to the thousands of people who rely on SMMPA and its members for their daily power needs.”
The agreement ensures that the parties will not oppose or delay the merger between Minneapolis-based NSP and New Century Energies, which is based in Denver. The utilities also agreed to work with NSP and the Midwest Independent System Operator, a regional transmission organization, to resolve issues that could lead to their eventual membership in the organization. NSP announced in August that it would unconditionally join the transmission organization.
Great River Energy is based in Elk River, Minn.; Northern States Power Company is based in Minneapolis, Minn.; Dairyland Power Cooperative is based in La Crosse, Wis.; and Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency is based in Rochester, Minn.
