The power line system must be built for the times of highest electricity use, such as the hottest and coldest days of the year when air conditioning and electric heating equipment is working hard to keep us comfortable. Read how the power line system works like your home’s fuse box. |
Increasing use of electricity on our member system To continue providing our members with reliable electric service, the power line system must be strong enough to handle the times of highest electricity use. In our service area, transmission upgrades are needed due to:
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Times of highest electricity use in Great River Energy’s service area often occurs on the hottest days of summer, or the coldest days of winter, when air conditioners or electric heating equipment is working hard to keep us comfortable. The power line system is built for these times, often referred to as “peaks”. Without the proper capacity, customers will experience outages or problems associated with low voltage. The power line system works like your home’s fuse box. Learn more.
We are using far more electricity in the United States than we did even a few years ago and although many of the transmission lines we rely on were built in the 1950s or 1960s, our expectations for reliable electric power remain very high.
Although natural gas is the most popular fuel for heating homes and businesses in Minnesota, natural gas is not available in many areas of the state. Some of Great River Energy’s 28 member cooperatives are seeing a growing number of member-customers who have begun to heat their homes or businesses with electricity. In order to reliably serve electricity to and around those areas, some transmission upgrades are needed.
Anytime there is rapid growth in population or business in a certain area, the power line system will need to be ready to deliver more electricity than it had in the past. There are a number of areas in Minnesota that have experienced such growth and that has driven the need for a number of system upgrades over the last few years.
Much of the transmission system across the United States is in need of updating and Great River Energy’s system is no exception. Some areas of our system have undergone some recent improvements; however, many areas of our transmission system were built decades ago, and are in need of upgrades.
