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Energy efficiency and conservation – our first fuel At Great River Energy we recognize that energy conservation and energy efficiency, demand response, and price signals are our least-cost resource – that they are less expensive than building new power plants and that they are also less controversial and less risky for our cooperative and ultimately our members – for these reasons we call it our first fuel.

Visit our website mnbrighterideas.com to learn about the steps you can take to use less energy and to use it more efficiently.
mnbrighterideas.com »

Great River Energy’s member cooperatives continue to grow in energy sales, those increased energy sales come in two ways:

• Increase in population – more people and more homes means more energy consumption.
• Increase in energy consumption – Even without an increase in population, the demand for more electricity continues to grow. Each year, we as homeowners and business owners continue to add electric devices and electric technologies that increase our consumption – again, even without population increases; our current customer base is using more electricity every year. You as a homeowner or business owner may say “I have cut back and I am using less energy,” but on average we’re using more.

We can meet these future energy requirements in two ways: we can build more power plants, which might be fueled by:

• Coal
• Natural gas
• Biomass
• Hydro
• Wind

Or, we can encourage the wise use of the energy we have through conservation and energy efficiency, demand response, and price signals.

Minnesota's electric utilities have a common goal of saving the equivalent of 1.5 percent of their annual, average energy sales through energy efficiency and energy conservation program participation.

Energy efficiency Energy efficiency is using a technology to reduce your energy consumption and save you money. Learn more  » Energy conservation Conservation is changing your behavior to reduce your energy consumption and save money. It may require you to do with less, make slight concessions, or change your lifestyle in some way. Learn more  »

Load management The cost of electricity is constantly changing. The kilowatt-hour delivered at dinner time is far more expensive than the one delivered at midnight. Our load management programs exist to take advantage of that cost difference. Learn more  » Rate design We review our rates and rate structure annually to ensure that our organization remains a viable business and that we continue to meet the needs of our members. Learn more  »