Dec 30, 2019 | Community
Inter-Lakes Community Action Partnership (ICAP) received a $5,000 donation from East River Electric Cooperative in December. East River participated in CoBank’s Sharing Success Program which is a matching grant program. East River donated $2,500 and CoBank matched that amount. Jake Good, Vice President of CoBank, said, “CoBank recognizes that our customers know best where funding can most effectively be provided to benefit their communities. The Sharing Success Program is a great way for us to positively impact the communities of our customers.”
ICAP is headquartered in Madison and is a community based non-profit organization which serves primarily low-income families and senior citizens in a 14-county area of East Central South Dakota. They administer a variety of programs supported through grants, donations and other community resources to assist participants and their communities to achieve full potential. Arleen Weerheim, ICAP’s Deputy Director, expressed gratitude for the donation. “Thank you very much for this generous donation. The funds will go to good use to assist low-income families in our community,” said Arleen. Locally, ICAP is involved in the Encore store, emergency assistance and other low-income programs.
Nov 20, 2019 | Community
A family in Madison donated the Community Christmas Tree and East River Electric Cooperative’s Madison crew removed the large evergreen tree from their home. They transported the tree from the residential area to the Dairy Queen parking lot. Employees from the City of Madison assisted East River in setting the tree. The Madison Area Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a Magical Christmas Celebration on Saturday, December 7 to light the tree. Click here to learn more about the event: http://www.chamberofmadisonsd.com/events/details/madison-s-magical-christmas-2019-4683
Oct 24, 2019 | Latest News
East River Electric Power Cooperative recently presented service awards to 24 employees with years of service ranging from five to 40 years.
“I’d like to congratulate this year’s service award recipients and thank them for their dedication to East River Electric,” said East River General Manager Tom Boyko.
SCADA, Radio and Load Management Foreman Paul Lambert, one of this year’s service award recipients, began working at East River 40 years ago.
“I grew up on a family farm in eastern South Dakota and electricity played an important part in our daily farm activities especially dealing with livestock. The cooperative model and service have always resonated with me perhaps in part because my maternal grandfather served in the State Legislature and helped draft the legislation that laid the groundwork for rural electrification in South Dakota,” said Lambert.
Three employees celebrated their 40-year work anniversary. Teresa Goehring, System Operator, added that there have been many changes in the electric industry over the years. Lambert agreed, “The job has changed in that the utility industry today demands more and more data with robust telecommunications networks to deliver this real time. I’ve always felt that East River fulfills an important service to rural America and am proud to contribute in a small way towards that effort.”
Steve Hofman, Meter/Relay Foreman, also celebrated his 40-year work anniversary. “Technology has drastically changed our jobs and how we perform them,” shared Hofman. “But with all the changes that have taken place, the one constant has been the dedicated, hardworking people that make East River such a successful organization. I’ve had a great career here and I’m happy to have had to chance to work for such a great cooperative for the past 40 years.”
East River presented the service awards during an all-staff meeting and spouses of the recipients were invited to attend. Before the awards ceremony, the group had enjoyed an employee appreciation breakfast.
A listing of the awards is as follows:
• Five years: Tom Boyko, Jennifer Buchholtz, Megan Rummel
• Ten years: Dan Coomes, Jennifer Gross, Adam Hansen, Dan Lembcke, Eric Nesheim, Nate Oines, Linda Roth, Colton Sanderson, David Smith
• Fifteen years: Jarad Deters
• Twenty years: Dustin Arthur, Tim Brown, Jeff May, Chad Nowstrup, Brian Wilkens
• Thirty years: Michelle Burggraff
• Thirty Five years: Doug Case, Jeff Rud
• Forty years: Steve Hofman, Teresa Goehring, Paul Lambert
Photo caption: East River General Manager Tom Boyko presents a 40 year service award to Steve Hofman.
Oct 3, 2019 | Latest News
A Connected Home Research Project launched on Wednesday as part of Dakota State University’s (DSU) MadLabs facility grand opening. The Connected Home project is a partnership between East River Electric Power Cooperative, DSU and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and is exploring technologies that will be included in the next generation rural home. It is also working to find solutions that will allow electric cooperatives to play an integral role in helping consumers optimize their energy use.
East River Electric is a wholesale power supply cooperative headquartered in Madison which serves 24 distribution cooperatives and one municipal electric system across eastern South Dakota and western Minnesota. NRECA is a national association of over 900 electric cooperatives and is headquartered in Washington, D.C.
“From wi-fi thermostats to smart appliances, our network of electric cooperatives is seeing increased adoption of smart home technologies among consumers,” said East River Chief Member and Public Relations Officer Chris Studer. “While current technologies can help manage electricity usage and benefit consumers, we noticed a gap between the capabilities of those technologies and the needs of our utility network to connect to those technologies. We hope to close that gap through this project.”
Researchers will investigate current products on the market and determine how utilities could potentially utilize existing technologies to control appliances and connected technologies within a home. They will also research the potential to build utility-specific technologies, both hardware and software, that could be used in homes to optimize energy usage and control power costs. A final phase of the project could include field testing of potential products in end consumer homes to determine the viability of any hardware and software that is developed.
“As use of smart home technology continues to increase among consumers, we’re hoping to use this research project to identify technologies that will help us in our transition to a new energy management future or to develop our own utility-specific technologies that can be replicated at cooperatives around the country to help consumers optimize energy usage and save them money,” said Studer.
The project’s research space resembles a smart home kitchen with additional appliances including a washer, dryer and water heater. “Many of the products included in the space were sourced from local companies. We are grateful to Rosebud Cabinets, KolorWorks, Karl’s Appliance and Montgomery’s for assisting in the construction and design of the space,” said Studer.
Sep 23, 2019 | Latest News
The Eminent Service Award is East River Electric Power Cooperative’s highest honor and is given annually to individuals who have made significant contributions to East River and the cooperative movement. The awards were presented during East River’s Annual Meeting in September.
Jim Edwards retired as Chief Operations Officer from East River Electric in 2019, after 20 years of service to East River Electric and its members. He provided a significant leadership role as the cooperative went through many transitions, adopted new technologies and experienced growth. “Jim was a key player in East River planning for and joining the Southwest Power Pool. His planning expertise was utilized as East River prepared for system growth throughout the years,” said East River Board President Jim Ryken. “For these and his many other contributions to East River and our member systems, we recognize Jim for his dedication and friendship with our highest honor.”
Greg Hollister retired as East River’s Chief Financial Officer after a combined 40 years of service in the cooperative family, with 20 of those years being at East River. Greg dedicated his career to making sure co-op members at the end of the line have affordable and reliable electricity. “We offer our sincere thanks and appreciation for your leadership role in overseeing the Indenture and other strategic financial functions at East River,” said East River General Manager Tom Boyko.
