Farmers question land swap between REA, PUC

Brown County REA holds

annual meeting

in New Ulm

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- A handful of Brown County Rural Electrical Association members questioned why the REA was swapping access and electrical service rights on 2,000 acres of property south and west of the City with New Ulm Public Utilities.

Speaking at the REA's annual meeting Saturday at Vogel Arena, Manager Wade Hensel said due to state and federal laws, the REA had no choice but to allow the PUC to gain access and electrical service rights on land it chose in annex in the future.

"It's not fair that coops give away customers to communities that grow and expand," Hensel said. "We don't want to do this but the City of New Ulm has the legal right to do what they're doing."

Hensel said coops are trying to change state and federal laws but so far, have been unable to do so. He added that under the REA's agreement with New Ulm, it will gain 80 customers north of the Minnesota River -- outside the city limits -- that are currently served by New Ulm PUC. After 20 years, the PUC could regain their lost customers, but only after paying for them, according to the agreement.

An REA member said New Ulm was "dumping" some customers outside the city limits on the REA. He added that he would rather get electrical service from the REA rather than the New Ulm PUC.

Hensel said one advantage the agreement gave the REA was that it will gain 80 customers before losing any customers to the PUC since the rural land near New Ulm has not been annexed yet. He called the agreement a "win-win" situation for both parties.

Hensel said he was happy to report recent improvements in CTV (UHF) reception of Channel 5 (KSTP ABC) from the Godahl tower thanks to a new tower and transmitter.

If viewers can't get Channel 5 clearly now, it was due to their own antenna problems, according to Hensel. The changes came slowly because it took a long time to find a day with low wind that coincided with the schedule of a crew willing to climb a 1,000 foot tower.

The year 2002 was another "good" year for the REA, according to Business Manager Lonnie Spaeth. Income climbed $302,690 to $6,918,753 with 24 new accounts. Assets for the 3,200 member organization rose from $16,677.864 to $17,976,607.

The average monthly electric bill climbed from $152.26 to $157.79. The REA's share of revenue for each kilowatt hour rose from 5.96 cents to 6.063 cents last year.

"We definitely proved we are a coop," Spaeth said, referring to customer dividends. "We gave back to you what is yours."

Loren Brekke, of Hanska, President of the REA Board, said outages are becoming less likely with new more wind and ice-resistant lines that were put up last year. More are going up this year, he added.

Rick Lancaster of Great River Energy, which supplies the REA with power, said the firm plans to place a new natural gas power plant on line in Dakota County by 2007 in order to keep up with demand. The plant will re-use waste heat and have low emissions.

Lancaster said coal plants are 2 1/2 times more expensive than natural gas plants and there is a 40-50 year natural gas supply in North America.

He attributed the higher cost of natural gas this winter to several things that aren't likely to happen at the same time again -- an oil worker strike in Venezuela, cold early winter on the East Coast, a fire at a major refinery in New York and the impending war.

Great River Energy expanded its wind power assets from two MW in 1999, 6 MW in 2001, 12 MW in 2002 and 27 MW on contract. Future wind power growth will develop as the transmission system increases and basic wind power costs drop, according to Lancaster.

REA members re-elected board members Thomas Hayes of Lafayette (Vice President), and directors Christ Christensen of Morgan and Leo Marti of New Ulm.