Daniel Carlisle
President/CEO

Our Member Services team has been busy pursuing an interesting opportunity this month. Todd-Wadena Electric Cooperative’s power supplier, Great River Energy (GRE), and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) have teamed up to solicit applications for a two-year indoor agriculture growing experiment. The project will utilize a modified shipping container pod that will be fully equipped with heat growing lights and a hydroponic system. The successful rural electric cooperative that is awarded the project will need a local partner to pay for a portion of the project costs and to provide labor to monitor and harvest the produce that is grown. TWEC is interested in the project not only because it will provide a nice additional electric load for our system, but also because it will help us to better understand how our electric distribution system could function if this type of load becomes accepted and is more common in the future.

Central Lakes College (CLC) has agreed to be involved in the project and to provide a site for the self-contained agricultural pod to be located. The site must have water and electricity available. The college has a pod-ready site available that meets this requirement. Lakewood Health System of Staples has also joined in as a partner in this application. Lakewood has an established outreach program for food nutrition in the area and its cafeteria facility will provide an end-use consumption point.

Todd-Wadena Electric Cooperative’s Member Services staff has devoted numerous hours to refining the application submission to GRE. The final product will include a written application, video testimonials from our project partners, and many sound reasons why our cooperative should be selected to host this exciting project. We expect the winning cooperative to be announced in early April. We are hopeful that you will be seeing a new wave, high-tech, agriculture produce-growing pod in our service territory by mid-summer. Wish us luck!

Daniel Carlisle
President/CEO

When you become a member of Todd-Wadena Electric Cooperative (TWEC), you are agreeing to abide by all co-op policies. TWEC’s tree trimming policy is: primary lines (other than those in yards) will be maintained a minimum of 20 feet horizontal clearance on each side of the pole line from the ground up. Overhead primary lines located in members’ yards are maintained 10 feet minimum horizontal right-of-way on each side of the pole line. On three-phase power lines located in members’ yards, the right-of-way must be maintained 10 feet from outside lines and 10 feet below the neutral line.

With this policy, TWEC can responsibly provide safe and reliable energy to our members. Outside of the right-of-way we also look for “danger trees”. These are dead or leaning trees that will touch the line if they fall, causing an outage or blinking lights.

This year, TWEC plans on mowing and spraying three substations: Compton, Aldrich, and Leaf River. TWEC has contracted this service out to Central Applicators. Central Applicators will notify the members in those areas on the timeline of the spraying via mail.

TWEC Arborist, Joe Sworski, is responsible for lining up work for both TWEC crews and Carr’s Tree Service, which consists of side trimming, removals, and mowing.

Our goal is to reach all areas of our system once every 10 years, without going from spot to spot. With this schedule, we are able to keep the lights on and the blink count minimal.

Thanks for your cooperation in the ongoing quest for a clear right-of-way.

Todd Miller
Operations Manager

Right-of-way Clearances

Cooperatives are democratic entities, owned by those they serve and governed by elected representatives. New this year, Todd-Wadena Electric Cooperative is offering multiple ways to vote to underscore this basic, but important, cooperative principle: your right to vote.

Vote by Mail 
Election ballots are scheduled to be mailed to all Todd-Wadena members on March 11th. The order of candidate names will be rotated among ballots. After marking your votes, you will be instruction to insert your completed ballot into a confidential envelope, and then to seal and place that envelope into a pre-stamped, pre-addressed envelope to return by mail.

The return envelopes are pre-addressed to Survey & Ballot Systems (SBS) in Eden Prairie where the ballots will be secured, scanned, and tallied. SBS is a professional election management company that oversees the balloting process for the cooperative.

Please Note: Mailing Envelopes
There are two envelopes to be returned with each ballot. One is the pre-addressed envelope to Survey & Ballot Systems, the other is the confidential envelope. It is very important that the ballot is first placed into the confidential envelope, and then that envelope is placed into the preaddressed envelope to be mailed. If the ballots are not in a confidential envelope they cannot be counted as a valid vote.

Vote Online via DirectVote
There will be instructions with the ballots you receive the mail on how you can vote online using DirectVote. You will not need a SmartHub account in order to vote this way. Once you’ve authenticated through the DirectVote page, follow the directions to cast your vote.

Vote Oneline via SmartHub
Log into your SmartHub account and look for the “Vote Now” button in the upper right corner. Follow the instructions to finish casting your vote.

Vote at the Annual Meeting
As always, there will be an opportunity to cast your vote at the Annual Meeting on April 16^th. Votes cast at the Annual Meeting will be scanned and tallied on site by SBS and added to the mailed and electronic ballot tally. Results of the balloting will be announced at the close of the Annual Meeting on April 16^th and printed in the May issue of the Pine to Prairie News.

Giving back to the community we serve is a core cooperative principal. The Operation Round Up Program from Todd-Wadena Electric Cooperative is a great way for the co-op and its members to give back.

Todd-Wadena Electric Cooperative’s Community Trust Board recently met and awarded nine Operation Round Up grants to local non-profit organizations, totaling $9,500

The recipient organizations and their awards are as follows: Bertha Ambulance Service, $550; Bluffton Fire & Rescue, $600; Central Minnesota Boys Choir, $500; LSS Senior Nutrition Program, $1,000; Sebeka School- Special Education Dept., $1,500; Cooking Matters-Go Fresh Wadena, $450; Verndale Fire Department, $1,500; Wadena County 4H Horse Project, $1,400; Wadena County Agricultural Society, $2,000.

Funds for the Operation Round Up program come from participating Todd-Wadena Electric Cooperative members who allow their monthly electric bills to be rounded up to the nearest dollar, with the change allocated to a Community Trust Fund. The average donation is less than 50 cents a month, yet together, members raise and donate about $29,000 annually to community service projects in the two-county area.

Since the program’s inception in 2002, Todd-Wadena members have raised and donated more than $510,000 for more than 685 local community projects.

Todd-Wadena’s Operation Round Up grant applications are reviewed and recipients selected three times a year by a seven-member volunteer Community Trust board. The next application deadline is May 15.

Local, nonprofit community service groups may apply for Operation Round Up grants by stopping by or calling the Cooperative office at 800-321-8932 or by downloading a copy of the application form and guidelines from the Todd-Wadena website, www.toddwadena.coop and clicking the ‘Our Community’ tab.

Todd-Wadena Electric Cooperative (TWEC) Board of Directors is pleased to announce Daniel Carlisle has accepted the position as President/Chief Executive Officer and Legal Counsel. Carlisle, who currently serves as an attorney for Pemberton Law Office, will succeed current President/CEO Robin Doege, in October.

Daniel Carlisle, Todd-Wadena Electric Cooperative’s President/CEO and Legal Counsel

 “Dan is a long-time member of our community, understands our culture at Todd-Wadena, has great communication skills, has vast knowledge of our industry, and will be a great leader in our rapidly changing world,” said Mike Thorson, TWEC Board Chair

After working with Cindy Schue of Great River Energy’s Human Resources department, the Board developed a profile of what they wanted in a leader. The board unanimously decided to hire Carlisle. Carlisle has served as TWEC’s legal counsel for over eight years. “I am extremely humbled and proud of the opportunity to lead this organization into the future. Outgoing CEO, Robin Doege, and the staff at TWEC have created a solid team that has proven how to best serve our membership’s interests,” said Daniel Carlisle.  “I look forward to continuing the mission to responsibly deliver energy and provide great value to our members.”

Carlisle received his undergraduate degree in Public Administration from the University of North Dakota and his Juris Doctor degree from the University of North Dakota School of Law. Carlisle and his wife, Jeannie, raised their two children in Wadena. Carlisle has practiced law in Wadena for 30 years. Much of Carlisle’s career has been spent representing rural electric cooperatives on a variety of issues, and in serving as legal counsel to the Minnesota Rural Electric Association (MREA).

Click HERE for TWEC Outage Information

While summer brings much fun in the sun, it can also bring the occasional severe storm. In the event of a power outage, you can trust that Todd-Wadena Electric Cooperative is ready to respond.
The major cause of most power outages comes from damage to power lines due to falling trees and branches. We work year round – through right-of-way clearing – to ensure power lines in our service territory stand little risk of being damaged by trees, branches or other types of vegetation.
Despite our best efforts, during major storms, damage can occur to transmission stations, substations and power lines. When this happens, our first priority is to safely restore power to as many members as possible in the shortest amount of time.
We start by mobilizing our line crews and other critical staff. Every phone line available is utilized to take your outage report calls. The big problems are handled first – like damage to transmission lines, which serve tens of thousands of people. These problems must be corrected before we can focus on other areas where more localized damage may have occurred.
Todd-Wadena Electric Cooperative’s line crews inspect substations to determine if the problem starts there, or if there could be an issue down the line. If the root of the problem is at the substation, power can be restored to thousands of members.
Next, line crews check the service lines that deliver power into neighborhoods and communities. Line crews repair the damaged lines, restoring power to hundreds of people. If you continue to experience an outage, there may be damage to a tap line outside of your home or business. Make sure you notify TWEC so crews can inspect these lines.

We will do our best to avoid power outages, but sometimes Mother Nature has other plans. Be sure to check www.toddwadena.coop, or www.facebook.com/ToddWadenaElectricCooperative on your smartphone for the latest updates during a power outage.