Congratulations Allan and Steve

Congratulations to Allan Baumgartner and Steve Ellis on their retirements!  Both men retired on January 4, after a combined 70 years of experience at North Star Electric.  We wish them well in the years to come!

REWARD

North Star Electric Cooperative is offering a $10,000.00 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the vandalism that included the cutting down of 3 three-phase power line poles approximately 7.5 miles north of Williams, MN, and the cutting of 2 single phase poles 10 miles south and 4 miles east of Baudette, and the cutting of 1 single phase transformer pole also located 10 miles south and 4 miles east. This vandalism happened sometime between Thursday evening, September 27th and early Friday morning, September 28th, 2012.

This is a very costly clean-up and repair.  This is not only an act of vandalism, but a severe act of stupidity. These power lines carry voltages up to 14,400 volts of electricity that could be fatal if contacted. This not only jeopardized the person or persons that decided to do this, but it put the public at risk. The downed lines were live north of Williams and laying very close both the ground and the road. Whoever did this put our line crews into a very dangerous, yet unnecessary, situation for a period of time.

We would like your help.

Please contact the Lake of the Woods County Sheriff’s office at 634-1143 with any information that you may have.

Outage north of Williams

North Star Electric Cooperative has experienced some vandalism approximately 7 and a half miles north of Williams along County Road 2.  At least three main power poles were cut down by someone with what appears to be a chain saw.  This is a VERY dangerous situation.  North Star crews are on site and will need to have a power outage that will affect approximately 475 members.  This outage has already begun,  and will continue for approximately 5 hours.  This includes the areas of Birch Beach, Sandy Shores, and the resorts of Long Point and Rocky Point.  The Lake of the Woods Sheriff’s Department is investigating.  Two poles were also cut south of Baudette last night.  If you have any information, please contact the Lake of the Woods Sheriff’s Department at 634-1143.
For more information on this outage or other events at North Star Electric, “like” our Facebook page at:  www.facebook.com/NorthStarElectric.

Save the Date…

 

for the North Star Annual Meeting, to be held at the Lake of the Woods School on October 5, 2012.  Registration and dinner will be from 5 to 6 pm, with the Annual Meeting beginning at 6 pm.  The Sloughgrass band will play prior to the meeting for your entertainment.  Hope to see you there!

Our Energy, Our Future

The EPA, in a proposed New Source Performance Standard for greenhouse gases (GHG), has effectively outlawed coal as a fuel source for the next generation of power plants. The proposed standards would require new coal plants to install carbon capture and storage, a technology that is not yet commercially available and is prohibitively expensive. This would eliminate coal as a fuel source for future generation and reduce America’s fuel diversity. Tell EPA you oppose this proposed GHG standard for power plants.

Please go to https://www.ourenergy.coop/ and click on the “Take Action” button to send your message to the EPA.

2012 North Star Knowledge Scholarship Recipients

Congratulations to the 2012 scholarship recipients!  Scholarships will be awarded to the following students at their high school annual program or graduation:

Garrett Larson from Littlefork/Big Falls – $1000

Douglas Potts from Lake of the Woods – $400

Elizabeth Gearhart from International Falls – $400

Cody Anderson from Littlefork/Big Falls – $400

Victoria Lien from Warroad – $100

Justin Anderson from Roseau – $100

Therese Youso from International Falls – $100

Austin Burmeister from Littlefork/Big Falls – $100