At Lyon-Lincoln Electric Cooperative, we often get questions on where the power is generated and what type of power generation resource is used that create the electricity that is used by our member-owners.  Our power comes from two entities, the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) and Basin Electric Power Cooperative (Basin).  

Our latest power supply mix information comes from 2024: Basin provided 81% of our power supply needs with 35% coming from Coal, 26% from Wind, 16% from Natural Gas, 1% from recovered energy, and the remaining amount comes from solar, oil/diesel/jet fuel. WAPA provided 4%, which comes from the hydropower dams on the Missouri River.

The total above shows that we still believe in an all of the above energy solution to our power supply needs.  This allows us to continue to take advantage of each of the resources available in the upper Midwest.  Basin Electric has shown its commitment to all energy sources as it has added nearly 5,400 MW in power plants and purchase power agreements since 2000. In 2000, Basin was 84.6% coal, 4.2% oil/diesel/jet fuel and 11.2% hydro.  In 2023, Basin is 35.2% coal, 2.2% oil/diesel/jet fuel, 15.6% natural gas, 3.9% hydro, .6% recovered energy, 26% wind, and 16.5% from market purchases.

As you can see, our power supply is becoming more diverse, and this will help as more power supply is needed to power our rural communities in the future.