East River Electric 2020 Annual Report

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Dakota State University (DSU)researchers assisted East River’steam in setting up our smarthome project research space inthe DSU MadLabs facility.Partnering forINNOVATIONInnovation is one of East River’s guidingvalues. Our employees are challenged tothink outside the box of current businesspractices and explore new solutions thatwill benefit our industry, always lookingthrough the lens of how those solutionscan enhance the value of our membersystems.The successes of this approach are visible throughoutEast River’s history, from launching one of the mostsuccessful cooperative load management programsin the country to serving as a driving force behindgrowing our region’s ethanol industry and more.16Over the past year, East River entered into twonew partnerships that are exploring innovativeopportunities for our industry. The first partnership isthe Connected Home Research Project with DakotaState University (DSU) that is exploring how utilitiescan help consumers optimize their energy use throughnext generation smart home technologies. Thesecond partnership is the Equitable Solar Deploymentwith Electric Cooperatives research project led by theUniversity of Minnesota, East River and several of ourmember systems.Connected Home Research ProjectThe Connected Home Research Project officiallylaunched in October 2019 within DSU’s MadLabs
facility and is a partnership between East River onbehalf of our member systems, DSU and the NationalRural Electric Cooperative Association.The partnership is exploring groundbreakingtechnologies that will be included in the nextgeneration rural home and is also working to findsolutions that will allow electric cooperatives to playan integral role in helping consumers optimize theirenergy use.home technology to optimize their energy usage whileallowing East River system operators to continue, andpossibly enhance, our load management program,”said Studer. “We’re excited about the amount ofprogress the researchers have made on the projectand are excited for the project’s next phase.”“From wi-fi thermostats to smart appliances, ournetwork of electric cooperatives is seeing increasedadoption of smart home technologies amongconsumers,” said Chief Member and Public RelationsOfficer Chris Studer. “While current technologies canhelp manage electricity usage and benefit consumers,we noticed a gap between the capabilities of thosetechnologies and the needs of our utility network toconnect to those technologies. We hope to close thatgap through this project.”DSU researchers began by investigating currentsmart home technologies to learn more about theircapabilities. Unable to find an existing interfacethat met the needs of East River’s evolving loadmanagement program, the researchers begandeveloping hardware to connect multiple devicesin a prototype “home hub” device. They are also inthe early stages of developing a software system tocontrol those devices.Much of the early research has involved simulationsand testing the hardware and software to figure outwhat level of utility control is possible with differentdevices.“Our team at East River has kept in close contact withthe researchers to guide them down a path we believewill help cooperative members who adopt connectedIn collaboration with East River staff, researchers at DakotaState University developed hardware like the prototypeabove and software for a home hub designed to meet theneeds of East River’s evolving load management program.In the next year, the researchers will continue refiningthe home hub’s hardware and software. If all goeswell with that process, they will begin field testingthe interface in end consumer homes. The researchefforts are being led by teams of DSU undergraduateand graduate students.“The fact that East River is really, in a lot of ways,leading a national effort to update and find new waysto do things, I think really makes them an excitingpartner,” said Tom Halverson, computer scienceprofessor at DSU who is leading the research team.17
Page 1: ENERGIZED FOR FOR THE THEEAST RIVER
Page 4 and 5: Letter from thePRESIDENTANDGENERALM
Page 6 and 7: COVID-19PANDEMIC:Responding tothe C
Page 8 and 9: Administrative Support Specialist A
Page 10 and 11: In April 2020, East River transferr
Page 12 and 13: STRATEGICPLANNING:Working Together
Page 14 and 15: Advocating for Co-ops:MUNICIPALTAKI
Page 16 and 17: “The legislative committee spent
Page 20 and 21: East River’s Board of Directors t
Page 22 and 23: Adding Solar Power to OurGENERATION
Page 24 and 25: Transmission SystemUPGRADEPLANIn 20
Page 26 and 27: East River crews worked during summ
Page 28 and 29: East River crews worked on installi
Page 30 and 31: East River crews aided in the relie
Page 32 and 33: Focusing onWORKFORCEHEALTH & SAFETY
Page 34 and 35: East River crews worked during summ
Page 36 and 37: MEETINGMEMBERNEEDSEast River offers
Page 38 and 39: Sioux Valley Energy Key Account and
Page 40 and 41: Hosting the2019 LINEPATROLCHARITYRI
Page 42 and 43: Now former REED Fund Chair Ken Schl
Page 44 and 45: SDN Communications Board Chair Denn
Page 46 and 47: EAST RIVERBOARD OFDIRECTORSEast Riv
Page 48: EAST RIVERMEMBERSYSTEMS46Member Sys
Page 51 and 52: BALANCE SHEETLIABILITIES AND OTHER
Page 53 and 54: 2019 REVENUESSales to membersOther
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