Angel Foundation, Cheerful Givers & Kids ‘n Kinship named runners-up Dakota Electric Association named Majestic Hills Ranch, Lakeville, as the local 2011 Touchstone Energy Community Award winner. Angel Foundation, Minneapolis, Cheerful Givers, Eagan, and Kids ‘n Kinship, Apple Valley, were named runners-up, and each of the four applicants received a plaque and a check for $500. [...]

The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) in Minnesota recognized Dakota Electric Association’s community involvement efforts by naming it the Outstanding Philanthropic Organization for 2011. Professionals in the community who recognized the cooperative’s generosity over the years nominated Dakota Electric for this award. As a not-for-profit cooperative, Dakota Electric takes the seventh cooperative principle seriously as it [...]

Dakota Electric Association recently awarded Maralee Rother, Castle Rock, the Township Leader of the Year award. Each year, Dakota Electric seeks to recognize outstanding leadership with the award, and Dakota Electric Director Margaret Schreiner presented the award to Rother at a recent Dakota County Township Officers Association meeting. Rother has been the secretary-treasurer of the Dakota [...]

Clint Birtzer of Rosemount recently won the Jay York Scholarship for $300 given by Nobles Cooperative Electric, Worthington. He was one of five students Dakota Electric Association sponsored to attend the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s (NRECA) Youth Tour in Washington, D.C. this summer. He was one of four selected from Minnesota for the York Scholarship. [...]

McGruff Safe Kids Identification kits for school children are now available from law enforcement agencies throughout Dakota County and nearby communities. Dakota Electric Association, a member-owned electric cooperative, provided local law enforcement agencies throughout Dakota County, Northfield and Cannon Falls with McGruff identification kits. Police officers will distribute the kits to classrooms if the teacher makes [...]

Ron Olson, Apple Valley, and Tyler Cram, Eagan, were the winners in the Minnesota Brighter Ideas CFL sweepstakes for Dakota Electric Association. Dakota Electric’s wholesale power supplier, Great River Energy, and its 28 member cooperatives sponsored the sweepstakes. Olson won a $500 gift card and Cram won a $100 gift card through the statewide sweepstakes by [...]

Dakota Electric Association Community Relations Director Peggy Johnson recently presented a check for nearly $900 to Mary Ajax, president and CEO of 360 Communities. The money was provided from the generous donations of Dakota Electric members who attended the cooperative’s Member Appreciation Event at the end of July. While providing a complementary night at the Minnesota [...]

Two local teachers recently returned from a teacher training course that provided practical hands-on tools for furthering the energy education of their students. Teachers Donald Blumenstein, 6-8th grades at Scott Highlands Middle School, and Monica Foss, K-5th grade at Cedar Park Elementary, attended “Energy Education in the Classroom” sponsored by Great River Energy, Maple Grove, and [...]

Due to continued hot weather and recent storms, Dakota Electric Association is asking its members to conserve electricity today. Please voluntarily conserve energy use today between noon and 10 p.m. This is not an energy emergency, and people do not need to turn off air conditioning. Dakota Electric and its power supplier, Great River Energy, are [...]

Five students from local high schools in and around Dakota Electric Association’s service territory recently returned from a trip-of-a-lifetime to Washington D.C. Dakota Electric’s students joined more than 1,500 students from across the nation (35 total from Minnesota) for the 48th annual National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) Rural Electric Youth Tour held June 11-16. Dakota [...]