The General Manager and CEO of Basin Electric Power Cooperative is optimistic about the co-op’s future.
Paul Sukut spoke to the Basin annual meeting in Bismarck. His comments come after a year when Basin had to cut 21 percent of its work force. The co-op had some problems with a new urea fertilizer facility at the Dakota Gasification Plant. But he told the membership that situation has turned around.
"Guys, I'm excited about our future," Sukut told the co-op's members. "We got this."
Basin has owned the DGC plant for 30 years. Sukut said it’s less of a synthetic natural gas plant, and more of a fertilizer plant – and that’s helping its bottom line.
"The conclusion is, this plant is in a much better place than it has been for quite some time," Sukut said. "It's in a better place than it was six months ago, quite frankly."
Basin’s current power generation mix is 45 percent coal, and the rest natural gas and wind power. But Sukut told the members Basin is not abandoning coal.
"We're proponents of an 'all of the above' generation solution, and we always will be," Sukut said. "Coal needs to be a part of our generation portfolio."
The annual meeting was held in Bismarck.
