Sioux Valley-Southwestern Electric

Doing business as NorthWestern Energy, NorthWestern Corporation is one of the largest providers of electricity and natural gas in the Upper Midwest and Northwest. It serves more than 628,500 customers in Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. Approximately 375,000 customers use the company s electric resources and 253,500 use the company s natural gas services. Classified as a mid-sized utility by most industry standards, the company s service territory size is one of the largest in the United States. NorthWestern Corporation is headquartered in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Established in 1940s, H-D Electric Cooperative Inc. is a private, nonprofit electric utility serving some areas in South Dakota and Minnesota. The group s membership covers a range of home, farm, business and commercial consumers in Hamlin and Deuel Counties as well as a portion of Brookings, Clark, Codington, Grant, and Kingsbury Counties in South Dakota and Yellow Medicine and Lincoln Counties in Minnesota. Based in Clear Lakes, S.D., the cooperative provides safe and reliable electricity to all members throughout the year. In addition, the company also supplies electric boilers, electric fireplaces, heat pumps, water heaters and emergency response services to its members. H-D Electric Inc., through its ownership in East River Electric Power Cooperative, shares in the ownership and control of Basin Electric Power Cooperative, a cooperative that owns and operates various large electric power generating units.

East River Electric Power Cooperative is a wholesale electric power supply cooperative that serves various municipal electric providers and other rural electric cooperatives. The cooperative serves more than 80,000 homes and businesses in South Dakota and western Minnesota. Founded in 1949, East River Electric Power Cooperative maintains various programs for rural electric system development and improvement. The cooperative, in partnership with its members, provides recruitment advertising, employee assistance and computer-based safety training services. Its Rural Electric Economic Development (REED) fund makes financial contributions to enhance job retention and improve rural infrastructure and development. East River Electric Power Cooperative is one of the founding members of the Touchstone Energy program.