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77100 US Highway 71
PO Box 69
Jackson, MN 56143-0069
info@federatedrea.coop

Home :: About Us :: History :: 1996-2005

1996-2005

1996-2005: Federated teams up with other cooperatives and expands subsidiaries

January 1996 - Cooperative Alliance Partners (CAP) formed. CAP is four neighboring electric cooperatives (Brown County REA, Sleepy Eye; Federated, Nobles Cooperative Electric, Worthington; and South Central Electric Association, St. James) working together to serve members more efficiently and cost-effectively.
June 1996 - CTV offers six UHF scrambled TV channels, called CTV Plus, to subscribers from the Godahl tower.
April 1997 - Members have different options for paying their bill: Auto Pay, Even Pay and by credit card.
July 1997 - Federated offers two-way communications to members with Alpha Wireless.
August 1997 - Connections, a 16-page two-color newsletter, is formed with three other electric cooperatives (Brown County Rural Electric Association, South Central Electric and Nobles Cooperative Electric). This award-winning publication lasts through December 2008.
#1

March 1998 - Federated and nearly 500 other cooperatives endorse Touchstone Energy as a national brand.
July 1998 - Federated puts its first website online and upgrades its office network and server.
January 1, 1999 - Cooperative Power and United Power Association consolidate becoming Great River Energy, one of Federated’s wholesale power suppliers.
March 1999 - Federated partnered with eight other electric cooperatives to form Heartland Security Services.
March 1999 - Changed the electric bill style from a carbon printed bill to laser-printed bill with yellow reuseable envelope to save costs on monthly bills and provide better quality bill.
May 1999 - Federated purchase Hamples in Jackson to offer appliances, electronics, lawn mowers and more to members.
June 2000 - Federated joins six other electric cooperatives to become part owner of Karian-Peterson, a power line construction contractor, and Carr’s Tree Trimming Service.
November 2000 - Federated offers CommLink, a long-distance telephone service, to members.
June 2001 - Federated joins Nobles Cooperative Electric in sharing its general manager.
#2

June 27, 2002 - Hosted Family Fun Night, which treated members to a picnic supper, T-shirts, a tour of the Federated office and entertainment.
September 2002 (see Picture #1) - Installed a ground-source heat pump to replace the original 1970 office heating/cooling equipment.
November 1, 2002 (see Picture #2) - A substation for Cenex Harvest States is built near Fairmont.
January 2003 - Federated’s largest single load, Cenex Harvest States soybean crushing plant near Fairmont, starts producing.
January 2003 - Received a $15,000 grant from the state of Minnesota to work toward a paperless filing system using digital storage on DVDs, saving paper, money and time.
February 2003 - Energy Star Appliance rebates are offered for the first time.
May 2003 - Created “We Support The Troops” banners and placed them at local schools and businesses to collect signatures and well wishes. The banners were then mailed to the Middle East. Federated won an Award of Excellence on this project.
June 27, 2003 (see Picture #3) - Applied for and was awarded a $500,000 USDA Renewable Energy grant to build a wind turbine in Federated’s service territory.
#3

July 2003 - Federated installs its 100th genset.
June 2004 - Extended wholesale power contract with Great River Energy until 2045.
2005 - Received $2.5 million Clean Renewable Energy Bond to finance Federated’s Welcome Wind Turbine.
July 2005 - Federated offers high-speed satellite Internet to members with WildBlue. First customers activated.
August 7 & 20, 2005 - Hosts "Good Ole Days" at Jackson and Martin County Fairs to celebrate Federated's 70th Year Anniversary.