Minnkota Power Cooperative; Grand Forks, ND

Customer Response:
“Before we decided to use the cellular control technology, we did look at other options. Due to the remote location of the Rat Root switch, the landline phone installation costs were much higher than the cellular. We also did look at MAS radio, and due to its close proximity to Canada, frequency coordination would have been very difficult to get.”
– Roger Simundson, Control Systems Engineering Manager

Profile:

• Eleven member owner distribution cooperatives
  
• Twelve associated municipals
  
• 100,000 farm, home and business end-users
  
• 35,000-square-mile service area

Application and Solution:
Minnkota Power Cooperative required the automation of an existing 3-phase, 69KV transmission switch. The switch is located near International Falls, Minnesota, one of the coldest spots in the lower 48 states.

The small and self-contained equipment has minimal installation and operating costs. The equipment runs off Telemetric’s free web-based software enabling monitoring and control from any location. When the alarm is triggered, an email message is sent.

Comparative Pricing:

• Telemetric MicroRTU with cellular $6,000
  
• Remote RTU with spread spectrum radio $20,000
  
• Remote RTU with cellular $20,000
  
• Remote RTU with leased line $25,000

Telemetric Equipment Details:

• T422 MicroRTU with DC Control Relays
  
• 12VDC Powered Devices
  
• 48 VDC to 12 VDC converter use

Minnkota Facilities:
Communication System

• 2 and 6 GHZ microwave backbone
  
• 950 MHZ MAS Radios

Substations

• 35 transmission
  
• 190 distribution

Energy Management System

• GE Harris XA-21
  
• Cannon DSM-2
  
• 110 remotes