Dakota Electric's Board of Directors recently signed a letter of intent to move forward with the land acquisition process for a future new facility. Read on to learn more about our growing cooperative, history, current needs, and future plans.
Dakota Electric ASSOCIATION
OUR NEEDS
Securing our future — the reasons behind the board's decision.
Garage Space
Currently, we are utilizing 36 garage stalls to accommodate 58 trucks and trailers. At the end of day, our crews stagger their bucket trucks across garage doors, even using the delivery bay and warehouse ramp for parking. This compromises crew safety and hampers our emergency response times. The rest of our transportation fleet is parked outdoors encroaching on the pole yard.
Current Facility
Needs Assessment
Equipment Storage
Today, we have four times the number of members and three-to-four times more inventory compared to 1978. With the continuous growth in membership and the need to keep more inventory on hand due to persistent supply chain issues, we are running out of safe ways to configure our storage space.
Current Facility
Needs Assessment
Stormwater Pond
Currently, our water drainage system channels all runoff from a large part of our 20-acre facility to our onsite holding pond. This area is prone to seasonal flooding and requires regular maintenance. This leads to equipment damage and restricted access during freeze/thaw cycles. Additionally, ongoing sediment buildup necessitates costly dredging and disposal. As we plan for the future, we would need to increase the size of our stormwater pond, which greatly reduces the available land we need for storage.
Current Facility
Needs Assessment
Land
Over the last few years, we’ve found innovative ways to optimize storage space, enhance inventory security, and improve employee safety. However, to sustain our growth alongside our communities, assessment and planning studies indicate that we require at least three times more acreage than we currently possess and double the amount of square feet for our office, warehouse and pole yard.