Montana-Dakota Utilities’ Heskett 3 plant ready to produce power
BISMARCK, N.D. – Aug. 5, 2014 – Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. announced today that construction of its 88-megawatt simple cycle combustion turbine is complete and the electric generating unit is ready to provide power to its customers.
The natural gas-fired electric generation facility is located on existing company-owned land next to Montana-Dakota’s R.M. Heskett Generating Station near Mandan. The new facility is needed to meet the capacity requirements of Montana-Dakota’s electric customers served by its integrated system.
“This new facility will add to our generation portfolio and provide our customers with a cost-effective capacity resource for many years into the future,” said Frank Morehouse, president and CEO of Montana-Dakota Utilities. “With this project we were able to capitalize on the location and achieve cost efficiencies by sharing facilities, equipment, supervision and labor with the Heskett Station, which translates into the best-cost option for our customers.”
The $77 million project, which was finished on time and under budget, includes a 24-mile natural gas pipeline to serve the generation station, as well as transmission interconnection facilities. Construction began in the spring of 2013 on the peaking plant, which will generally be called into service when the company’s electric demand reaches its peak. The unit can be called upon to produce power within 30 minutes.
Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. distributes natural gas and generates, transmits and distributes electricity and provides related services in the northern Great Plains. The company serves approximately 130,000 electric customers and 245,000 natural gas customers in 262 communities in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. Montana-Dakota is a division of MDU Resources Group, Inc., a multidimensional natural resources enterprise traded on the New York Stock Exchange as “MDU.” For more information about MDU Resources, visit the company’s Web site at www.mdu.com. For more information about Montana-Dakota, visit www.montana-dakota.com.