Northwest Iowa — Several municipally-owned electricity providers will have a new renewable resource added to their power supply portfolio. Energy partner and wholesale energy provider, Missouri River Energy Services — or MRES — dedicated a new hydroelectric project this week.
With the dedication, MRES celebrated the beginning of hydropower generation at the Red Rock Hydroelectric Project, which is built on the existing Lake Red Rock dam near Pella, Iowa. The second-largest hydropower generator in Iowa, this project will harness the power of the Des Moines River to produce electricity for thousands of homes in Alton, Hartley, Hawarden, Orange City, Paullina, Primghar, Rock Rapids, Sanborn, Sioux Center, and many others nearby in Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota, plus member communities in North Dakota.
According to MRES officials, most of their members also get some hydroelectric power from the Western Area Power Administration — or WAPA — but this is MRES’s own hydroelectric plant.
Despite their name, Missouri River Energy Services didn’t have any hydroelectric facilities on the Missouri River or elsewhere until now. Their power has come from fossil fuels, wind farms (one of them near Worthington), a nuclear energy plant in Wisconsin, and a small solar farm near Pierre, South Dakota.
The Red Rock Hydroelectric Project is expected to produce more than 36 megawatts of electricity and 55 megawatts during summer months when water levels are typically highest. MRES broke ground on the project six years ago.
MRES Board Chair Harold Schiebout, of Sioux Center, says that they owe a debt of gratitude to the state of Iowa whose support was essential in getting this project off the ground. He says he’s happy on behalf of the 61 members that this project is now completed and he says, “We look forward to relying on this renewable resource for the next 100 years.”
Hawarden native and Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg spoke as part of the video dedication on his own behalf and that of Gov. Kim Reynolds. He said, “With the completion of the RRH project, we are proud to recognize another clean, non-emitting renewable resource for Iowans and other MRES communities. This project…will increase America’s renewable energy supply and help create a clean energy future and a reliable resilient energy grid.”
