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History
West River Electric celebrates its 60 years of history
"It shall be the aim of West River Electric Association, Inc. to make electric energy available to its members at the lowest cost consistent with sound economy and good management." The foregoing is the Preamble to the West River Electric's By-Laws which reflects the attitude your cooperative has had toward its consumers since its inception in 1939. Not once has West River Electric deviated from the course set by REA and the original nine directors - to help its members improve living standards, reduce drudgery, and achieve more efficient farm production through the use of electricity.
"Your Rural Electric Servant", Willie Wiredhand
1936
Most of the older members on our lines will probably remember the year 1936. The Country was just beginning to emerge from the most economically destructive depressions in the nation's history. R.F. Lewis, editor of the Pennington County Courant, recalls, for instance, that in 1935 when wheat was selling for 17 cents and 20 cents per bushel, he was giving 50 cents per bushel in payment for subscriptions to his newspaper. Mr. Lewis further recalls that he had wheat "all over the place" before conditions began to improve. Although 1936 was one of the more dry years in Western South Dakota (1934 being the driest according to Hans Hamann of Wall) the economic condition of the country began showing signs of health. Wall was starting to build up after many years of inactivity, evidenced by the number of houses and buildings being moved into the city. It was in 1936 that work was being done to hard-surface U.S. Highway 14-16 from Philip to Rapid City. Wall got on the band-wagon by having its main street hard-surfaced with "tarvia" in that year. Signs of life were surely being noticed by many of the old timers who had witnessed the Great Depression.
It was during this transition year of 1936 that thoughts of better and cheaper electric power were being formed among some of the members of the Wall Commercial Club. At a Club dinner on the evening of December 17, 1936 a committee was appointed by the president of the club to gather information about the feasibility of a municipal A.C. light plant for the city of Wall. By January 14, 1937, considerable information had been gathered by this committee; and by February 18, T.F. Black, representative of the Fairbanks-Morse Company, had made a rough survey of the light and power situation in Wall. His estimate of the cost to install a completely new electric generating and distribution system in Wall was between $18,000 and $20,000.
On May 20, Mr. Beeler, a representative from the international Harvester Company, met with the Commercial Club and quoted figures for a 440-volt electric generating and distribution system. No positive action was taken on his proposals.
1937
On July 19, 1937, Walter Walkling stopped in Wall on his way to Pierre and said that he would find out definitely if REA assistance could be obtained for a Wall light plant. More committees were appointed to complete a distribution survey and to tabulate the results of a recent house-to-house canvass of electric users. Later, the secretary of the Wall Commercial Club contacted Mr. Walkling concerning REA financing of the plant. During the last week in June 1938, the Club received a letter from Harry E. McCollum, Examining. Division of REA who spoke favorably toward Wall getting a loan for a new electric system. In as much as REA required a new system to include a hundred miles or more of distribution line, members of the Commercial Club contacted business men in Quinn, Wasta and Owanka who reacted very favorably to going in with Wall on an electric system. Persons in the rural areas surrounding and between the towns were also anxious to be included.
1938-1939
By the end of September, 1938, prospective customers had been signed up in Quinn. Wall, Wasta, Owanka and the rural areas; and the application complete with maps and membership tabulation, was sent in to REA the latter part of December, 1938. In January, 1939, the Club received a letter from New Underwood stating that they too would like to be included in the electric service application submitted to REA. The letter, written by F.H. Rector, indicated that the owner of the light plant in New Underwood seemed very much in favor of the idea provided that REA would take over what equipment he had that could be used. In March, 1939, the application was returned by REA because the maps had been to crudely drawn. On March 14, 1939 a mass meeting was held at Wasta for the purpose of deciding on the general plan of the electric system. Citizens of New Underwood, Box Elder Owanka, Wasta and Wall were present at the meeting, and Quinn sent notice that they would be on the lob. At this meeting, an organization was started with R.F. Lewis of Wall as chairman and a director from each of the represented localities as the body. Maurice Faragher of Wall was employed to make a map of the entire proposed system, locating thereon all the various details that were required by REA. This revised application was submitted, and word was soon received to select an attorney and proceed to organize the cooperative. James Clapp of Rapid City was selected as the attorney, and the group of nine men met June 12, 1939 at Mr. Clapp's office in the Elks Building to prepare incorporation papers. Signers of these papers were: Earl Brownsor, Quinn; G.W. Mills, J.A. Galbraith, and R.F. Lewis of Wall; J.R. Killian, Wasta; A.P. Willhoite Owanka; and F.H. Rector, A.N. Nelson and James Forest of New Underwood. A week later, the incorporation papers were returned by the Secretary of State at Pierre; and the directors elected officers of the cooperative which was named West River Electric Association, Inc. F.H. Rector, New Underwood was elected president, Earl Brownson, Quinn, vice-president, and R.F. Lewis, Wall as secretary-treasurer.
On July 15, 1939. the long-awaited REA approval of the application was received in the form of a telegram from the Congressman, Francis Case which read:
"Rural Electrification Administration this morning approved allotment $143,000 for West River Electric Association to build 125 miles of line for 445 members in Pennington County and money is immediately available. Will include service for six towns, Wall, Wasta, Quinn, Owanka, Caputa, and Farmingdale as well as farmers on the line".
In August 1939, the directors chose Walter Walkling to be the project engineer and submitted this choice to REA for approval. Walkling soon received a sample contract from REA, conditions of which, he advised, were acceptable to him.
In September, 1939, a. meeting of the directors was held at Wasta for the purpose of selecting men to contact signed and unsigned prospective customers to obtain easement and signed membership applications. The men selected were
F.C. Morgan, Wall area; A.P. Willhoite, Owanka; Elmer H. Olson. Wasta; George Boydston, New Underwood to Wicksville; William Heil, Box Elder; LA. Dawkins and Victor E. Anderson, Rapid City; and William Wallin, New Underwood. R.F. Lewis of Wall; acted as coordinator of the activities.
Organization of the cooperative having been completed, it became necessary to locate an office to serve as "base of operations". J.A. Galbraith proceeded to have the Sanders' Building in Wall remodeled and shortly thereafter, the cooperative took over. In October, 1939, REA set up a tentative rate schedule which was approved; and during the latter part of this month, Neil Rounds, son of "Dude" Rounds of Interior, was selected for project superintendent which choice was subsequently approved by REA. Mr. Rounds took over his duties
November l3, 1939.
Final plans were sent to REA by Walkling which were quickly approved. A Municipal election was held in Wall November 28, 1939 for the purpose of providing West River Electric Association with a franchise to construct, own, maintain, and operate an electric distribution system in Wall. The franchise was approved by a ten to one majority vote; 124 votes for and 12 votes against. Quinn held a special election shortly thereafter, the results of which indicated a vote of 36 to none for granting the franchise. New Underwood and Wasta followed Wall and Quinn in granting franchises.
On December 22, 1939 sealed bids for the "A" Section were opened, Rapid Electric Company of Rapid City being the low bidder. J.S. Gundershaug, REA representative from Minneapolis was present for assistance in tabulating and checking the bids. The amount approved by the directors was $112,028.72 to build 122 miles of line. The directors were advised at this meeting that the staking of the line was almost completed from Gates Nursery to Quinn and construction could begin immediately.
1940
The first Annual Meeting of the West River Electric Association was held at the Community Hut in Wall March 11, 1940. Two reels of free movies were shown on the uses of electricity on the farm, and local merchants and organizations provided free coffee and donuts. A new Board of Directors was elected which chose F.H. Rector as President; J.E. Forest, vice-president; Earl E. Brownson, secretary and J.A. Gailbraith, treasurer. The other directors elected were A.P. Willhoite, Robert Bruce, William Wallin, V.E. Anderson and C.M. Best.Over $100 in prizes were given away at this meeting.
On August 24, 1940, the West River Electric Association completed purchase of the Wall Light and Power Company from J.J. Cihak for $3,800. Immediately after purchase, the cooperative began removing the old lines and Mr. Cihak agreed to run the plant until August 31, 1940 when the West River Electric Association would take over. Those that desired and were in a position to accept immediate service were hooked on the new lines as soon as the old lines had been removed.
By July 11, 1940 (a little over eight months after the final plans had been submitted to REA) West River Electric Association was ready to supply energy to its customers. No time was lost in doing this. Mr. Rounds, with the able assistance of Jack Owens and Erik Onberg, began the tiring task of energizing the lines and hooking on consumers. Edwin Swanson Rapid City, holds the distinction of being the first customer to receive electric service from an REA financed cooperative in Western South Dakota. Mr. Swanson was hooked on to West River Electric Association' lines in July 13, 1940.
The members of WREA were in a festive mood when the lines had been completely energized and decided to have an official energizing ceremony complete with a noon picnic lunch, speakers, and soft-ball games. Such a "celebration" was held on Sunday, September 15, 1940 at Wasta. Mr. Sanmarsh, a field representative of REA and a former South Dakotan, spoke on the uses of electricity and urged that the members take advantage of their new "servant". Earl Hammerquist, Farmingdale spoke on management of the cooperative in general. The speakers were heard by a crowd of nearly 300 enthused members in the then now High School Gymnasium at Wasta. There was music also, played by a joint Wall-Owanka band. Neil Rounds introduced the officers, directors and other officials.
1941-1946
Even while members on the "A" Section were being energized. REA was looking over another West River Electric application for another 175 miles of new line to be added to the original system. War clouds began appearing over the horizon but on April 15, 1941 a new application was approved by REA in the amount of $134,000 for the construction of 175 miles of line to serve 351 new consumers. Because of war-time restrictions on material approvals for purchase and use of materials had to go through WPB, OPA and numerous other alphabetical agencies), completion of the "B" Section took several years. On July l5, 1942, and May 23, 1946, other applications were approved by REA in the amount of $9,3O0 for rehabilitation and reconstruction of existing lines and for completion of the "B" Section.
1947-1950
Because of the war, things moved rather slowly in regards to construction of new lines. However, in September, 1947 the "G" application was approved in the amount of $125,000 followed closely in January, 1948 by the "H" application in the amount of $385,000. The "G & H" sections added 280 miles and 215 new consumers to West River Electric's existing lines.
The year 1948 through the present time saw the greatest advances made in building new lines. Well over half of West River Electric's system was constructed during those years approximately 800 miles of lines were built to serve about 700 consumers. Before the G & H Sections were completed, another application--"IQ" Section--had been submitted to REA for approval. In May, 1950. approval was obtained for construction of 149 miles of lines to serve 150 new consumers to cost $190,000.
In December, 1950, the cooperative made up another application for a loan to construct 579 miles of line to serve 436 new consumers.This was the "L" Section and the allocation was in the amount of $817,000. Final hook-up on the "L" Section was made in 1953. In the meantime, the Bureau of Reclamation was busy building substations along the 115,000-volt transmission line from Ft. Randall Dam. West River Electric is now served from two of these substations - one north of Wall and other south of Wicksville for a combined capacity of 4,500 KVA.
1950-1953
In January, 1953 the cooperative moved into its new Headquarters Building in Wall which was completed in December, 1952. An open house was held in April, 1953, for all the members, their families and friends. A good time was had by all and many prizes donated by well wishing merchants throughout the system and the West River Electric Association.
1954
In June, 1954, the application for "N" Section was approved in the amount of $274,000 for the construction of 81 miles of line to serve 43 new consumers. This section was completed in the spring of 1955 and brought the West River Electric Association within about one or two percent of its goal of area coverage.
1955
Contracts were let for the construction of a new sub-office to be located in Rapid Valley in 1955. The purpose of the new office was to provide better service to the many members of WREA that were located in the Rapid City area. The new sub-office was completed that fall.
By the end of 1955 WREA was serving 2200 meters over 1520 miles of line with 4 substations that had a rated capacity of 6,225 KVA.
1956-1959
In 1956 a new warehouse building was constructed at Wall to meet the expanding needs for housing equipment and material. Construction was completed that year. In 1959 contracts were let for the construction of the Rapid Valley substation to serve the increasing demand of electricity by members in the Rapid City area.
1960-1969
It was in 1960 that an addition was made to the headquarters building at Wall. At the end of 1960 WREA was serving 2783 meters over 1707 miles of line with 5 substations that had a rated capacity of 7,475 KVA.
In 1962 plans were made to improve the service reliability in the northern part of WREA's service area. Contracts were let for the construction of a substation in the Enning area and the necessary transmission line to serve it. Also, land was purchased and a home constructed for the establishment of an outpost crew to provide better service to members living in the Enning area. It was in the same year that WREA became a member of Basin Electric Power Cooperative to insure its, members of a power supply in the future.
Construction of a substation in the Bear Butte area to improve service reliability to members living there took place in 1963.
Prior to 1964 WREA and Golden West Telephone Cooperative had been operating out of the same building under one Manager. However, in 1964, a mutual agreement was reached between the Boards of Directors of the two cooperatives that each cooperative had grown to where each should go its separate way and have its own individual management.
At the end of 1965 WREA was serving 3583 meters over 1872 miles of line with a total of six substations.
In 1968 it became necessary to put an addition on the headquarters building at Wall to handle the workload from an increasing membership.
1970-1979
That same year Basin Electric Power Cooperative asked all member coops for pledges to be used for the construction of a second generating unit near Stanton, ND, to meet the power needs of the region in the late 1970's. WREA did make a pledge towards the new generating unit of $342,266.
WREA continued to grow and by the end of 1970 they were serving 3937 meters over 1953 miles of line. It was also during 1970 that the first 4 miles of underground primary cable was installed on WREA's system.
In 1972 an addition was constructed and remodeling done at the sub-office at Rapid City to meet the needs of the growing membership in that area.
The demand for electricity continued to increase as more members were added and existing members used more electricity. In 1973 contracts were let for the construction of the Rushmore substation in the Rapid City area. Later this substation was leased to Rushmore Electric Power Cooperative to qualify for credit on energy purchased for delivery point investment from Basin Electric Power Cooperative.
The REA loan program was changed in the early 70's to change our loan fund cost on new borrowing from 2% to an average of 6.7% and interest expense on system expansion became a larger part of the cost of operations.
After the Rapid City flood of 1972 when relocation of population took place for several years thereafter, we expanded rapidly in number of services. Rapid Valley and Box Elder substations were upgraded, new Haines and St. Patrick substations were built along with new transmission to provide added capacity as well as system reliability for that area.
In 1975 the South Dakota State Legislature passed legislation establishing territorial protection to all electric utilities in the State. WREA met with all utilities it bordered and established boundaries. WREA continued to meet with Black Hills Power & Light Company to eliminate some of the line duplication in the congested areas around Rapid City by trading consumers that were willing to switch to the other utility.
By the end of 1975 WREA was serving 5480 meters on 2127 miles of line. In the late 1970's the Wall substation was upgraded and number of meters in 1979 was 6555 with most of the new growth near Rapid City.
1980-1989
Energy conservation became America's concern in the late 1970's and early 80's. Energy sales in 1980 through 1983 did not exceed those of 1979 even though the number of meters increased from 6555 to 7514 by the end of 1983.
As of September of 1984 it appears the energy sales for the system in this year will exceed the 1979 level and we will again start to move ahead, but we expect future growth to be at a slower rate as members attempt to use energy wisely, mostly because of higher cost.
There were higher electric costs in the mid 1980's, mainly due to inflation that gripped the entire country but the end of 80's - costs were actually coming down for West River Electric members.
By 1990, the average West River Electric consumer was actually spending less money for electricity than they were in the 1980s. Rapid City and the surrounding area continued to grow bringing the total number of members to 8,250 by the end of 1995. Sales were at an all-time high and meters continued to grow along with the robust economy.
1990-1999
Throughout the end of the 1990's, the cooperative experienced 3-5 percent growth. Rapid Valley housing continued to boom, commercial construction in Rushmore Business Park pushed the park northward with an additional 100 acres of development, and the local job base expanded by 3,500 with the addition of Conseco formerly Green Tree Financial, ASI, Casto Travel and others.
As the cooperative membership grew, so did the cooperative. By the end of 1998, West River Electric had finished building its new cooperative headquarters on the outskirts of Wall, SD. In the spring of 1999, employees moved into the new 9,000 sq. ft. offices and 22,000 sq. ft. warehouse. Along with the new office came a new computer system, quadrupling the speed of the old system in less than half of the space. In the fall of 1999, it became apparent that the branch office in Rapid City would have to be relocated because of road construction over Highway 44.
2000-2002
The Rushmore Business Park #2 has three new businesses: RPM, Fenske, and Berquist.
