The first REA pole set in the State of Montana, between Sidney and Fairview. (L – R) L. Sedlacek, Duncan Noyes, Volney Anderson, George Basso, Clayton Worst, Nels Bach, Leif Erickson, Viggo Jensen, Dwight Howard, A.H. Swenson.
Lower Yellowstone Electric has been in Sidney since 1937, bringing member owners reliable electricity for nearly 75 years. Times may have changed but the service hasn’t. Lower Yellowstone formed to distribute electricity to rural people at the lowest possible cost. This commitment has been in existence since Lower Yellowstone was formed.
Being established in 1937 made Lower Yellowstone Electric the first electric cooperative in Montana. This came just two years after President Franklin Roosevelt created the REA program. One hundred thirty six prospective consumers signed up to receive power from Lower Yellowstone.
These consumers elected a board of trustees to run the co-op. The trustees elected were Nels Bach, President; Clayton Worst, Vice President; Leif Erickson, Secretary; and Dwight Howard, Treasurer. Other trustees were L. Sedlacek, Volney Anderson and George Basso. These men hired Viggo Jensen as the manager of the cooperative, with two other employees helping him.
The current board of trustees consists of Allen Thiessen, President; Greg Rauschendorfer, Vice President; John Redman, Secretary/Treasurer; along with Dennis Schmierer, Marvin Kilen, Colin Gartner and Lester Larson, Jr. The Manager is Donald Provost, who runs the cooperative with the help of 24 employees.
The first pole of the 110-mile line was set on August 4, 1937 between Sidney and Fairview. The line was energized on December 18 of that year.
Lower Yellowstone now has 2,086 miles of line energized and serves 5,310 meters. The service area is most of Richland County, parts of Dawson and Roosevelt counties in Montana, and parts of McKenzie and Williams counties in North Dakota.
The 1937 rates are very close to the rates we have today. In 1937 the first 40 Kilowatt hours were purchased at 8 cents per KWH. Today Lower Yellowstone Electric’s rate for residential meters is 7.1 cents per KWH. In 1925, the average cost of electricity was 65 cents per KWH! Lower Yellowstone is one of 25 cooperatives in Montana serving more than 150,000 members.
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