The President and CEO for the East Central Energy Cooperative, Justin Jahnz, assured the public in attendance at a recent meeting in North Branch City Hall, that any data center looking to utilize power from the local system is at least five years away from reality. There is no part of the ECE system, at least, that is prepared to supply distribution of power to facilitate any “hyperscale’ facility at this time.
Also, should a data center or other high energy user like crypto mining—propose a facility in the Chisago County area; if they wish to connect to the grid through ECE, “…they will pay upfront costs of any system improvements,” Jahnz added.
ECE has 70,000 members and covers 14 counties in east, north central Minnesota and the upper west edge of Wisconsin. North Branch sold its municipal power assets to the cooperative a few years ago. The North Branch area also is in service territories for Xcel and Connexus.
As a trained electrician and someone who has been involved with the cooperative for 18 years; Jahnz advised the North Branch City Council members to stick with what the city has the ability to control as it considers ordinances to regulate these highly controversial projects. “To the degree we (ECE) can be a resource, we are happy to do that,” he added.
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