REGIONAL— Lake Country Power will be investing $25 million in the coming year on upgrades to build a new main service center in Cohasset and update electric meters for its 67,000 customers across northeastern and east-central Minnesota.

The co-op last changed their meter system 15 years ago, and staff with the rural cooperative have spent months researching the best options. “Fourteen employees sat on the committee to do a lot of research for the next metering system,” said company spokesperson Tami Zaun. “It’s a large investment, so we wanted the best solutions. We visited with different coops and utilities.”

LCP work crews installed 2,500 new meters in September in the co-op’s service area south of Cloquet as part of a test project. The rest of the over 64,000 remaining meters will be installed beginning this April. The company plans to begin near its current service center in Grand Rapids and move eastward.

The whole project should take about a year and a half to complete with the final meters coming online in November 2020.

Customers should notice that it will be easier to check their own electrical usage when the new meters are installed, Zaun said. The meters will also be able to detect system outages more quickly and produce a more accurate reading, which should lower monthly cost estimates.

System outages will also be able to be detected faster by an automated system. Using the co-opʼs “SmartHub” website, members will also be able to view energy usage to the hour.

Before installation of the new meters begins, Zaun said, customers will receive a letter by mail on how the change will affect them specifically and the timeframe for their installation.

New service center

Opening next August, the main service center for the power utility will be moving down the road from Grand Rapids to Cohasset.

“We’re in the building like a bunch of sardines in a can,” Zaun said. “When this building was constructed, it accommodated small bucket trucks. The equipment wasn’t as big as it is now. We have a lot of expensive equipment that sits outside in a pole shed. It gets worn down before it gets used.”

The facility has been in use since 1969 when it was built to house the Dairyland Electric Cooperative, the Grand Rapids precursor to Lake Country Power.

The bulk of the project’s $11 million cost is being shared by all co-op members at an average of about 50 cents per month on their energy bill.

Zaun said the new building will help facilitate work on the utility’s 10,800 sqare miles of territory and 43,000 members.

For more info on the co-op, check out www.lakecountrypower.coop.