Verendrye Electric Cooperative is a public

utility cooperative A utility cooperative is a type of cooperative that is tasked with the delivery of a public utility such as electricity, water or telecommunications to its members. Profit (accounting), Profits are either reinvested for infrastructure or distrib ...

based in

Velva, North Dakota Velva is a city in McHenry County, North Dakota, United States. Part of the Minot Micropolitan Statistical Area, it was founded in 1897 and the population was 1,086 at the 2020 census. Southeast of Minot, Velva is at the southernmost point of th ...

, but also has a service center in

Minot Minot ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ward County, North Dakota, Ward County, North Dakota, United States, in the state's north-central region. It is most widely known for the Minot Air Force Base, Air Force base approximately north of ...

. It serves rural consumers across a seven-county area in north central

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

, but the bulk of its service area lies within Ward and McHenry counties. Verendrye Electric receives power from the

Central Power Electric Cooperative Central Power Electric Cooperative is a North Dakota-based electrical generation and transmission electric cooperative, cooperative founded in 1949 and which is based in Minot, North Dakota. Central Power purchases power from Basin Electric Power C ...

– in fact, Verendrye took the lead in establishing Central Power in 1949 after having to deal with a 30% rate hike from its previous power supplier in 1948. It is named after the

French Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

explorer

La Vérendrye La Vérendrye, La Verendrye or Verendrye may refer to: People *Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye (1685–1749), French Canadian military officer, fur trader and explorer, often called simply "La Vérendrye". His sons were: **Jean ...

; and for its first two years, it was headquartered in the small town of

Verendrye, North Dakota Verendrye was a historic unincorporated community in McHenry County, North Dakota, United States, located approximately eight miles northwest of Karlsruhe and 13 miles northeast of Velva within Falsen Township. Although classified by the USGS ...

(northwest of Karlsruhe; now a ghost town).

External links

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Google Books link
Multiple sources for Verendrye Electric Cooperative Electric cooperatives in North Dakota Minot, North Dakota {{energy-company-stub