Miner County residents attend EMS Open House

Contact: Randy Parry – 772-5153; parryr@alliancecom.net

Many local and regional community members attended the Energy Maintenance Services, Inc. (EMS) and Diversified Energy Solutions, LLC (DES) Open House celebration held last Friday in Gary, SD.

Approximately 30 Miner County residents took a Jack Rabbit bus sponsored by Miner County Community Revitalization (MCCR) to the Open House and then toured the Buffalo Ridge Wind Turbine site with Joe Kolbach serving as the tour guide. Many other former and current Miner County residents attended and assisted with the festivities.

Participants were able to look into the tower of the turbine as Kolbach explained the operations of the 900kW wind turbine located just outside of Hendricks, Minnesota. The turbine is 2.37 times larger than the turbines operational in Howard’s Industrial Park. The entire turbine weighs 48.7 tons. EMS is in partnership with Hendricks Wind I, LLC as co-owner of the turbine as well as providing maintenance for the turbine.

Over 350 people also attended the Open House including, South Dakota Public Utilities Commissioner Jim Burg, representatives from Congressman John Thune’s office, representatives from Senator Johnson’s office and community members from Gary, Miner County and the surrounding areas.

The event showcased the innovative and expansive renovations of the former high school gym in Gary.

“Obviously it is a good idea to capture wind generation in South Dakota,” Howard High School teacher, Dennis Sundstrom said. “The greatest impression I had of the Open House was that I saw a lot of young people with their families and new ideas that are going to invigorate the economy.”

Sundstrom is one of the four teachers who will be implementing renewable energy projects and activities in the classroom over the next three years as a part of the USDA Fund for Rural America Grant secured by MCCR. The other teachers involved in this program are Mary Stangohr, Al Wiese and Ken Ruml.

“I enjoyed the trip and was quite impressed with the potential of EMS and DES and what they are doing,” Howard City Council-Elect Amos Reisch said.