Inside the Grid

In this episode, we visit with Sioux Valley Energy's General Manager & CEO, Tim McCarthy, Chief Financial Officer, Jason Maxwell, and Vice President of Engineering & Operations Ted Smith regarding a three tiered rate structure which includes a break-out of the residential demand component starting in 2027.

In this episode, SVE's Economic Development and Communty Relations Executive, Brandon Lane, talks with Hardwick, Minnesota's City Clerk, Tammy Johnson, and Rock County Administrator, Kyle Oldre, on how REVIVE 2030 assisted and supported rural growth in southwest MN.

In this episode, we visit with Sioux Valley Energy's Vice President of Engineering and Operations Ted Smith and Director of Operations Chris Graff on the cooperative's 2026 Workplan and Construction projects and how Data Centers figure into those plans.

Utilities across the country (including electric cooperatives like Sioux Valley Energy) are working to build new electrical generation to keep up with increasing demand, which is putting pressure on your electric rates. On this month's Inside the Grid podcast, we visit with Sioux Valley Energy's General Manager and CEO, Tim McCarthy and Board President Dan Leuthold regarding the reasons for Basin...

On this month's Inside the Grid podcast, Southeastern Electric Cooperative and Sioux Valley Energy's Board Chairs talk about each organization's Annual Meeting and how coopertives serve more than electricity to their memberships and communities. 

On this month's Inside the Grid podcast, Sioux Valley Energy and cooperatives around the country celebrate Lineworker Appreciation Day on April 14, 2025. We thank our most visible cooperative employees and visit with three Sioux Valley Energy lead lineworkers: Dan Doyle, Tony Remund, and Bob Johnson. Sioux Valley Energy, Southeastern Electric Cooperative and Xcel Energy partnered together on this...

On this month's Inside the Grid podcast, we visit with Sioux Valley Energy's Manager of Dispatch Operations, Sharla Haugen and Manager of Safety, Terry Ebright on how SVE responds to outages and how to be safe around electrical equipment. While electrical disruptions can be an annoyance, a power outage can also help lineworkers find and repair problems in the electrical system. If a storm or publi...

In this episode, we visit with Sioux Valley Energy's Vice President of Engineering and Operations Ted Smith and Director of Operations Chris Graff on the cooperative's 2025 Workplan and Budget.

In this episode, we visit with Sioux Valley Energy General Manager and CEO, Tim McCarthy, along with Bob Sahr, East River Electric CEO and General Manager, and Curt Dieren, General Manager of L&O Power Cooperative about the reasons for the upcoming 2025 rate adjustment. The Sioux Valley Energy Board of Directors approved an overall average increase of 4.9%, effective January 1, 2025. Members will...

South Dakota's Day of Giving is on #GivingTuesday, December 3, 2024. It's the one day of the year where nonprofits across the state come together to raise funds, build awareness, and have a little fun along the way. In this episode, we visit with Dan LaRock from Rock Ranch in Minnesota , Sioux Valley Energy's VP of Public Relations, Carrie Vugteveen, and Culture and Training Development Strategist...

In June, Sioux Valley Energy journey lineworker Steve Dvergsten was part of a crew of 14 lineworkers from Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota who traveled to Las Peñas, Guatemala, to help electrify the village of 35 homes in a mountainous area east of Jalapa, Guatemala. The endeavor was a project of National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) International, which has been working in Guat...

Sioux Valley Energy was recently awarded the 2024 Leroy Vanderpool Excellence in Safety Award at the Minnesota Rural Electric Trust (MRET) annual meeting held on June 13 at Breezy Point, Minnesota. The cooperative was recognized for its culture which centers around the safety of employees, members, and the public along with Sioux Valley Energy's work to move that culture to a new level of excellen...

This month, Sioux Valley Energy's Manager of Dispatch, Sharla Haugen, and Manager of Safety, Terry Ebright, discuss safety reminders such as Call Before You Dig, 811, farm, construction, and road side safety.  SVE's new Roadside Safety Campaign coincides with the Department of Transportation's Work Zone Safety week April 15-19, 2024.

This month, Sioux Valley Energy's Chief Financial Officer, Jason Maxwell, and General Manager & CEO, Tim McCarthy, talk about the upcoming rate adjustment. T he Sioux Valley Energy Board of Directors approved an overall average rate increase of 6.38 percent as of April 1, 2024. We discuss the need for a rate increase to address the rising costs for material, equipment, operations, financing, and p...

This month, Sioux Valley Energy's Chad Williams and Chris Graff discuss how the cooperative " Keeps the Lights On " (PG 10-11). Special guest, Jacob Slaathaug from Smart Grid Solutions also provides an update on the Department of Energy's Energizing Rural Communities grant. Four Sioux Valley Energy communities received wireless fault indicator devices to help improve reliability and outage respons...

This month  Sioux Valley Energy's Member Services and Billing Supervisors Toni Kruger and Molly Burmeister discuss how the new paper bill and Smarthub redesigns can help members access, view, understand and pay for their electric usage. 

This month  Sioux Valley Energy celebrates National Cooperative Month with Board Chairman Gary Fish and Vice-Chair Dan Leuthold. They discuss why cooperatives are important and their perspectives from the board room.

This month Sioux Valley Energy's Manager of Beneficial Electrification, Ben Pierson and Jay Buchholz talk with residential member Susan Kruse about her electric vehicle experiences and how the public can learn more about "going electric" at the 3rd Annual EV Expo on Tuesday September 19th from 4-7PM at the W.H. Lyon Fairgrounds in Sioux Falls, SD.

This month  Sioux Valley Energy's Training and Development Coordinator Chinelle Christensen introduces two students from the EMPOWER Youth Leadership Class of 2022-2023. Lily Fods represents Chester Area School District and Ashirvad Sharma is from Brandon Valley High School.

This month Sioux Valley Energy's Member Services and Billing Supervisors Toni Kruger and Molly Burmeister discuss how the Smarthub App can help members access, view, and understand their electric usage. 

This month Sioux Valley Energy spotlights a key account member New Vision Cooperative .  We visit with New Vision Co-op's CEO Matt Ashton about agriculture and how New Vision serves their members in southwest Minnesota. 

This month Sioux Valley Energy celebrates October being National Cooperative Month. We sit down with SVE's CEO and General Manager Tim McCarthy to visit about the 7 cooperative principles. We talk about what everyday commitment to community looks like and why cooperatives are a great career choice.

Welcome to a Special Edition of Inside the Grid Podcast. This month we will host the 2 nd annual EV Ride and Drive event Thursday September 29 th from 4-7PM at the WH Lyon Fairgrounds eastside parking lot. Our Manager of Beneficial Electrification Ben Pierson and I recently sat down with Sioux Metro Growth Alliance's Sheldon Jenson with their podcast Growing Places to visit about the coop and the...

Inside the Grid was on the road at the Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED) Deep Dive Conference in Watertown, South Dakota. ISG's Economic Development Practitioner, Steve Watson, shares his perspective on economic development and Joe Fiala explains why GOED hosted the Deep Dive sessions for "landing-the-deal".

Inside the Grid welcomes Justin Moose, Sioux Valley Energy's Vice President of Technology. We discuss Cybersecurity terms, common scams, and best practices for avoiding potential data exposures. Justin shares ideas on possible scenarios if a cyber event occurs and training to help businesses and their employees limit online threats.