3 minute read
Wearing Several Hats
Wearing Several Hats
AND HATS OFF TO THOSE WHO HELP
When you work in a small town of 1,600, you likely wear many hats. Hillsboro, North Dakota’s Utility Superintendent Jim Anderson wears many.
As he closes in on retirement this year, he is already getting to work on his next chapter by doing part-time work at the local golf course. Meanwhile, the city’s utility work for Jim and his team of eight never stops.
Hillsboro Municipal Utilities provides electric, water, wastewater and contracted garbage service to the city’s businesses and residents. And as Jim is quick to point out, no two days are ever the same.
“You rarely have time to do just one thing,” says Anderson. “We’re always cleaning up house and putting out fires.”
That’s where MRES comes in.
A local rural electric cooperative in Hillsboro had provided utility service to the community for years, but recently closed. Today, Jim and his team lean on help coming out of Grand Forks, as well as the MRES distribution maintenance crew. “I know if we have any huge issues, MRES will get crews together to come up and help us.”
“MRES has been great all these years,” says Anderson. “They guide us and have a lot of maintenance and advertising programs we use. They take care of a number of government, billing, planning and purchasing issues we simply don’t have the bandwidth to handle.”
One MRES offering that has proven successful for Hillsboro is its participation in the organization’s generation program. As part of the program, Hillsboro keeps a couple of generators ready to be deployed whenever there are peak loads regionally, and this generation capacity is required.
“MRES can call on us during any period, hot days, cold days, when there is a need. As part of our capacity agreement, we start up the generators when needed for other areas in the U.S .”
Back at home, Hillsboro continues to navigate the common issues many small towns face: finding staffing, evaluating and assessing loads, and maintaining aging systems.
Fortunately, the essential energy demands of the city’s customers and business are stable. Anderson adds, “From our local seed plant and grain milling operation to our manufacturers, hospital, and water treatment plant, our load has remained pretty consistent through the years.”
So has the support of MRES.
“Without MRES, a little town like Hillsboro wouldn’t be able to take care of all the issues required to be an electric provider,” says Anderson.
While Jim looks forward to getting out from behind the desk and wearing new hats in retirement, he remains grateful for the hats he’s worn – and the help his team has had along the way.
