It can be easy to forget just how different Dakota Electric really is from other energy companies. I suppose that’s true in any industry — over time, the exceptional starts to seem ordinary. But after talking with my 13-year-old neighbor, Logan Tryba, I was struck once again by how remarkable our electric cooperative really is.

Before this starts to sound immodest, let me make something clear: What makes us remarkable is members like you. Members like Logan. And even though Logan may not be a paying member yet, he knows more about Dakota Electric than your average eighth grader.

You see, Logan has read every edition of Circuits for the past two years. He understands we are locally governed by our members and we listen to our community. He knows we don’t answer to outside investors whose only interest is to make a profit. After all, the investors of Dakota Electric are its consumer-members.

As an electric cooperative, we were created from the ground up by people who lived here 82 years ago. But Logan doesn’t care how we came to be; he prefers to focus on where we’re going, and how we respond to the expectations of the future generation. And we’re listening.

The world is different today than it was in 1937. And while our mission to provide safe and reliable electricity remains constant, our approach has adapted. You play an important role in shaping our industry’s future. Your choices help us in our goal to invest in more efficient technology and cleaner sources of energy. You ensure that tomorrow is even brighter for future members like Logan.

We know our members are searching for high-efficiency and low-carbon solutions for their homes or businesses. That’s why we provide programs and rebates that save you money, are convenient and reduce environmental impacts. We call it beneficial electrification. Logan calls it progress.

So sure, you may be used to getting your energy from us, but it’s the energy we get from members like Logan, like you, that remind me how exceptional electric cooperatives are. After all, that’s the cooperative difference.