North Dakota Transmission Authority

BISMARCK, N.D. – The North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC) has selected Claire Vigesaa to serve as the next executive director of the North Dakota Transmission Authority. Vigesaa retired in 2022 as general manager and CEO for the Upper Missouri Power Cooperative after a 40-year career in the electric cooperative industry. Vigesaa has been serving as deputy director of the Transmission Authority since retirement.

On May 23, 2023, North Dakota joined three other states and two tribal nations in receiving the first Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). North Dakota was awarded $7.5 million, which will be administered by the North Dakota Industrial Commission through its Transmission Authority. The Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grant program aims to ensure the reliability of power sector infrastructure so that communities have access to affordable, reliable, clean electricity.

The report on the status of the resilience of the electric grid in North Dakota was presented Friday to the North Dakota Industrial Commission and delivered to the North Dakota Legislative Council. The 2021 Legislative Assembly directed that the Transmission Authority prepare this report annually.

North Dakota will need significantly more power generation in the next 20 years as electricity consumption is projected to increase by up to 70 percent, driven largely by continued expansion of oil and gas activity in western North Dakota, according to a new Power Forecast 19 (PF19) completed by Barr Engineering.

John Weeda, who retired in 2017 as director of North Dakota Plant Operations for Great River Energy, has been selected to serve as  the director of the North Dakota Transmission Authority by the North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC) as of Feb. 14.