Summer 2010

announces scholarship winners The Minnesota Power Foundation has recognized 46 exceptional area students with monies to be used toward higher education in one of two scholarships: The $2,500 Community Involvement scholarship was awarded to 20 area high school students who have donated time and talents in their communities.

The New Generation scholarship was awarded to 11 Associate’s degree college students ($1,000 each) and to 15 Bachelor’s degree college students ($2,500 each) pursuing degrees in areas related to our region’s workforce needs.

Winners were selected by judges from the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation based on their community involvement through volunteer activities as well as their good academic records.

To date, 346 students have received $700,000 in scholarship aid. Visit www.mnpower.com/community/education/ scholarships for a complete list of winners.

In a nest high atop a 350foot stack at Minnesota Power’s

Boswell Energy Center in Cohasset, four peregrine falcon eggs were laid in May. Working with the national Raptor Resource Project in an effort to help preserve these endangered birds, Minnesota Power installed its first peregrine falcon nesting box at Boswell in 1992.

Since then, a pair of adult peregrines named Windsong and Bandit have produced 49 offspring at the site.

Watch the falcon activity on the 24-hour live view at www.mnpower.com/falconcam

Minnesota Power can help detect stray voltage Minnesota Power will work with farmers to help detect and reduce stray voltage in confined animal operations.

This low-level voltage can be found on metal objects that farm animals touch, such as water pipes and stanchions.

The voltage level is usually so slight that humans cannot feel it, but animals may. It can be caused by many factors, including faulty wiring or improper grounding. The voltage can affect animals’ behavior, milk production, eating habits and overall health. For more information about stray voltage or to schedule a free stray voltage investigation, call Minnesota Power at 1-800-228-4966, ext. 5031 for Dan Tonder, or ext. 6758 for Derek Howe.

Electrical safety theatre visiting area schools Minnesota Power remains committed to helping educate young people about the safe and responsible use of our main product: electricity. That is why we are thrilled to again be working with The National Theatre for Children to deliver a live theatrical production focusing on electrical safety, designed for students in kindergarten through sixth grade.

The program—A Bug’s Light—is performed by professional actors from The National Theatre. Based in Minneapolis, this organization specializes in writing and performing educational programs for children nationwide using simple sets and audience participation.

Student workbooks and teacher guides will be provided to reinforce the messages of A Bug’s Light.

There are 32 elementary schools in our service territory that will have this company-sponsored program come to their school this spring. We hope to continue to offer this program in the coming years, allowing more students access to these important and entertaining electrical safety presentations.

Receive future issues of Energizer electronically by sending your request to keldien@mnpower.com View past issues at mnpower.com/customer_service and click on the Energizer link

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The importance of reporting outages Minnesota Power works hard to prevent power outages, but if one does occur, our goal is to restore power as quickly as possible.

Every customer who experiences a loss of power should report the problem. Each customer call helps us to better pinpoint the location of the specific equipment or power line causing the issue. Your outage may be unrelated to your neighbor’s or other customers’ on the street. For example, each transformer on a power pole serves five or six homes. This could mean a small group of homes could experience a power loss while homes further down the street still have power.

If you experience an loss of power, call1-800-30-power (1-800-307-6937), and our automated outage reporting line will create an outage notice for you and update you on any known restoration information.

You can also visit the Minnesota Power Web site at www.mnpower.com and select Report an Outage from the upper left side of the page to notify us of a power outage or to check the status of your outage.

We need your current home or cell phone number to provide you with the best possible service.

But to do that, we need your help. Minnesota Power has installed new equipment that will help us track the cause and location of power losses even more rapidly. The Outage Management System is linked through customers’ home or business phone numbers.

When you call us to report an outage, for example, if you do not have your Minnesota Power account number handy, the easiest and fastest way for us to identify your account is through your main telephone number. If your number has changed but our records have not, it can take us longer to answer your questions or pinpoint your location.

To update your account, simply call (218) 722-2625 or toll-free 1-800-228-4966 (Minnesota only) and listen carefully for the prompts to the service you need. We look forward to hearing from you.

Special energy efficiency offers Minnesota Power is offering a FREE SmartPak ($25 value) that includes a water-saving showerhead, faucet aerators, pipe wrap and a water temperature gauge for customers that have electric water heaters and have not previously received one. To get your FREE SmartPak in the mail, simply complete an online form at www.mnpower.com/smartpak by December 31, 2010, while supplies last. Indicate that you have an electric water heater and provide your Minnesota Power account number (located on your electric bill).

Combo Offer worth a $375 rebate. If you are thinking about installing central air conditioning, it may be the perfect time to replace your furnace. A furnace with an electronically commutated fan motor (ECM) will not only save energy over a standard fan motor, but it will adjust to your home’s air flow needs for heating and cooling so you can save energy on both while enhancing the comfort of your home. Available through November 1, 2010, with program participating contractors.

Visit www.mnpower.com/combo or call 1-800-677-8423, option 2, for more details on the combo offer.

Cannot be combined with any other offer.

Find your place on the lake Minnesota Power’s ShoreLand Traditions ® program is currently offering 13 recreational lakeshore lots for lease with more coming soon. These parcels are located on Fall Lake (near Ely and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness access), Whiteface Reservoir (near Makinen) and Whitewater Lake (in Hoyt Lakes’ city limits).

ShoreLand Traditions is a premier managed lakeshore property program that provides a managed residential lakefront community through the implementation of a long-term (30-year) renewable lease agreement.

Minnesota Power’s leased land arrangement is stable and has existed for over 80 years. Leaseholders are able to develop their leased lots, extend their lease terms and sell and transfer their lots, which rewards them with real and personal values equal to or greater than fee-owned properties.

If you are new to the idea of long-term managed leases, you can learn more at www.shorelandtraditions.com.

There are fact sheets for each available lot posted online, which provide directions for you to visit the lots at your convenience.

Call Gopher State One Call before you DIG! 1-800-252-1166 Twin Ports weatherline: 218-733-0300

Lights Out: 1-800-30-POWER (1-800-307-6937)

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