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Where Your Power Comes From: Energy Markets Explained

June 5, 2026

Keeping the lights on across the Upper Midwest requires constant coordination among utilities, power generators and transmission operators. At the center of that coordination is the regional grid operator MISO, which plays a critical role in how electricity is delivered to Great River Energy and the 26 member-owner cooperatives it serves, including Stearns Electric Association.

MISO is a nonprofit, independent organization that manages the flow of electricity across a multi-state transmission system. Its footprint spans 15 U.S. states, including Minnesota, and the Canadian province of Manitoba. Rather than owning power plants or transmission lines, MISO operates the high-voltage transmission grid and oversees wholesale electricity markets designed to ensure reliable service at the lowest reasonable cost.

MISO functions as both a reliability coordinator and a market operator. Great River Energy owns and operates generation resources and transmission assets, but it relies on MISO to balance supply and demand across the broader regional grid in real time. Every five minutes, MISO evaluates electricity needs across its footprint and dispatches power from the most cost-effective available resources, while ensuring the system remains stable.

For Great River Energy’s member cooperatives, MISO’s work is largely behind the scenes but has a direct impact on reliability and cost. When the regional grid is managed efficiently, electricity can be delivered more reliably and at a lower overall cost — ultimately benefiting cooperative member-consumers. During periods of high demand or unexpected outages, MISO’s coordination helps prevent localized problems from cascading into broader disruptions.

That coordination is especially important as the energy landscape continues to evolve. Great River Energy has been adding renewable resources such as wind, which are weather-dependent and variable by nature. MISO’s regional view allows it to integrate those resources efficiently, smoothing out variability by drawing on a diverse mix of generation spread across a wide geographic area. This regional approach reduces the need for each utility to maintain excess capacity on its own.

MISO also plays a key role in long-term planning. Through a collaborative process involving utilities like Great River Energy, state regulators and other stakeholders, MISO studies future electricity needs and identifies transmission upgrades required to maintain reliability and support economic growth. These studies help guide major transmission investments that strengthen the grid, improve resilience during extreme weather and enable the addition of new generation resources.

Great River Energy participates in MISO’s stakeholder processes by advocating for policies and market rules that reflect the needs of its member-owners and the communities they serve. That involvement ensures that the cooperative perspective is represented as MISO makes decisions affecting everything from market design to transmission planning.

MISO serves as the air traffic controller of the electric grid while Great River Energy and its members remain responsible for producing power, investing in infrastructure and serving homes. Together, their coordinated roles help deliver reliable, affordable electricity across Minnesota and the broader region.