STANTON - An electric cooperative went on the road Thursday to tell members why it makes sense to consolidate co-ops in Coal County and a fair portion of the oil patch.

Oliver-Mercer, of Hazen, and West Plains, of Dickinson, plan to consolidate their territories, rates and governing boards if their members give them the OK in a special election next month.

Ballots will be mailed out to members of both cooperatives by Tuesday. People who get them can either mail them back in or vote at special meetings.

The meetings will be held at 7 p.m. Dec. 6 at Hazen City Hall and at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 6 at Dickinson's Trinity High School.

The new Roughrider Cooperative would include Billings, Stark, Dunn, Oliver and Mercer counties with 6,200 commercial, industrial and residential accounts.

West Plains has a larger and expanding electric load because of oil development and commercial growth - selling 52 megawatts, compared to Oliver-Mercer's 38 megawatts. But it has power purchase issues that can be solved by Oliver-Mercer, which, unlike nearly all co-ops, buys power directly from Basin Electric Power Cooperative.

West Plains already held public meetings to tell its members about the proposed consolidation.

This week was Oliver-Mercer's chance to tell its side of the story to members in Hazen, Beulah, Pick City, Stanton and Center.

Under the deal, Oliver-Mercer will become the official headquarters for the new co-op, though both offices will remain staffed to service the surrounding territory, said Oliver-Mercer manager Clayton Hoffman.

It's estimated the new consolidated co-op would save $500,000 because of combined management, a smaller board and shared services.

Hoffman said those savings and others would help lessen the impact of an estimated 40 percent wholesale rate increase expected within the next five years.

Hoffman and co-op manager Don Franklund, of Mor-Gran-Sou Electric at Flasher, will co-manage the new Roughrider Cooperative, along with Mor-Gran-Sou and Slope Electric Cooperative.

West Plains has the only co-op staff in North Dakota that's non-union and Hoffman said if the consolidation passes, the combined staff would vote whether to be union, with a simple majority vote prevailing.

(Reach reporter Lauren Donovan at 888-303-5511 or lauren@;westriv.com.)