Dakota Electric Association is a member-owned, not-for-profit electric distribution cooperative founded by local farmers in 1937 with the help of the Rural Electrification Administration.
 
Dakota Electric is regulated by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and is the only regulated electric cooperative in Minnesota. With more than 106,000 members, Dakota Electric is the second largest electric cooperative in Minnesota and ranked among the 25 largest electric distribution cooperatives in the nation.

Dakota Electric purchases wholesale electricity from Great River Energy, a generation and transmission cooperative in Maple Grove, MN, a generation and distribution cooperative in Maple Grove, MN.  Dakota Electric services electricity to homes, businesses and farms in parts of Dakota, Goodhue, Scott and Rice counties.