The 60s

The decade of the 1960s was a period of rapid growth for Otter Tail Power Company. Kilowatt-hour sales increased at an average of nine percent a year. That included sales to other power suppliers. Much of the load growth was due to the promotion of electric space heating. By 1969 total-electric homes accounted for a significant portion of the company's kilowatt-hour sales.

Two new generating units increased the company's generating capacity in the 1960s. Hoot Lake Unit 2 had its first full year of operation in 1960 and Hoot Lake Unit 3 came on line in 1964.

Otter Tail Power Company and nine other investor-owned electric utilities participated in the research and development stage of the Pathfinder nuclear power station near Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which was completed in 1962. The knowledge gained from that project made it apparent that Otter Tail Power Company did not have a nuclear plant in its future. Nuclear power couldn't compete with the coal-fired plants in the company's service area. It was too expensive.

In 1961 the company and four other utilities formed the Upper Mississippi Valley Power Pool. The objective was to coordinate the operation of the generating stations and transmission lines of the pool members to achieve maximum operating efficiency. Other utilities joined the pool later.

Otter Tail Power Company was a charter member of MAPP (Mid-Continent Area Power Planners), which was a much larger organization. It was established in 1963. Its members included investor-owned utilities, rural electric generation and transmission cooperatives, municipals, Omaha Public Power District, and Manitoba Hydro. MAPP prepared and updated a master plan for the development of electric power in the mid-continent region. Each member controlled its own generation and transmission facilities, but any new construction had to conform to the master plan.

In 1963 Otter Tail Power Company began reorganizing the large line construction crews into multiple three-man area line crews. Those small crews were stationed at towns spaced around the system. That put them close to their work and close to home. Those three-man crews proved to be highly productive because they had the new line trucks that were becoming available. Mounted on those trucks were an aerial basket, a winch, and an auger, all operated by a hydraulic system. An area line crew with one of the new trucks could accomplish more work for less money than a larger crew with older equipment. For larger jobs the company combined two or more area line crews. The company retained two of the large crews for major construction projects.

A few years later Otter Tail Power Company put its first barehand crew in the field. They used an aerial basket truck with an insulated boom. With that equipment a lineman could stand in the basket and work on an energized conductor with his bare hands. That greatly simplified maintenance work on high-voltage transmission lines because they didn't have to be taken out of service.

The company entered the computer age in 1967 when it installed a mainframe computer in the dispatch center. It was used to schedule generation and regulate power flows between Otter Tail Power Company and other members of the power pool. The following year the company installed another mainframe computer in the general office to do data processing for the accounting department. The following year the company computerized customer accounting and stockholder records.

In 1967 the company installed its first underground distribution line, then installed more in 1968 and 1969 in areas where esthetics was a factor.

Otter Tail Power Company made its first venture into diversification when it became part owner of the new Holiday Inn Motel on the west side of Fergus Falls. The motel opened in 1970.

Written by Myron Broschat, Otter Tail Power Company retiree, using a nnual reports as sources.