Midwest Rural Energy Council
The Midwest Rural Energy Council is a cooperative effort between Extension programs at the University of Wisconsin, University of Minnesota, South Dakota State University and Iowa State University, and farm programs of member electric power suppliers in these states. Our mission is to support outreach, education and research on rural energy issues for the benefit of:
- farms and other rural energy consumers,
- rural energy suppliers,
- farm organizations and agricultural trade associations,
- electrical equipment and allied industries,
- government regulatory agencies.
Our annual conference occurs in February, see more below. Follow the links above or to the right to find out more about the MREC, MREC publications, announcements and other educational programs and information on a variety of rural energy issues. Here is a promotional flier about MREC (half a page, front and back).
- Classes in Stray Voltage Investigation for dairy producers and agricultural professionals are typically held once a year. Stray Voltage Investigator’s Classes were developed by the University of Wisconsin, Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection.
- A class in Advanced Stray Voltage Investigation will be offered October 15-16, 2019, in Madison, Wisconsin. View the brochure for the Advanced class here.
- Register for the Advanced Stray Voltage Investigation class here:
- Classes in Introduction to Stray Voltage, and Stray Voltage Testing were held May 14-16, 2019 in Arlington, Wisconsin. View the brochure for the Intro and Intermediate classes here. Similar classes will be held in 2020.
- Planning is underway for the 2020 MREC Rural Energy Conference, to be held February 12-14 at the Radisson Hotel in La Crosse, WI. The 2019 MREC Rural Energy Conference was held February 13-15, 2019 in Bloomington, MN at the newly renovated Embassy Suites Minneapolis Airport Hotel, (7901 34th Avenue South, Bloomington,MNI, 55425). The speakers’ topics included drones and how they are used by utilities and in agriculture, rural residential generators, engineer ethics, robotics on large dairy farms, electric vehicles and the infrastructure for fast charging, veterinarian perspectives on emerging dairy animal health issues, on-farm energy audits, and the Beneficial Electrification League. The pre-conference workshop was on crucial conversations: identifying and reducing stress. See the conference brochure here.
Archives of previous conference brochures and conference presentations are here.
If you would like to receive notices of MREC activities and updates please sign up for our quarterly electronic newsletter below.
Click here to sign up for our quarterly electronic newsletter.
We would like to hear from you! For more information about the MREC, contact the secretary at mrec@uwex.edu. Also, if you have comments or problems with the website please send us an email.
