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.

We regret to inform you that the Fall 2020 stray voltage investigation courses and the 2021 MREC conference have been cancelled due to uncertainty around travel restrictions and large group gatherings.  We hope to resume the normal schedule of stray voltage investigators courses in mid-2021 are to hold the annual conference in 2022.

We are redirecting our efforts to overhaul and update this web site.  if you have suggestions for improving the site please send them to the MREC Secretary using the link at the bottom of this page.

• The 2020 MREC Rural Energy Conference was held February 12-14 at the Radisson Hotel in La Crosse, Wisconsin. See the 2020 archives for presentations on stray voltage measurement techniques, regional transmission of wind and solar power, impact of trade agreements on farmers, energy use of robotic milking systems, carbon footprint of swine, grazing livestock under solar arrays, applied ethics, first hand experiences of managing a large scale robotic dairy, and converting digesters to natural gas.

Archives of other 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.