Otter Tail Corporation is an electric power and manufacturing company based in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Its subsidiaries include Otter Tail Power Company, BTD Manufacturing Inc., T.O. Plastics Inc., Northern Pipe Products Inc., and Vinyltech Corporation.
As of 2007, Otter Tail Power Company serves at least 423 towns at retail and delivers power to about 14 municipal utilities. The company currently has a workforce of over 750 employees, a generating capacity of 660 megawatts, and owns over 5000 mi of electrical power transmission lines (the majority of which are operated at 41.6 kV). The company serves 128,500 customers in North Dakota, Minnesota, and South Dakota.
History
The company was incorporated in 1907 when funds were secured to begin construction of the Dayton Hollow Dam southwest of Fergus Falls. Once the dam came online in April 1909, the company transmitted power at 22 kV over a 25 mi line to serve the customers of the Northern Light Electric Company at Wahpeton, North Dakota.
Shortly thereafter, contracts were secured to provide power at wholesale to the cities of Breckenridge and Fergus Falls, MN (the latter after their own municipal utility's dam failed). After connecting Foxhome, MN, to the system in 1912, the company connected or purchased electric distribution systems in 10 Minnesota towns (the most prominent being Elbow Lake and Morris, MN) and a second town in North Dakota (Fairmount) the following year. Northern Light Electric also merged with Otter Tail at this time and its owner came on board as the company's first general manager.