East River Electric Power Cooperative, Inc.
Legal name: East River Electric Power Cooperative Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 460225402
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Madison, SD, US
- Phone
- 605.256.4536
- Rating confidence
- Limited
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $371,444,036
- Expenses
- $371,444,036
- Assets
- $1,017,794,449
- Liabilities
- $716,921,585
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
35 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ALAN VEDVEI (PRESIDENT)
- JAMES RYKEN (PRESIDENT/DIRECTOR (BEG SEPT 2024))
- DUANE WOLBRINK (VICE PRESIDENT)
- ROBERT SAHR (CEO/GENERAL MANAGER)
Highest reported compensation
- ROBERT SAHR (CEO/GENERAL MANAGER): $834,317 total reported compensation
- ELIZABETH AVERY (CHRO): $482,687 total reported compensation
- SCOTT SHEWEY (CFO): $436,765 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
East River Electric Power Cooperative exists to enhance the value of its members.
What it reported doing in 2024
East river electric power cooperative is a wholesale electric power supply cooperative serving 24 rural electric cooperatives and one municipally-owned electric system, which in turn serves more than 93,000 homes and businesses and about 250,000 consumers. The cooperative operates and maintains over 3,200 miles of high voltage transmission line and over 260 substations and related facilities to serve an area of 40,000 square miles that covers the rural areas of 41 counties in eastern South Dakota and 22 counties in western Minnesota. East river is also a transmission owner in the southwest power pool.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 100% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.
The verdict
- The available evidence is not sufficient to produce an overall rating for this filing. This is not a warning sign.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: NotEnoughData
- Transparency & Controls: 67
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 46
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: Limited
- Program expense ratio: Limited
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 72.6%; rating input score 73; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 0%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.74; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.7; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 1%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 9.5% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
- Governance: 22 of 22 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment
- Leadership: top reported pay $834K · 35 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $24.6M reported
- Consistency: 12 of 13 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 39 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 5 filed related-organization links
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 29/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 22/100.