The RUS Electric Program provided financing to 10 of the 12 electric cooperatives involved in the acquisition of the Alliant service territory.  The Electric Program provided a total of nearly $125 million.  The total acquisition cost was about $127 million.  In an unprecedented example of collaboration, 12 Minnesota electric cooperatives worked closely together to acquire Alliant Energy’s (an investor-owned utility) electric distribution assets and customer accounts.  The distribution cooperatives formed Southern Minnesota Energy Cooperative to handle the acquisition and avoid the need for 12 separate agreements with Alliant.  Approximately 43,000 of Alliant’s customers in the southern part of Minnesota became customers (as well as member-owners) of the 12 cooperatives.  This acquisition is the culmination of ten years of effort on the part of the cooperatives.  The 10 electric cooperatives that received RUS financing are: Minnesota Valley Electric Cooperative, Federated Rural Electric, Steele-Waseca, People’s Cooperative Services, Freeborn-Mower, Redwood Electric, Tri-County Electric, Blue Earth-Nicollet-Faribault Cooperative Electric Association, South Central, and Nobles Cooperative.  The transaction was a natural fit in the way the Alliant territory intertwined with the cooperatives’ existing territories.  The cooperatives will grow and increase the efficiency in providing high quality service at competitive costs.