Northern Plains Electric Cooperative  Northern Plains Electric Cooperative is a public utility cooperative based in Carrington and Cando, North Dakota. It serves as the electric distribution utility in a portion of east central North Dakota. It receives power from the Central Power Electric Cooperative. Northern Plains is the largest cooperative in ND land-wise and was created in 1997 from the merger of Baker Electric Cooperative (based in Cando; previously a member of Minnkota Power Cooperative) and Tri-County Electric Cooperative (based in Carrington). In 2005, Northern Plains entered into a resource-sharing agreement with the Dakota Valley Rural Electric Cooperative that allows them to function as one large cooperative while continuing as two separate companies.