Foreseeing the need for substantial additional power in rural South Dakota beyond 1980, rural electric directors and members of East River Electric Power Cooperative of Madison, South Dakota, met in October of 1968 to discuss in detail the formation of Heartland Consumers Power District.

Heartland’s purpose, as proposed by East River General Manager Virgil Hanlon, would be to supply wholesale bulk power and to serve “as an additional means of providing low cost power for the development of the area that it serves and to any others who by law are entitled to take advantage of it.” At the close of the meeting, the board, with the approval of those directors and managers present, voted to organize Heartland Consumers Power District.

In accordance with the 1950 Consumers Power District Law, which states that consumer power districts are formed by a majority vote of the people of the proposed district, the group began circulating petitions in November of 1968 for the creation of Heartland. The drive collected over 28,500 signatures and the group filed their petition with the Lake County Circuit Judge, who ruled in favor of the formation and set the question before the voters.

On May 6, 1969, South Dakota’s first consumers power district was established. The election also ratified the election of a nine-person board to govern Heartland. The directors gathered in Madison July 8, 1969 for their first formal meeting to elect officers, adopt bylaws and procedures, designate a law firm and agree to a management contract. Three cities later elected to be annexed into the district, giving them a seat on the board and increasing the number to ten.