Living in Great Bend Township, MN: what to set up and who to call
Power in Great Bend Township comes from South Central Electric Assn, a cooperative utility rather than a private company. Public schools here are run by Windom Public School District.
I’m new in town
What to set up in Great Bend Township, and who provides it. Tap an answer for the details and where they come from.
Power, water and internet
Who to call to start service at a new address in Great Bend Township.
Power comes from South Central Electric Assn
South Central Electric Assn (South Central Electric Assn), a cooperative utility, serves 81.2% of Great Bend Township residents. Its homes paid an average of 15.5¢ per kWh in 2025, about $217 a month (its average across Minnesota).
Start or move service: econdev.southcentralelectric.com · (507) 375-3164
Service territory: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map dated Aug 2023). Prices and customers: EIA-861, 2025.
Water comes from Red Rock Rural Water System
Red Rock Rural Water System supplies Great Bend Township: about 85% of residents live in its service area. Windom serves another 6%. About 10% of homes are outside any mapped community water system, most likely on private wells, which EPA doesn’t regulate. It draws ground water (EPA lists Windom and Lincoln-Pipestone Rural Water System and Balaton and Saint James as sellers) and serves 5,840 people in all.
No health-based violations reported to EPA in the five years to October 2026, like 80% of the 5,012 systems serving 3,301–10,000 people.
The latest lead result on file, the 90th percentile of homes sampled in Jan 2022–Dec 2024, was 2.0 ppb, below the 15 ppb action level that applied. That’s higher than 67% of similar systems’ latest results.
The system’s full record: EPA ECHO report
EPA SDWIS via Envirofacts (violations pulled Oct 9, 2026) and ECHO (lead samples, 2026Q3); service area: EPA Community Water System Service Area Boundaries v3.0. Violations are counted by the start of their compliance period. MN1170009.
Which providers serve Great Bend Township
This card will list the home internet providers the FCC’s National Broadband Map shows in Great Bend Township, the share of addresses that can get 100/20 Mbps and the share with fiber, with the map’s “as of” date.
Source to come: FCC Broadband Data Collection.
We don’t have Great Bend Township’s trash rules yet
Pickup rules, the dump and recycling in Great Bend Township.
Where your child goes to school
Public school districts and the school path by grade.
Great Bend Township is in Windom Public School District.
Test scores and every school: see Schools →U.S. Department of Education, NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25. Enrollment rules and registration are the district’s.
Town hall and registering to vote
Who to call, and how to register.
Election office: FVAP local election office directory, updated Jun 2024; jurisdictions: EAC EAVS 2024. Registration rules and links: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Great Bend Township is in ZIP code 56101
ZIP codes where Great Bend Township residents live, with the share of the town in each.
| ZIP | Post office name | Share of Great Bend Township | ZIP’s residents in Great Bend Township |
|---|---|---|---|
| 56101 | Windom, MN | 100% | 5% |
Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, by census block; post office names: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). ZIPs created since 2020 are missing.
Getting around, the ER and the library
One line each; the subject pages have the rest.
ER: CMS hospital data. Library: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024.
Questions about living in Great Bend Township
Who supplies Great Bend Township’s drinking water, and has it had violations?
Red Rock Rural Water System (EPA ID MN1170009). It reported no health-based violations to EPA in the five years to October 2026; 80% of systems its size had none. Its latest lead 90th percentile was 2.0 ppb (Jan 2022–Dec 2024), against a 15 ppb action level.
Who provides electricity in Great Bend Township?
South Central Electric Assn (South Central Electric Assn), a cooperative utility. Its homes paid about 15.5¢ per kWh in 2025 (EIA).
What ZIP codes are in Great Bend Township?
56101. Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas.
What school district is Great Bend Township in?
Windom Public School District.
How do I register to vote in Great Bend Township?
In Minnesota you can register online until 21 days before Election Day, in person up to and including Election Day, or by mail (received 21 days before). Elections here are run by the Cottonwood County Courthouse. Check your registration at mnvotes.sos.state.mn.us.
Sources & dates
Every answer above names its source. Here they are with their dates.
- Water: EPA SDWIS (Envirofacts, pulled Oct 9, 2026), ECHO SDWA 2026Q3, EPA CWS Service Area Boundaries v3.0.
- Power: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map Aug 2023); EIA-861 final 2025.
- Trash: OpenStreetMap, Geofabrik extract of Oct 9, 2026. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
- ZIP codes: Census 2020 ZCTA relationship files; GeoNames postal codes (CC BY 4.0).
- Schools: NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25.
- Registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024 (read Oct 10, 2026). Official sites and area codes: Wikidata.
- Election office: FVAP local election office directory (fetched Oct 10, 2026; each record dated), EAC EAVS 2024 jurisdictions; registration and lookup links from vote.gov’s state data, checked Oct 10, 2026.
- Internet (FCC): pending.