MDU Resources Group, Inc. is a U.S.-based corporation supplying products and services through its regulated energy delivery and utilities related construction materials and services businesses. It is headquartered in Bismarck, North Dakota, and operates in 48 states. MDU Resources got its start in 1924 as the Minnesota Northern Power Company. Its founder, Rolland Heskett, had previously been involved with utilities in Wisconsin and northeast Minnesota . The Minnesota Northern Power holdings initially consisted of the electric utility at Cushing, Oklahoma , Minnesota Electric Light & Power Company, which served the Bemidji, Minnesota area , the Eastern Montana Light & Power Company, which was centered around Sidney and Glendive, Montana, and the Eastern Montana Utilities Co., which was based in Fairview, Montana. The two 'Eastern Montana' utilities became the nucleus of Montana-Dakota Utilities' operations.