EXHIBIT 31(a)



      RULE 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) CERTIFICATION BY THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
            PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002



   I, Donald J. Shippar,  President and Chief Executive Officer  of ALLETE, Inc.
   (ALLETE), certify that:

1. I have reviewed this annual report on  Form 10-K for the year ended  December
   31, 2004 of ALLETE;

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a
   material  fact  or  omit to  state a  material  fact  necessary  to make  the
   statements made, in  light of the  circumstances  under which such statements
   were made, not misleading with respect to the period  covered by this report;

3. Based  on  my  knowledge,  the  financial  statements,  and  other  financial
   information included in this report, fairly present in all  material respects
   the  financial  condition,  results  of  operations  and  cash  flows  of the
   registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4. The  registrant's  other   certifying  officer  and  I  are  responsible  for
   establishing  and maintaining  disclosure controls and procedures (as defined
   in Exchange  Act  Rules 13a-15(e)  and 15d-15(e)) and  internal control  over
   financial  reporting  (as  defined  in   Exchange  Act  Rules  13a-15(f)  and
   15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

   a. Designed  such   disclosure  controls   and  procedures,  or  caused  such
      disclosure controls and procedures to be  designed under our  supervision,
      to ensure that material information relating to  the registrant, including
      its consolidated  subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those
      entities, particularly  during  the period in  which this  report is being
      prepared;

   b. Designed  such internal control  over financial  reporting, or caused such
      internal  control  over  financial  reporting to  be  designed  under  our
      supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding  the reliability of
      financial  reporting  and  the  preparation of  financial  statements  for
      external  purposes  in  accordance   with  generally  accepted  accounting
      principles;

   c. Evaluated  the effectiveness  of the registrant's  disclosure controls and
      procedures  and  presented  in  this  report  our  conclusions  about  the
      effectiveness of the disclosure controls  and procedures, as of the end of
      the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

   d. Disclosed  in this report any change in  the registrant's internal control
      over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant's most recent
      fiscal quarter (the  registrant's fourth fiscal  quarter in the case of an
      annual report) that has  materially  affected, or is reasonably  likely to
      materially  affect,  the  registrant's  internal  control  over  financial
      reporting; and

5. The registrant's other certifying officer and I have  disclosed, based on our
   most recent evaluation of internal  control over  financial reporting, to the
   registrant's auditors and  the audit  committee of the  registrant's board of
   directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

   a. All  significant  deficiencies  and  material  weaknesses in the design or
      operation  of  internal   control  over  financial   reporting  which  are
      reasonably likely to adversely affect the  registrant's ability to record,
      process, summarize and report financial information; and

   b. Any fraud, whether or not  material,  that  involves  management or  other
      employees who have a significant role in the registrant's internal control
      over financial reporting.


Date: February 10, 2005        Donald J. Shippar
                               -------------------------------------------------
                               Donald J. Shippar
                               President and Chief Executive Officer


                                                           ALLETE 2004 Form 10-K