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, Chairman,  President  and Chief Executive  Officer of
ALLETE, Inc. (ALLETE), certify that:

1.   I have  reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K  for the fiscal year ended
     December 31, 2005, 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 16, 2006         Donald J. Shippar
                                 -----------------------------------------------
                                 Donald J. Shippar
                                 Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer