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Complaint Against Coop Filed With State Regulatory Commission

Carroll Electric Cooperative Corporation continues to face backlash for its bylaws, transparency and board member balloting procedures. The latest development in a series of lawsuits against Carroll Electric involves a complaint filed with the Arkansas Public Service Commission against a recent bylaw change. The amendment would include an arbitration clause that forbids coop members...

Proposed Franchise Agreement Looks Promising in Colorado

The City of Durango, Colorado, and La Plata Electric Association appear positioned to approve a new franchise agreement that would go into effect in May 2012. The proposed agreement provides less restrictive language on how to credit consumers for generating power back to the grid than previously suggested. The agreement also protects coop customers located outside of Durango from rate...

Power Companies Fight Rate Increase From Coal Premium

Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. is one of several power companies and related organizations contesting BNSF Railway Company’s cost allocation methodology, which increases rates of coal transporters in order to pay an investor premium. Opponents claim the $8.1 billion premium should not be included in the valuation of BNSF’s assets and, thus, should not factor into rates. Click here...

Wisconsin Coop Gears Up For New Mercury Rules

Dairyland Power Cooperative is working to meet new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations that would limit emissions of toxic air pollutants at power plants. The coop’s $400 million plan will install pollution controls at two coal-fired plants. In general, coops face a three-year compliance deadline, with some flexibility for states to grant an additional year. The costs...

North Dakota Scrubber Technology Prevails

North Dakota’s preferred emission reduction technology, which is used to scrub power plant boilers, withstood an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) challenge that a technology that can be adopted across the country should be used. The U.S. District Court found that North Dakota’s choice in selective noncatalytic reduction technology, as opposed to the EPA’s preferred selective...

Tennessee Coop to Connect New Solar Facility

Chickasaw Electric Cooperative, a Tennessee-based coop, is set to connect the new West Tennessee Solar Farm to the Tennessee Valley Authority with its distribution lines.  The coop has upgraded seven miles of its distribution lines and added two additional miles to connect the 4.5-megawatt solar facility to the regional power grid.  The project is estimated to have cost the coop $31...

Georgia Transmission Corporation Obtains $275 Million Refinancing Deal

Georgia Transmission Corporation, which serves 39 electric membership corporations in Georgia, and owns more than 600 substations, recently closed a large refinancing deal on a facility that GTC will use for general corporate purposes.  The National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation arranged a $275 million, five-year unsecured revolving credit facility for GTC, which is...

Tri-State Returns $20 Million in Capital Credits

Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association’s board has authorized the retirement of $20 million of capital credits to the association’s member coops. This is the 23rd consecutive year Tri-State has returned capital credits to its members.  For more information, click here.

Proposed Bills Seek to Minimize Dodd-Frank Impact on Energy Markets

Two recently proposed House bills, H.R. 3527 and H.R. 2682, attempt to clarify definitions and exemptions in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in favor of electric coops that participate in derivatives trading.  Under Dodd-Frank, coops and other end-users that use swaps for hedging purposes fear they could be miscast as swap dealers or larger traders seeking...

EPA Regulations Threaten Coops

Emissions controls for coal-based generating units under current Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rulemakings may cause significant financial and reliability challenges for electric coops, according to the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA).  Because of their small size, coops may not be considered priority customers by emissions control companies that supply...

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