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NERC Proposes Modified Definition of Bulk Electric System

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) has proposed that all transmission facilities operated at 100 kV or higher and all real and reactive power resources connected to the grid at 100 kV or higher be subject to its Reliability Standards. In NERC’s January 25, 2012 petition to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to approve its revised definition of...

Idaho Company Seeks Landfill Gas PPA

Avista Corporation is asking the Idaho Public Utilities Commission to approve a purchase power agreement with Kootenai Electric Cooperative’s 3.2-megawatt landfill gas generating facility near Bellgrove, Idaho, 15 miles south of Coeur d’Alene.  Under the agreement, Avista would purchase the project’s output at the lower of either 85 percent of the market rate or the...

Coops Receive USDA Rural Economic Development Grants

Lumbee River Electric Membership Corporation in North Carolina, Clarke-Washington Electric Membership Corporation in Alabama and Heartland Power Cooperative in Iowa were among the coops that received grants under the USDA’s Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant program.  Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that loans and grants will be provided to applicants in 10...

Texas Power Plant Set to Reopen in 2013

Sandy Creek Power Plant, which has been shut down for the past three months, is now set to go back online in 2013.  Damage to the plant’s boiler led to the shut down and officials report that materials have already been ordered to fix the problem, but the delay in reopening the facility could affect the state’s electricity supply. Click here for more.

Coops’ Input Leads to Beneficial Bills

The House Agriculture Committee has advanced three bills that address electric cooperatives’ concerns with federal regulators’ writing of financial reform regulations.  The bills would allow coops to continue using financial instruments such as derivatives, which help insulate customers from price volatility without being subjected to potentially costly regulations.  To read more about...

Great Lakes Energy Cooperative Adopts Resolution to be Member Regulated

Great Lakes Energy Cooperative will enter into discussions with the Michigan Public Service Commission on how to handle its transition to a member-regulated entity.  The utility will become member-regulated in March assuming Great Lakes meets the notice and hearing requirements under Michigan’s Electric Cooperative Member-Regulation Act.  Great Lakes’ member-consumers support the...

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Files Suit Alleging Religious Discrimination by Coop

According to the government’s suit, Ozarks Electric Cooperative Corporation violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when it fired an employee who is a Jehovah’s Witness.  The government filed its suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas on January 26.  For more information about the allegations, see the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s...

Oregon Coop Looks to Change State Law

Umatilla Electric Cooperative hopes to change a 2007 state law to avoid raising customer rates to meet a state-mandated renewable energy portfolio.  Currently Umatilla is a “small” energy provider under the law, but an increase in large customers, particularly Internet data centers, may force the coop into the “large” category.  Umatilla would face approximately $40 million in added...

SWEPCO Signs Up for Wind Energy

Pursuant to a court settlement over a 600-MW, coal-fired generation plant in Arkansas, Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO) has entered into a power purchase agreement for 359 MW of wind energy.  The settlement required the Arkansas plant developers to add 400 MW of renewable capacity by 2015.  The majority of the wind generation will come from Oklahoma.  Other generation sites...

Vermont Coops Spurn Potential Transmission Control Shift to Green Mountain Power

In light of a possible merger of Vermont’s two largest utilities to form new entity Green Mountain Power, Vermont municipals and coops are debating who will control the state’s transmission utility, Vermont Electric Power Company (VELCO).  Through petitions before the Vermont Public Service Board, both municipals and coops are urging the Board to prevent Green Mountain Power from...

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