CFC Arranges $100 Million Credit Facility for Indiana Coop
Posted on Mar 26, 2013 in Financing | Comments Off on CFC Arranges $100 Million Credit Facility for Indiana Coop
Indianapolis-based Wabash Valley Power Association recently closed on a $100 million syndicated transaction arranged by the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC). In addition to CFC, four other lenders participated in the five-year senior unsecured revolving credit facility, but CFC will serve as administrative agent for the facility, which consolidates the...
Arkansas Coop Settles Religious Discrimination Suit
Posted on Mar 26, 2013 in Litigation | Comments Off on Arkansas Coop Settles Religious Discrimination Suit
Arkansas-based Ozarks Electric Cooperative Corporation (Ozarks) has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by a former employee and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for alleged religious discrimination. The EEOC alleged that Ozarks denied the employee a requested day off to attend a Jehovah’s Witness convention, then terminated her when she chose to attend the...
Rural Areas May Be Redefined
Posted on Mar 19, 2013 in Legislative & Politics, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on Rural Areas May Be Redefined
If the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has its way, the definition of “rural” would be amended to include areas with as many as 50,000 people. The goal of this recommendation, according to the USDA, is to make rural development programs more consistent. Others are concerned that such a change could be detrimental to less-populated, needy areas. The recommendation, if it...
New Mexico Coops, Regulators and Power Supplier Clash Over Rates
Posted on Mar 18, 2013 in Litigation, Rates, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on New Mexico Coops, Regulators and Power Supplier Clash Over Rates
Last week, the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (PRC) denied a trio of requests from Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association (Tri-State) for interim rate increases that would have affected 12 New Mexico coops. Tri-State provides wholesale power to 44 rural cooperatives in New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska, and each coop has a representative on the Tri-State...
Breach of Contract Suit Brought by Texas Coop Removed to Federal Court
Posted on Mar 13, 2013 in Litigation | Comments Off on Breach of Contract Suit Brought by Texas Coop Removed to Federal Court
In January, East Texas Electric Cooperative, Inc. (ETEC) filed suit against Entergy Texas, Inc. (Entergy) in Texas state court claiming that Entergy breached multiple agreements between the parties and seeking $8 million in damages. Entergy filed its Notice of Removal last week, which removed the action to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. To read...
FERC Issues License for Hydroelectric Project in Alaska
Posted on Mar 13, 2013 in Energy Savings Programs, Project Development, Rates, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on FERC Issues License for Hydroelectric Project in Alaska
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued a license for Inside Passage Electric Cooperative’s Gartina Falls project near Hoonah, Alaska. The project, which is fully funded at less than $8 million, will replace 30 percent of the diesel use in Hoonah. Local businesses, which are not eligible for the state’s power-cost equalization program, stand to benefit from the...
North Carolina Coop Seeking Addition of Transmission Line in a Wilderness Area
Posted on Mar 11, 2013 in Environmental, Grid & Infrastructure, Land Use, Project Development, Reliability | Comments Off on North Carolina Coop Seeking Addition of Transmission Line in a Wilderness Area
A Rutherford County coop may end up in conflict with ecologists after seeking to run a 12-mile, high-voltage power line through an area of unbroken forest that is currently part of a conservation zone. Rutherford Electric Membership Corporation says the proposed line would prevent brownouts in a rural community of 1,900 families but ecologists counter that the line would run a...
Coops Ask DOE Chief to Drop Grid Restructuring Plan
Posted on Mar 11, 2013 in Environmental, Grid & Infrastructure, Regulation & Policy, Renewable Energy, Technology | Comments Off on Coops Ask DOE Chief to Drop Grid Restructuring Plan
Coops and other utilities want the new Department of Energy chief, Ernest Moniz, to drop his predecessor’s requirements to integrate renewable energy into the grid. Utility groups want Moniz to rescind a plan proposed by outgoing DOE Secretary Steven Chu to restructure federally controlled power systems in the Western United States that would enable deployment of renewable energy,...
Bipartisan Group of Senators Express Concern Over Potential Hike in Shipping Rates
Posted on Mar 11, 2013 in Legislative & Politics, Rates, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on Bipartisan Group of Senators Express Concern Over Potential Hike in Shipping Rates
Several U.S. senators, led by Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., have asked federal regulators to make sure that an investment giant’s purchase of BNSF Railway Co. does not saddle shippers with unfair costs. Specifically, Sen. Franken, along with Sens. Mark Pryor, D-Ark.; Tim Johnson, D-S.D.; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.; and David Vitter, R-La, told the Surface Transportation...
Missouri Coop to Shut Down Chamois Power Plant
Posted on Mar 8, 2013 in Corporate Governance, Environmental | Comments Off on Missouri Coop to Shut Down Chamois Power Plant
Central Electric Power Cooperative’s (Central) board has decided to cease operations at the Chamois Power Plant in Missouri effective September 30. Since 1962, Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc. (AECI), the wholesale supplier of Central, has been paying all of the expenses of the plant in exchange for a right to all of the output. The plant is the smallest and the oldest of AECI’s...
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