The Department of Agriculture announced a fiscal 2014 budget of $4 billion for the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Electric Loan Program.  Of that amount, $3 billion would be earmarked for renewable energy projects with the remaining $1 billion held for environmental upgrades.  The proposed budget provides no money for other distribution or transmission projects, a void that lawmakers hope will be filled by banks and not-for-profit organizations.  Read more here.

Delaware Electric Cooperative recently signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with the Delaware Solid Waste Authority for 2 MW of power generated from a landfill in Sandtown.  The purchase is part of the coop’s long-term strategy of procuring a mix of energy sources at competitive prices.  Click here for the full story.

A Colorado state committee approved legislation this week that would require that 25 percent of Colorado’s electric coop electricity come from renewable sources by 2020.  Investor-owned utilities in the state — Xcel Energy Inc. and Black Hills Energy — must by state law generate 30 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020.  Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association and rural electric coop officials sought to block the legislation in its current form, stating that the 25 percent target by 2020 was not feasible.  For more on this story, click here.

Basin Electric Power Cooperative recently shipped a milestone amount of carbon dioxide to Canadian oil fields for use in forcing oil to the surface.  The coop’s Great Plains Synfuels Plant has been capturing carbon dioxide since 2000 and just sent the 25 millionth metric ton to southern Saskatchewan.  Click here for more information.

The Delaware Electric Cooperative (Delaware Electric) has begun construction of a 20-acre, 16,000-solar-panel, solar energy farm in Sussex County, Delaware.  It will be one of the largest solar farms in the state and is expected to cost $14 million.  Delaware Electric hopes the project will be online by May 2013.  Read more here.

Last Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a two-sentence order in which it declined to reopen a decision that struck down the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) sweeping Cross-State Air Pollution Rule.  The decision striking down the rule was issued last August by a three-judge panel of the circuit court after the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and several electric cooperatives filed lawsuits, arguing that the rule treated different parts of the country in an arbitrary and unfair manner.  The rule would have set new limits on sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide in 27 states, mostly east of the Mississippi River.  To read more on this story, click here.

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) is urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to back off on its proposed revisions to New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for stationary gas turbines and stationary combustion turbines.  According to the NRECA, the revisions are flawed because the revised standards would be made retroactive to February 2005 and would impose too many reconstruction requirements on existing structures, thus increasing the costs of combustion turbine facilities.  The proposed revisions seek to adopt a radically narrow definition of a “combustion turbine,” and that definition would determine whether “reconstruction” has been triggered under the NSPS clean air regulatory program.  To read more about the potential consequences of this proposal to coops, click here.

The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission has approved a 20-year power purchase agreement between the Kaua’i Island Utility Cooperative and REC Solar for its 300-kilowatt, MP2 Hawaii Solar Project in Koloa.  This will be the 36th-largest renewable energy project in Hawaii.  Read more here.

Utah-based Deseret Power Electric Cooperative (Deseret) may file a lawsuit challenging California’s greenhouse gas trading system.  Although the coop has declined to comment on the potential lawsuit, “one informed source” asserts that Deseret may be seeking other businesses to join in  this effort.  The lawsuit would likely claim that the trading system violates either the Constitution’s Commerce Clause by regulating interstate power trades or the Federal Power Act that gives the federal government jurisdiction over power pricing.  Click here for the full story (subscription required).

A federal judge has approved an agreement among the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the state of Alaska and an Alaskan power company that will allow a coal plant to reopen by 2015.  Under the agreement, Golden Valley Electric Association agreed to install the most rigorous emission controls available on coal-fired electric generating units at the Healy Clean Coal Plant at an estimated cost of $40 million and will also install additional nitrous oxide controls on a second unit at the plant, which is estimated to cost about $5 million.  Additionally, the coop will pay $250,000 to help fund the Fairbanks North Star Borough and Denali Borough Woodstove Change-out program, which it said will help alleviate the particulate matter problems in the interior portion of the state.  The full story is available here (subscription required).

Green Mountain Power and Vermont Electric Cooperative, Inc. can proceed with the construction of an industrial wind project on Lowell Mountain, as the Vermont Supreme Court has dismissed a legal challenge to the project.  The 21-turbine Kingdom Community Wind project is due to come on line in December 2012.  The project’s challengers, Lowell Mountains Group Inc. and the towns of Albany and Craftsbury, Vermont, claimed the project ignored or departed from plans to minimize environmental disruption.  The Supreme Court disagreed, upholding the project's certificate of public good, granted last year by the Public Service Board, which determined that the wind farm's benefits outweighed its negative impacts.  Burlingtonfreepress.com has more on the story.

Dairyland Power Cooperative (Dairyland) was awarded a $261.9 million loan guarantee from the federal government to reduce environmental impacts, update technology and improve distribution in a swath of the rural Midwest.  Renewable energy sources make up about 12 percent of Dairyland’s electricity sales, which exceeds the state’s 2015 requirement that all Wisconsin utilities have at least 10 percent renewable generation.  The loan guarantee will allow the La Crosse-based coop to add 81 miles of transmission line, increase efficiency and cut coal emissions.  The guarantee also allows for $3.5 million for smart grids.  The La Crosse Tribune has more on this story.

A federal judge has ruled that the state of North Dakota’s case against Minnesota can move forward, as North Dakota has a “plausible” claim that a 2007 Minnesota energy law is invalid due to preemption by federal law.  Minnesota’s Next Generation Energy Act bars new coal-fired power plants in Minnesota and restricts out-of-state imports of new coal-based power generation unless the carbon dioxide is offset with reductions elsewhere.  North Dakota filed suit because the law hinders its ability to utilize its deposits of lignite coal to generating electricity in new power plants and sell such electricity across state lines.  Read more here.

Duck River Electric Membership Cooperative (DREMC), based in Shelbyville, Tennessee, is now the first electric coop in the seven state TVA service territory to offer members access to green power through a newly constructed solar farm.  The DREMC Solar Farm, located in Shelbyville, allows its members to invest in solar energy without the cost of installing or maintaining their own system.  Members can invest in one unit of interest for as little as $600.  Click here for the full story.

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) has asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to withdraw a proposed rule for greenhouse gas emissions for new fossil-fuel-based power plants.  According to the NRECA, the EPA is violating the law by classifying coal and natural gas baseload generation as interchangeable fuel sources.  The NRECA says only some natural gas plants can meet the single emissions standard set by the EPA–essentially eliminating coal as a future baseload generation source.  You can read more about the NRECA’s objections here.

The U.S. Senate rejected a Republican-backed resolution that would have overturned the Environmental Protection Agency’s utility maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standard. This rule will require coal-fired power plants to reduce their emissions of mercury and other pollutants by more than 90 percent in four years.  Click here for additional details (subscription required).

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) is predicting a slight rebound for coal’s share of U.S. baseload generation in 2013 due to projected higher natural gas costs and record coal stocks.  In its July 12 energy forecast, the EIA calculated that electricity powered by coal will increase about 3 percent in 2013, compared to a projected 13 percent decrease predicted for 2012.  This news may be particularly pleasing for end users, who are predicted to enjoy lower electricity prices based on depressed coal costs.  Click here for more.

East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC) is seeking proposals for electric-generating resources to replace power plants that could be shut down when the federal Mercury and Air Toxics Standards take effect in 2015.  As a result of the new regulations, EKPC is facing the possibility of replacing some large coal-fueled units.  Proposals are due by Aug. 30, 2012, and EKPC expects agreements to be in place by January 2013.  Click here for more.

The Republican chairs of the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent another letter to the Environmental Protection Agency demanding another accounting of the compliance costs associated with the Utility Maximum Achievable Control Technology (Utility MACT) rule.  The Utility MACT rule requires power plant operators to reduce toxic air emissions by some 90 percent over the next three years.  Last month, the EPA told the committee that the capital cost of the Utility MACT rule was an estimated $35 billion.  However, committee Republicans claim the capital and noncapital costs combined could total more than $108 billion.  Click here for more on this story (subscription required).

The San Diego Energy District Foundation (SDED) hopes to create a local coop in which current customers of San Diego Gas & Electric would be given a choice to purchase local green power from a non-profit Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) plan.  The SDED is discussing a proposed CCA plan with officials in San Diego County and the cities of Solana Beach and Santee.  Click here for more information.

Blue Ridge Mountain Electric Membership Corporation placed second in the nation in the category of annual solar watts delivered per customer.  These rankings are compiled by the trade group Solar Electric Power Association.  Solar power did well in 2011, compared to 2010, and new solar capacity jumped 120 percent as utilities interconnected more than 62,500 photovoltaic systems.  Read more here.

On Thursday, Representatives Fred Upton and Ed Whitfield sent a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson asking a host of questions regarding the agency's Carbon Pollution Standard for New Power Plants as well its plans for future regulations on utilities.  In March, the EPA released a proposal to set the country's first-ever limits on greenhouse gas emissions from new facilities.  Law360 has more on the story (subscription required).

According to a report from Standard & Poor’s Research (S&P), the proposed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions from new coal plants are unlikely to affect the credit quality of electric cooperatives.  The EPA has proposed new emissions restrictions that will require modification at some coal-fired plants.  The S&P report predicts that the new regulations will put coal at even more of an economic disadvantage.  Click here for the full story.

On April 25, the House Appropriations Committee approved by voice vote an amendment to the fiscal 2013 Energy and Water spending bill that blocks funding for proposed changes that would affect power marketing administrations (PMAs) and their customers.  In testimony before the House Committee, NRECA CEO Glenn English raised concerns that the proposed plans would impose high costs on PMAs.  Energy Secretary Steven Chu had proposed several initiatives, which called for the PMAs to promote renewable energy, serve as research grounds for cyber security technologies, respond to solar flares and design rate structures that encourage the use of electric vehicles.  Both political parties were opposed to the directive, arguing that it took PMAs out of their traditional role as power marketers.  Click here for more.

Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc. has filed suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s new mercury and air-toxics emissions standards for coal-fired power plants.  The coop, Colorado's second-largest power utility, serves some 1.5 million customers in Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Nebraska.  Tri-State claims the EPA standards, which took effect Monday, will drive up electricity costs because of expensive technology needed to meet the rules.  Several other entities, including the American Public Power Association, the National Mining Association and the Utility Air Regulatory Group, have also filed suit.  The new emissions standards are the first federal rules that require coal- and oil-fired power plants to limit their emissions of these pollutants.  The Denver Business Journal has the full story.

Kit Carson Electric Cooperative recently broke ground on a project to build a 1.5-MW solar field, along with developer Standard Solar, in north-central New Mexico.  The coop plans to buy solar output from the new facility under a 25-year agreement.  When the solar field comes online, it is expected that every business and residence in that part of New Mexico will be entirely solar-powered.  Continue reading here.

In a filing before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association recently identified significant reliability and safety risks that could be caused by the proposed revised  procedures for interconnecting small solar generation with the grid.  NRECA requested that FERC reject the Solar Energy Industries Association’s request for blanket amendments to the interconnection procedures in Order No. 2006 (FERC Docket RM12-10).  Instead, NRECA suggested that these changes be applied on a case-by-case basis for qualified utilities.  For more on the proposed changes to solar interconnection, click here.

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 and install the needed equipment.  This may interrupt operations after the 2015 deadline for compliance.  You can read more about the NRECA comments on the EPA rules here.

Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, the largest electric coop in Colorado, has placed its bets on coal as its primary generation source for years to come.  The coop’s subsidiary Western Fuels-Colorado LLC, a fuel supplier that delivers coal under contract to Tri-State’s plants, has purchased the Colowyo coal mine from Rio Tinto.  Tri-State cites the lower cost of coal as the primary reason behind the move. Click here for the full story.

AEP/Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO), the majority owner of the John W. Turk, Jr., Power Plant under construction near Fulton, Arkansas, won a legal victory that will allow it to complete the $2 billion project.  Environmental challenges to the coal-fired electrical generation plant resulted in a stay placed on the plant’s wastewater discharge permit.  The Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission voted on Friday to lift that stay. Click here for the full story.

University of Kentucky researchers have been working on a technology whereby algae is used to capture carbon dioxide from coal-fired facilities and then converted into useable biomass.   The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet has earmarked $1.3 million for a demonstration of the technology at a East Kentucky Power Cooperative facility.   See the University of Kentucky press release for the complete story.

General Electric (GE) Appliances & Lighting and Montana-based Flathead Electric Cooperative (FEC) are partnering up to uncover cost-effective methods of reducing peak-time power consumption.  The FEC Peak Time pilot will study power supply costs associated with peak-time demand, which is usually from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.  Participants in the pilot program will each receive a GE Nucleus energy manager and several other energy-saving appliances.  To read more about the pilot program, click here.

Alabama-based Arab Electric Cooperative (AEC) is making it a little easier for its members to be green.  AEC voted unanimously this week to join the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) Generation Partners incentive program.  Under the program, the TVA gives homeowners and businesses a $1,000 incentive to help offset equipment costs, plus a 30 percent federal tax break through 2016.  The Arab Tribune has the full story.  You can get more information about the TVA's Generation Partners incentive program here.

As the storm approaches south Texas, Nueces Electric Cooperative is implementing its Emergency Response Plan.   The coop’s plan includes organizing the resources that may be necessary for repairs and prioritizing which transmission lines and substations should be serviced first.   TEC Crisis Communications has more on this story.

A dedication ceremony was held today for the Crow Lake Wind Project, built and owned by PrairieWinds, which is a subsidiary of North Dakota-based Basin Electric Power Cooperative.  The wind farm has been operational since last February and nearly all of the 108 wind turbines are owned and operated by PrairieWinds.  The Republic has the full story.

In an unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled that because greenhouse gas emissions are covered by the Clean Air Act there is no federal common law right to bring a nuisance claim with respect to such emissions.   

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recognized Farmers Electric Cooperative of Kalona, Iowa, in its annual assessment of leading utility green power programs. Using information provided by utilities, NREL has developed "Top 10" rankings of utility green power programs for 2010 in the following categories: total sales of renewable energy to program participants, total number of customer participants, the percentage of customer participation, green power sales as a percentage of total utility retail electricity sales, and the lowest price premium charged for a green power program using new renewable resources. Farmers Electric Cooperative was one of NREL’s Top 10 based on percentage of customer participation. For the entire list of those recognized, click through to the article.

Dairyland Power Cooperative and one of its 25 member cooperatives, Oakdale Electric Cooperative, are collaborating with the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge to bring renewable energy to local homes and businesses via a solar project on the refuge’s Visitor Center, which was funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Dairyland has a power purchase agreement with the Necedah Refuge to buy all the renewable energy produced through the solar installation for distribution to coop members through Dairyland's Evergreen program. Read more about the program here.

North Dakota has declared its intent to challenge the EPA’s takeover of an air quality control program at two coal-fired power plants in the state once the EPA issues its final plan by May 13 of this year.  The EPA seeks to control the coal plants’ operations for compliance with the federal Regional Haze program, according to the Bismarck Tribune.

At a press conference on April 21, Cape & Vineyard Electric Cooperative President Charles McLaughlin announced CVEC had awarded an 18.3-megawatt project to American Capital Energy of North Chelmsford, to be installed on capped landfills in Barnstable, Brewster, Chatham, Eastham, and Harwich as well as in two Vineyard towns for a total of 10 sites. The CVEC project’s role in reducing carbon dioxide emissions would be the equivalent of taking 3,056 cars off the road annually. And there’s a special plus involved. The Barnstable Patriot has the full story.

Rural areas have abundant opportunities for wind power and other renewable energy production. Electric coops, however, may not be able provide enough transmission lines to carry power from new renewable production facilities to many U.S. farms. Few rural coops are using renewable resources for energy, either because of technology costs, disadvantageous tax issues or problems with geography. A USDA report on the issue spotlights the Rural Electric Convenience Cooperative in Auburn, Illinois, which used a combination of state and federal grants to build a wind turbine that now provides renewable energy for coop members. Read more about the study’s findings here.

Trico Electric Cooperative in Arizona has created a “sun farm” program for people who want solar electricity but do not want solar panels on their roofs.  Run largely like a farm share, Arizona residents will be able to purchase output from a quarter, half or full solar panel.  The project is being funded by a 21st Century Energy Grant of nearly $1 million from the Arizona Department of Commerce, meaning no funding is coming from the renewable energy standard tariff that is charged on electric bills.  Tucson Electric Power Company established a similar program last year. Check out the Arizona Daily Star for more details.

Minnkota Power Cooperative has received the tenth annual 2010 Wind Cooperative of the Year Award at the NRECA TechAdvantage Conference in Orlando, Florida.  The award is sponsored by the Department of Energy's Wind Powering America initiative.  Minnkota was chosen because it has executed wind energy power purchase agreements that guarantee that energy from wind projects will be purchased and used.  These wind projects are expected to contribute an average of nearly 1,300 gigawatt-hours per year to the grid, altogether representing more than 30 percent of Minnkota's total member energy requirements.  More on the award here.

 

Due to the structure of South Dakota’s tax system, coops are concerned that they will be taxed on the costs of the upgrades that may be required by climate change laws.  South Dakota legislators voted against a measure that would have provided for an exemption for such upgrades.  Aberdeen News has the full story. 

Callaway's resolution is in support of a state bill for a second nuclear reactor at the Callaway nuclear plant.  The Fulton Sun (Missouri) has the details.

Bond Buyer reports that NRECA, along with two other industry groups, is pushing the Obama administration for more clean renewable energy bonds (CREB) (subscription required).  The current CREB program is out of funding.

Citing economic concerns, Basin Electric Power Cooperative, a North Dakota G&T, has announced it will hold off on a carbon capture project at a coal-fired plant in central North Dakota. 

A Virginia state commission has given the go-ahead to preliminary construction of a green power plant at a former Georgia-Pacific facility in Halifax County.  The plant will convert wood waste product into energy.  Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative is partnering with NOVI Energy on the project.

The governor of Missouri has announced an agreement with key energy companies, including Missouri electric cooperatives, to begin the process of constructing another nuclear power plant in the state.  At present, Missouri has one nuclear power plant, which has been in operation since 1984.