NRECA Comments on OSHA Rule Regarding Silica Exposure
Posted on Feb 25, 2014 in Environmental, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on NRECA Comments on OSHA Rule Regarding Silica Exposure
In response to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) draft rule regarding crystalline silica, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) argued in its comments that an exemption for cooperatives is appropriate, given that distribution cooperative employees primarily encounter trace amounts of silica when digging and moving earth. For generation...
Coops Urge EPA to Expand Uses of Coal Ash Considered Safe
Posted on Feb 25, 2014 in Environmental, Legislative & Politics, Rates, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on Coops Urge EPA to Expand Uses of Coal Ash Considered Safe
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has already recognized the benefits of certain uses of coal ash, and electric coops are now asking the EPA to conclude that it is safe for other uses. John Novak, Executive Director for Environmental Issues for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, has stated that the EPA “can do more to promote other beneficial uses of...
Kentucky PSC Approves Environmental Upgrades
Posted on Feb 21, 2014 in Environmental, Rates, Regulation & Policy, Reliability | Comments Off on Kentucky PSC Approves Environmental Upgrades
The Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) approved a $15 million project to reduce emissions at a coal-fired generation plant owned by East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC). EKPC will recover the costs of the project via an environmental surcharge paid by the customers of EKPC’s distribution cooperative members. The Kentucky PSC found that the upgrades will provide EKPC with...
Iowa Nuclear Plant to Face Heightened NRC Scrutiny
Posted on Feb 20, 2014 in Regulation & Policy, Reliability | Comments Off on Iowa Nuclear Plant to Face Heightened NRC Scrutiny
The Duane Arnold Energy Center near Palo, Iowa, will undergo increased inspections and heightened Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) scrutiny after backup equipment problems were discovered at the plant in 2013. While public safety was never threatened, the problems prompted additional NRC oversight. The Des Moines Register has the full story.
GRE to Add Solar
Posted on Feb 20, 2014 in Project Development, Regulation & Policy, Renewable Energy, Technology | Comments Off on GRE to Add Solar
Great River Energy (GRE) plans to build several solar energy installations by mid-2015 to generate a total output of 650 kW that will help GRE better understand the potential for solar development and its impact on current and future project initiatives. GRE continues to expand its renewable energy portfolio and is ahead of the curve on compliance with Minnesota’s Renewable Energy...
DOE to Approve Loan For Nuclear Reactors
Posted on Feb 20, 2014 in Financing, Project Development | Comments Off on DOE to Approve Loan For Nuclear Reactors
In a move over 30 years in the making, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) plans to approve $6.5 billion in federal loan guarantees for two additional nuclear reactors located at Plant Vogtle, a nuclear plant in Georgia. Oglethorpe Power Corporation is among the owners of the project. The reactors would represent the first time since the 1970s that the U.S. has built reactors. To...
North Dakota Joins EPA Haze Authority Case
Posted on Feb 18, 2014 in Environmental, Legislative & Politics, Litigation | Comments Off on North Dakota Joins EPA Haze Authority Case
North Dakota has filed a petition for certiorari at the U.S. Supreme Court hoping to prevent the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from denouncing the state’s emissions control plan in favor of a federal plan. Specifically, the petition argues that the EPA does not have the authority to review and replace state implementation plans for the Clean Air Act’s Regional Haze...
Rate Case Returned to Surface Transportation Board for Review
Posted on Feb 18, 2014 in Litigation | Comments Off on Rate Case Returned to Surface Transportation Board for Review
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has decided that the Surface Transportation Board must revisit the arguments of BNSF Railway Company about how to allocate costs and revenues in the $345 million electric rate case involving Basin Electric Power Cooperative and Western Fuels Association, a fuel supply coop. This is a dispute that has lingered for ten...
South Carolina Coops Hit Hard by Winter Weather
Posted on Feb 18, 2014 in Grid & Infrastructure, Reliability | Comments Off on South Carolina Coops Hit Hard by Winter Weather
Rural South Carolina was hit especially hard by the winter storms that recently swept across the Southeast, with most of the damage in areas served by The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina. At one point, as many as 346,000 South Carolina residents were without power after more than an inch of ice coated trees and power lines in some areas. Click here for more.
Oregon Coop Continues Fight Against State’s Renewable Mandates
Posted on Feb 18, 2014 in Innovation/Efficiency, Legislative & Politics, Regulation & Policy, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Oregon Coop Continues Fight Against State’s Renewable Mandates
Oregon law currently requires that large utilities get 25 percent of their energy from new renewable sources by 2025, and increased demand for electricity from data centers in the eastern part of the state is pushing smaller utilities toward large-utility status for the purposes of the mandate. A lobbyist for Umatilla Electric Cooperative (Umatilla) has been collecting signatures for...
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