Oregon Wildfires Devastate Coop-Served Communities
Posted on Sep 15, 2020 in Climate Change, Environmental, Grid & Infrastructure | Comments Off on Oregon Wildfires Devastate Coop-Served Communities
Wildfires fueled by strong winds are ravaging western Oregon, destroying small towns served by electric cooperatives, forcing people to flee their homes, and spurring four coops to turn off power at night to avoid sparking new blazes. Ted Case, executive director of the Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative Association in Wilsonville said the wildfires have hit four of the state’s 18 coops...
Roanoke Electric Program Fights Systemic Discrimination Against African American Landowners
Posted on Sep 7, 2020 in Racial Justice | Comments Off on Roanoke Electric Program Fights Systemic Discrimination Against African American Landowners
Roanoke Electric Cooperative’s Sustainable Forestry and Land Retention Project provides education and access to technical assistance as well as capital and estate planning services to African American landowners in order to transform unprofitable family farms and forests into economic assets and keep valuable land within families. The program was created to combat discriminatory...
House Bill Would Give Coops Tax Credits to Help Pay Retirement Costs
Posted on Sep 1, 2020 in Economic Downturn, Legislative & Politics, Tax | Comments Off on House Bill Would Give Coops Tax Credits to Help Pay Retirement Costs
NRECA is supporting a bipartisan House bill that would give electric cooperatives a temporary tax credit to help keep their retirement plans funded during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Preserving Employee Retirement Savings Act would provide a two-year tax credit for up to 20% of the retirement costs paid by coops and other small businesses experiencing hardships because of the pandemic....
NRECA Urges Congress to Include RUS Debt Relief in Upcoming COVID-19 Stimulus Package
Posted on Jul 24, 2020 in RUS Debt Relief | Comments Off on NRECA Urges Congress to Include RUS Debt Relief in Upcoming COVID-19 Stimulus Package
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), which represents more than 900 electric cooperatives in the US, is urging Congress to include a provision in the next COVID-19 stimulus package that would allow electric coops to reprice loans from the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) at current low interest rates without penalties. Current RUS loan rules apply hefty prepayment...
USDA Announces $1.6 Billion Investment Into Rural Electric Infrastructure
Posted on Jun 25, 2020 in Grid & Infrastructure | Comments Off on USDA Announces $1.6 Billion Investment Into Rural Electric Infrastructure
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced that it is providing $1.6 billion in loans and loan guarantees to rural electric cooperatives and utilities in 21 states through the Electric Loan Program. The funds will be used to build and improve 9,138 miles of electric transmission and distribution line, and include approximately $386 million for investments in smart grid...
Leaders of Electric Cooperatives Discuss Safety Measures Taken to Protect the Safety and Health of Their Employees During COVID-19
Posted on Jun 24, 2020 in COVID-19, Economic Downturn | Comments Off on Leaders of Electric Cooperatives Discuss Safety Measures Taken to Protect the Safety and Health of Their Employees During COVID-19
Senior electric coop leaders recently spoke with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) and T&D World about safety measures being implemented to protect the safety and health of their employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although coops have moved swiftly to protect the safety and health of their employees and the public, some of the challenges moving forward...
United Power Cooperative Storage System Comes Online
Posted on Dec 20, 2018 in Innovation/Efficiency, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on United Power Cooperative Storage System Comes Online
United Power Cooperative has unveiled the largest battery storage system in Colorado. The battery stores 4 megawatts, and United Power anticipates it will save customers $1 million per year.
NRECA Releases Key Takeaways from its Study on the Value of Broadband for Consumer-Members
Posted on Sep 12, 2018 in Technology | Comments Off on NRECA Releases Key Takeaways from its Study on the Value of Broadband for Consumer-Members
NRECA has released its Study on the Value of Broadband for Consumer-Members, noting that the key takeaways from the study include that there are a significant number of coop members that lack broadband, and that a broadband backbone can help ease coop entry.
NRECA Study: Rural Communities Losing Billions Due to Digital Divide
Posted on Sep 11, 2018 in Uncategorized | Comments Off on NRECA Study: Rural Communities Losing Billions Due to Digital Divide
According to new research by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (“NRECA”), the lack of broadband access for 6.3 million electric cooperative households results in more than $68 billion in lost economic value. The study, which analyzed the value that households place on broadband access, found that some America households with broadband access receive, on average, a...
East Kentucky Power Cooperative works with Nucor Corp. to expand Kentucky Steel Mill
Posted on Sep 10, 2018 in Project Development, Reliability | Comments Off on East Kentucky Power Cooperative works with Nucor Corp. to expand Kentucky Steel Mill
Nucor Corp. recently announced its plans to move forward with a $650 million, 70-job expansion at its still mill near Ghent, Kentucky. East Kentucky Power Cooperative worked closely with Nucor officials to support the phase II expansion of the steel mill. This second phase of the project will increase the mill’s annual capacity from 1.6 million tons of coiled sheet steel to...
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