EPA Continues Work on Carbon Rule
Posted on Feb 11, 2014 in Climate Change, Environmental, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on EPA Continues Work on Carbon Rule
The Environmental Protection Agency is continuing its efforts to issue a draft carbon rule by June 1, 2014. The new rule, which will be issued under the Clean Air Act and based on a 2007 Supreme Court decision, will regulate carbon emissions from existing power facilities. Click here for the full story. See the Sutherland Coop Team’s October 29, 2013, post for more on the...
Tri-State Signs Largest Wind PPA To Date
Posted on Feb 6, 2014 in Environmental, Project Development, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Tri-State Signs Largest Wind PPA To Date
Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association (Tri-State) has signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with a NextEra Energy Resources subsidiary for the output and environmental attributes of the Carousel Wind Farm, a 150-MW wind farm facility to be constructed in eastern Colorado. This facility will be Tri-State’s largest wind energy PPA to date. To learn more about this...
West Virginia Water Contamination Brings Company Safety Practices into Focus
Posted on Feb 6, 2014 in Environmental, Legislative & Politics, Litigation, Regulation & Policy, Reliability | Comments Off on West Virginia Water Contamination Brings Company Safety Practices into Focus
At least twenty putative class actions asserting claims of negligence, gross negligence and strict liability for ultra-hazardous activity have been filed naming Freedom Industries Inc., the company that owns the site responsible for leaking 7,500 gallons of coal-cleaning chemical into West Virginia’s Elk River. The region’s U.S. Attorney has also pledged to take action if federal...
Minnesota Coop Members Allowed to Pre-Purchase Energy
Posted on Feb 4, 2014 in Environmental, Financing, Grid & Infrastructure, Innovation/Efficiency, Project Development, Rates, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Minnesota Coop Members Allowed to Pre-Purchase Energy
Lake Region Electric Cooperative, based in Pelican Rapids, Minnesota, is investing in a community solar initiative through a program that gives its members the chance to buy part of the solar output from the HQ Prairie solar project built at the coop’s headquarters. Participation in the program was offered to members on a voluntary, market-based basis, which the coop hopes will keep...
Colorado Legislature Rejects Delay of Coop Renewables Mandate
Posted on Feb 3, 2014 in Environmental, Legislative & Politics, Rates, Regulation & Policy, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Colorado Legislature Rejects Delay of Coop Renewables Mandate
The Colorado legislature passed a bill in 2013 mandating that, by 2020, twenty percent of power generated by rural electric cooperatives come from renewable sources. Representative Kathleen Conti proposed a subsequent bill that would delay the mandate’s implementation until 2025, but Colorado’s House Transportation and Energy Committee voted 8-5 against Conti’s bill in January. Those...
Coops Face Increased Costs with Stricter Haze Regulation
Posted on Jan 27, 2014 in Environmental, Legislative & Politics, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on Coops Face Increased Costs with Stricter Haze Regulation
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) partially disapproved Wyoming’s plan to address haze pollution in the region, setting stricter limits on certain gases and particulate matter than the state plan had proposed. Participants in the Missouri Basin Power Project, including Basin Electric Power Cooperative (Basin Electric), are grappling with the prospect of increased costs due to...
Vermont Net Metering Program May Be Overhauled
Posted on Jan 21, 2014 in Climate Change, Environmental, Regulation & Policy, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Vermont Net Metering Program May Be Overhauled
Vermont lawmakers are striving to raise the existing cap on the state’s net metering program to match the growing demand for residential renewable energy generation. A bill, approved by the House Natural Resources and Energy Committee last week, offers a fast-track solution ahead of larger changes expected when a federal solar tax credit expires, likely in 2017. The proposed bill...
EPA Decision in Wyoming Means Big Dollars for Basin Electric
Posted on Jan 16, 2014 in Environmental, Litigation, Regulation & Policy, Technology | Comments Off on EPA Decision in Wyoming Means Big Dollars for Basin Electric
A recent decision by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will impose a stricter emissions limit in Wyoming that will force utilities and coops, including Basin Electric Power Cooperative (Basin Electric), to invest in expensive technologies to comply by early 2019. The compliance costs are estimated upwards of $1 billion in capital costs and hundreds of millions in operating...
South Carolina’s First Solar Farm Online
Posted on Dec 26, 2013 in Climate Change, Environmental, Grid & Infrastructure, Innovation/Efficiency, Project Development, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on South Carolina’s First Solar Farm Online
South Carolina’s first solar farm is officially online as of Friday, December 20. The 3-MW, $6 million Colleton County project will sell output to Santee Cooper. South Carolina Electric and Gas is also planning a series of future solar farms that could generate up to 20 MW of power in the state. Read more here.
Public Power Council Continues to Voice Support for Adjustments to Hydro Power Treaty
Posted on Dec 19, 2013 in Environmental, Rates, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Public Power Council Continues to Voice Support for Adjustments to Hydro Power Treaty
Following up on recent regulatory filings, the Public Power Council, which represents cooperatives and other consumer-owned utilities, voiced its continued support for adjustments to the Columbia River Treaty. The Public Power Council and others are seeking a more even distribution of hydro power benefits between the United States and Canada under the treaty. Various interest groups...
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