Dust Settles after Utility Fight with BNSF
Posted on Dec 17, 2013 in Environmental, Innovation/Efficiency, Legislative & Politics, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on Dust Settles after Utility Fight with BNSF
The verdict is in: Coal shippers led by Arkansas Electric Cooperative will have to comply with BNSF Railway’s (BNSF) loading instructions aimed at suppressing coal dust emissions from Powder River Basin coal trains after the Surface Transportation Board (Board) ruled the requirements were permissible. Since 2009, utilities have fought the requirement to apply surfactants to their coal...
Electric Utilities Retire Generating Capacity Faster Than They Bring it Online
Posted on Dec 16, 2013 in Environmental, Project Development, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Electric Utilities Retire Generating Capacity Faster Than They Bring it Online
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported last week that the electric utility industry retired 11.1 GW of generating capacity from January through October of 2013, while adding only about 10 GW of capacity. Coal-fired and nuclear plants represent the largest and second largest shares of retired capacity respectively, the EIA reports. Read more here.
Water Heater Efficiency Act to Help Coops?
Posted on Nov 21, 2013 in Climate Change, Environmental, Innovation/Efficiency, Legislative & Politics, Regulation & Policy, Reliability | Comments Off on Water Heater Efficiency Act to Help Coops?
Republican Senator John Hoeven and a bipartisan group of senators today introduced the Water Heater Efficiency Act, a bill that would enable rural electric power coops and their members to continue using large, energy-efficient water heaters in “demand response” conservation programs. New Department of Energy rules threaten to phase out such water heaters by 2015. The bill is seen as...
Iowa Coop Closes 1960s Coal-Fueled Plant
Posted on Nov 21, 2013 in Climate Change, Environmental, Innovation/Efficiency, Legislative & Politics | Comments Off on Iowa Coop Closes 1960s Coal-Fueled Plant
In early November, Central Iowa Power Cooperative (CIPCO) closed CIPCO Fair Station, a 66-MW coal-fueled power plant located in eastern Iowa. CIPCO’s decision to close the plant stemmed from new federal environmental regulations, current energy prices and the overall efficiency concerns in running a plant built in the 1960s. Read more here.
Oklahoma Coop Purchases Wind Power
Posted on Nov 15, 2013 in Climate Change, Environmental, Grid & Infrastructure, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Oklahoma Coop Purchases Wind Power
Apex Clean Energy, a privately held renewable power developer, has agreed to sell 100 megawatts of wind power from its Balko wind farm in Oklahoma to Western Farmers Electric Cooperative. With this agreement Apex has sold all of the wind power capacity from the 300-MW Balko wind farm, which is expected to enter service in 2015. The Balko facility is located in Beaver County and will...
Vermont Coop to Build 5-MW Solar Project
Posted on Nov 12, 2013 in Climate Change, Environmental, Financing, Grid & Infrastructure, Innovation/Efficiency, Project Development, Rates, Regulation & Policy, Reliability, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Vermont Coop to Build 5-MW Solar Project
The Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) is hoping to build the state’s largest utility-owned solar power project as part of a broader effort to help reduce the state’s dependence on fossil fuels. VEC is working with 14 other coops across the country on the 5-MW project in a first-of-its-kind initiative to make solar energy cost-competitive with other forms of electricity by the end of...
Basin Electric Signs PPAs for Wind Generation
Posted on Nov 7, 2013 in Environmental, Project Development, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Basin Electric Signs PPAs for Wind Generation
Basin Electric Power Cooperative (Basin Electric) has agreed to purchase power from two wind projects currently being developed in North Dakota, which will provide a combined capacity of 278 MW. Their addition will bring Basin Electric’s generation portfolio to more than 1,000 MW. The new facilities are scheduled to be operational by the end of 2015. For more information about the...
NCSC Funds Two Solar Projects for Hawaii Coop
Posted on Nov 4, 2013 in Climate Change, Environmental, Financing, Project Development, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on NCSC Funds Two Solar Projects for Hawaii Coop
Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) will break ground this week on one of two planned solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants on the island of Kaua‘i, Hawaii. The National Cooperative Services Corporation (NCSC) has advanced initial funding for the estimated $40 million project, which will be the largest utility-scale solar facility in Hawaii and will meet an estimated 5 percent of...
Coops Urge EPA to Slow Down Carbon Rule for Existing Plants
Posted on Oct 29, 2013 in Climate Change, Environmental, Rates, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on Coops Urge EPA to Slow Down Carbon Rule for Existing Plants
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) first “listening session” for its pending Clean Air Act emissions standards had a strong showing from coops. The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, along with individual coops from three states, proposed a fair solution that recognizes the billions of dollars already invested by coops to clean up existing plants and allows...
NRECA, Electric Coops, DOE Collaborate on Solar Energy
Posted on Oct 28, 2013 in Climate Change, Environmental, Regulation & Policy, Renewable Energy, Technology | Comments Off on NRECA, Electric Coops, DOE Collaborate on Solar Energy
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), 15 electric cooperatives in a dozen states and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) are collaborating on a jointly funded project called the SunShot Initiative, which is aimed at bringing down the cost of utility-scale solar projects by controlling the costs of labor, procurement and materials through standardization. NRECA’s...
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