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Minnesota PUC Petitioned to Rethink Project Approval

Certain public interest groups petitioned the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to reconsider its decision approving a $500 million high-voltage transmission line connecting La Crosse, Wisconsin, and Rochester, Minnesota.  The project, currently under construction by Dairyland Power Cooperative and other investing utilities, is scheduled for completion in 2015.  Opponents of...

Alaska Coop Purchases Clean Coal Plant

Golden Valley Electric Association (GVEA), based in Fairbanks, Alaska, recently purchased a 50-MW clean coal project from the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, with the help of a $45 million, 30-year loan from the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation.  The project, the Healy Unit 2 power plant, will be shored up with an additional $37 million in...

Basin Electric Transporting Coal by Trucks to Meet Demand

Basin Electric Power Cooperative (Basin Electric) has been transporting coal via trucks to meet the demand of the Leland Olds Station, located near Stanton, North Dakota, since BNSF Railway can no longer guarantee its ability to get two 60-car coal trains on the rail tracks every day.  The trucks providing the coal are now making about 250 hauls per day.  The  rail problem began last...

Short-Term Deal Made to Maintain Grid Reliability

The Electric Division, based in Wallingford, Connecticut, and the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative (CMEEC) have reached a short-term agreement to ensure critical transmission data continues to flow between Wallingford and the regional grid operator ISO-New England.  The Electric Division will have access to CMEEC’s transmitting equipment until June, at which time the...

New England Coops Recovering from Winter Storms

A Vermont Electric Cooperative representative said that the late December ice storms in the area will lead to its most expensive restoration effort ever, potentially topping $6.5 million in cost.  Other Northeast coops are facing the same challenges; Maine had more than 3,200 customers without power on Christmas Eve.  Progress is being made quickly as coop employees cooperate to make...

New York Coop Refinances with CFC, Changes Patronage Capital Distribution Policy

Otsego Electric Cooperative (OEC), based in Hartwick, New York, recently refinanced its outstanding debt owed to other lenders with the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC), becoming the first 100% CFC borrower in the state.  OEC, which serves about 4,500 members in the area between the Catskill and Adirondack mountain ranges, also worked with CFC to develop a...

Iowa Appeals FEMA Decision

As last reported by the Sutherland Coop Team on October 2, 2013, the state of Iowa has appealed a decision by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to forego additional disaster relief funding for Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative, Lyon Rural Electric Cooperative, Osceola Electric Cooperative and Sanborn Electric and Telecommunications Utility.  The rural coops requested an...

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.

NRECA: NIST Cyber Security Framework Should Consider Needs of Coops

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) is urging the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to keep in mind the varying organizations and structures of companies operating in the energy sector when developing its Cyber Security Framework (Framework), a project undertaken in response to a February 2013 executive order issued by President Obama.  The...

Golden Spread Proposes New Transmission Line

Golden Spread Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Golden Spread) is planning a new transmission line that would connect the present divide between the power grid that covers the Texas Panhandle and the grid for the rest of Texas.  The coop, along with Sharyland Utilities, L.P. (Sharyland) will connect new and existing natural gas generation units north of Abernathy to the new transmission...

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