Information Sharing Cyber Security Bill to Go to Senate
Posted on Apr 23, 2013 in Grid & Infrastructure, Innovation/Efficiency, Legislative & Politics, Regulation & Policy, Reliability, Technology | Comments Off on Information Sharing Cyber Security Bill to Go to Senate
The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, a bill that could help electric coops defend against threats, has cleared the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill would encourage the sharing of cyber threat information between the federal government and the private sector, including coops. The next step is for the bill to clear the Senate. For more information, click...
Colorado Senate Passes Bill to Raise Renewable Energy Requirements
Posted on Apr 17, 2013 in Grid & Infrastructure, Innovation/Efficiency, Legislative & Politics, Project Development, Rates, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on Colorado Senate Passes Bill to Raise Renewable Energy Requirements
Colorado Senators passed a bill 18-17 this week that would dramatically raise renewable energy requirements for the state’s electric coops. The bill would require the electricity coops to get 25 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2020, which is a 10 percent increase from present requirements. The bill also would limit consumer rate increases for these upgrades to 2...
USDA Announces Funding for Rural Electric Cooperatives
Posted on Apr 10, 2013 in Financing, Grid & Infrastructure, Legislative & Politics, Reliability | Comments Off on USDA Announces Funding for Rural Electric Cooperatives
Today the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced plans to provide nearly $280 million in funding for projects designed to improve rural electric service. The funds, which will address service in rural areas across 13 states, will contribute to the construction of more than 1,900 miles of new or improved transmission and distribution lines. For a complete list of rural...
Wind Projects Cause Instability in Vermont Grid
Posted on Apr 9, 2013 in Grid & Infrastructure, Project Development, Renewable Energy, Technology | Comments Off on Wind Projects Cause Instability in Vermont Grid
The CEO of Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) has indicated that the coop will oppose any new large wind projects in northern Vermont because existing wind projects have introduced instability in the grid, prompting grid operator ISO-New England to order existing wind projects in Vermont and New Hampshire to curtail electricity output. As a result, wind farm turbines are not being...
Two Hawaiian Islands Consider Possibility of Creating a Coop
Posted on Apr 2, 2013 in Grid & Infrastructure, Project Development, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Two Hawaiian Islands Consider Possibility of Creating a Coop
The governments of the islands of Maui and Molokai in Hawaii are considering creating a new coop or municipal utility. A representative said that Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa has stated that his preference is to continue working with Maui Electric Co. (MECO), a subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Co. However, the county may try to form a municipal utility if MECO does not upgrade its...
North Carolina Coop Seeking Addition of Transmission Line in a Wilderness Area
Posted on Mar 11, 2013 in Environmental, Grid & Infrastructure, Land Use, Project Development, Reliability | Comments Off on North Carolina Coop Seeking Addition of Transmission Line in a Wilderness Area
A Rutherford County coop may end up in conflict with ecologists after seeking to run a 12-mile, high-voltage power line through an area of unbroken forest that is currently part of a conservation zone. Rutherford Electric Membership Corporation says the proposed line would prevent brownouts in a rural community of 1,900 families but ecologists counter that the line would run a...
Coops Ask DOE Chief to Drop Grid Restructuring Plan
Posted on Mar 11, 2013 in Environmental, Grid & Infrastructure, Regulation & Policy, Renewable Energy, Technology | Comments Off on Coops Ask DOE Chief to Drop Grid Restructuring Plan
Coops and other utilities want the new Department of Energy chief, Ernest Moniz, to drop his predecessor’s requirements to integrate renewable energy into the grid. Utility groups want Moniz to rescind a plan proposed by outgoing DOE Secretary Steven Chu to restructure federally controlled power systems in the Western United States that would enable deployment of renewable energy,...
Montana Coop to Participate in Battery Test
Posted on Mar 5, 2013 in Grid & Infrastructure, Innovation/Efficiency, Technology | Comments Off on Montana Coop to Participate in Battery Test
Flathead Electric Cooperative, Inc.’s (Flathead Electric) Kalispell, Montana, campus will be the first test site for the Zinc Air Inc. (Zinc Air) battery storage technology. The tests are expected to last about six months and will allow Zinc Air and Flathead Electric to assess applications for both utility and end-user benefits, such as peak demand reduction and load shifting. Click...
Montana Coop to Participate in Battery Test
Posted on Mar 5, 2013 in Grid & Infrastructure, Innovation/Efficiency, Technology | Comments Off on Montana Coop to Participate in Battery Test
Flathead Electric Cooperative, Inc.’s (Flathead Electric) Kalispell, Montana, campus will be the first test site for the Zinc Air Inc. (Zinc Air) battery storage technology. The tests are expected to last about six months and will allow Zinc Air and Flathead Electric to assess applications for both utility and end-user benefits, such as peak demand reduction and load shifting. Click...
Copper Theft Continues to Impact Coops
Posted on Mar 4, 2013 in Grid & Infrastructure, Legislative & Politics, Regulation & Policy, Technology | Comments Off on Copper Theft Continues to Impact Coops
Ongoing international demand for copper could result in another rise in copper prices, followed by a rise in copper theft, according to Maurice Martin, a program manager at NRECA’s Cooperative Research Network. Coops like Missouri-based N.W. Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. have tried multiple ways to thwart copper theft. For example, Northwest long ago switched to tin-coated...
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