Western Coops Face Unpredictable Outages Due to Wild Weather
Posted on Apr 9, 2012 in Environmental, Grid & Infrastructure, Reliability | Comments Off on Western Coops Face Unpredictable Outages Due to Wild Weather
Several Western states have faced unpredictable weather this spring, which has caused ongoing challenges for electric coops attempting to keep power flowing to customers. In New Mexico, Springer Electric Cooperative, Inc., has been working to replace at least 150 poles and restore service to about one-third of the coop’s more than 3,000 consumer-members after snow and high winds...
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Issues New Licenses for Nuclear Reactors
Posted on Apr 9, 2012 in Grid & Infrastructure, Project Development, Technology | Comments Off on Nuclear Regulatory Commission Issues New Licenses for Nuclear Reactors
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a license for two new nuclear reactors in South Carolina. The new licenses come less than two months after the NRC issued its first new permit in more than 30 years for two units at the Alvin W. Vogtle Nuclear Plant in eastern Georgia. Marvin Fertel, president and CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute, predicts that there will be an...
National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation Makes First Loan Sale to Bank
Posted on Apr 9, 2012 in Financing, Grid & Infrastructure, Project Development | Comments Off on National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation Makes First Loan Sale to Bank
The National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC) has finalized a $25 million loan sale to KeyBank National Association on behalf of KAMO Power, an Oklahoma-based cooperative. Although CFC has made more than $1 billion in loan sales to Farmer Mac over the past five years, this three-year, unsecured loan is the first loan sale made to a bank. KAMO plans to use the...
Potential Risks in Solar Interconnection Changes
Posted on Apr 3, 2012 in Climate Change, Environmental, Financing, Grid & Infrastructure, Innovation/Efficiency, Project Development, Regulation & Policy, Reliability, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Potential Risks in Solar Interconnection Changes
In a filing before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association recently identified significant reliability and safety risks that could be caused by the proposed revised procedures for interconnecting small solar generation with the grid. NRECA requested that FERC reject the Solar Energy Industries Association’s request for...
Study to Determine North Dakota Power Needs
Posted on Mar 20, 2012 in Financing, Grid & Infrastructure, Innovation/Efficiency, Land Use, Project Development | Comments Off on Study to Determine North Dakota Power Needs
The North Dakota Industrial Commission, Basin Electric Power Cooperative and Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. are among the largest contributors to a study on how to meet the electricity needs of the state’s booming oil industry. The study is expected to determine whether utilities should develop additional electric generation and will also address related issues such as transmission...
Iowa Coop Honored After Speedy Completion of Wind Farms
Posted on Mar 20, 2012 in Financing, Grid & Infrastructure, Innovation/Efficiency, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Iowa Coop Honored After Speedy Completion of Wind Farms
Estherville-based Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative has been honored by the U.S. Department of Energy as the 2011 Wind Cooperative of the Year after designing and building two wind farms in just 18 months. The coop built the wind farms near existing ethanol plants, which allowed it to use existing substation infrastructure and save approximately $5 million by not having to build a...
Revised Definition of “Bulk Electric System” May Benefit Coops
Posted on Mar 15, 2012 in Grid & Infrastructure, Regulation & Policy, Reliability | Comments Off on Revised Definition of “Bulk Electric System” May Benefit Coops
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) submitted a revised definition of the term “Bulk Electric System” (BES) for approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. If accepted, the revised definition may benefit coops by limiting the types of facilities subject to the NERC Reliability Standards. In particular, coops owning only radial facilities would likely...
U.S. Department of Agriculture to Fund Rural Electric Infrastructure
Posted on Mar 8, 2012 in Financing, Grid & Infrastructure, Regulation & Policy, Reliability | Comments Off on U.S. Department of Agriculture to Fund Rural Electric Infrastructure
USDA Rural Development announced that rural electric coops in eight states will receive funding for smart grid technologies and generation and transmission facility improvements. The Rural Utilities Service will be charged with managing the $201 million in loans, of which about $25 million will go towards smart grid developments. The announcement came at the 2012 National Rural...
Potential Power Plant Sites Assessed in Nationwide Study
Posted on Mar 6, 2012 in Environmental, Grid & Infrastructure, Innovation/Efficiency, Land Use, Permitting, Project Development | Comments Off on Potential Power Plant Sites Assessed in Nationwide Study
Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Electric Power Research Institute have issued a report assessing possible sites for future power generation in the U.S.. The researchers took into account factors such as siting constraints, terrain, access to water and proximity to large population centers. This type of detailed site analysis can support long-term strategic...
NSWC Indian Head Gets New Service Provider
Posted on Mar 5, 2012 in Grid & Infrastructure | Comments Off on NSWC Indian Head Gets New Service Provider
Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (SMECO) has become the electric service provider for the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) at Indian Head in Maryland. SMECO is taking over for Pepco who provided transmission service to NSWC for many years; NSWC was Pepco’s sole customer within the boundaries of SMECO’s service area. Southern Maryland Online has the full story.
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