Coop Brings High-Speed Internet to Rural Minnesota
Posted on Aug 8, 2011 in Grid & Infrastructure, Project Development, Reliability | Comments Off on Coop Brings High-Speed Internet to Rural Minnesota
Backed by the support of Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, Arrowhead Electric Cooperative is working on a large-scale project to help Cook County get connected. The project will provide nearly 5,200 households with much needed high-speed internet access. Most Cook County residents currently use dial-up, satellite, or DSL internet connections, all of which can be unreliable. Senator...
Fairbanks Coop Working Towards Natural Gas Liquefaction Facility
Posted on Aug 6, 2011 in Grid & Infrastructure, Project Development | Comments Off on Fairbanks Coop Working Towards Natural Gas Liquefaction Facility
Golden Valley Electric Association, an Alaskan electric coop, recently decided to move forward with its partnership with Flint Hills Resources, a Koch Industries subsidiary, to build a natural gas liquefaction facility at Prudhoe Bay. With engineering and design work underway, the project is expected to be online in 2014. See Platts for more on this story.
Transmission and Distribution Grids Struggle to Beat the Heat
Posted on Aug 4, 2011 in Grid & Infrastructure, Reliability | Comments Off on Transmission and Distribution Grids Struggle to Beat the Heat
A high-voltage breaker exploded recently at Lake Region Electric Cooperative’s Tahlequah substation in Oklahoma. Approximately 1,600 coop members lost power with most back online within two hours of the incident. Consistently high temperatures were to blame for the explosion. Due to this year’s intense summer heat, transmission and distribution systems have lacked cool-off...
Vermont Electric Coop Wins POWER Magazine Smart Grid Award
Posted on Aug 2, 2011 in Environmental, Grid & Infrastructure | Comments Off on Vermont Electric Coop Wins POWER Magazine Smart Grid Award
Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) was recognized as the winner of the inaugural POWER Smart Grid Award. Among other smart grid technologies, VEC has implemented bidirectional meters, a new GPS-enabled outage management system, substation upgrades, and online access to electricity usage information. These efforts have cut outages in the VEC territory in half. They have also reduced...
Vermont Electric Cooperative Approves Line Upgrade Also Necessary for Lowell Wind Project
Posted on Jul 27, 2011 in Grid & Infrastructure | Comments Off on Vermont Electric Cooperative Approves Line Upgrade Also Necessary for Lowell Wind Project
In an effort to save money for a $12 million upgrade to a 16.9-mile transmission line, members of Vermont Electric Cooperative Inc. approved sharing a transmission line with a wind energy project being developed by Green Mountain Power Corp. in Lowell, Massachusetts. Green Mountain Power agreed to pay $7 million of the upgrade costs (leaving VEC with $5 million of the upgrade costs)....
Mother Nature Takes a Heavy Toll on Heartland Coops
Posted on Jun 24, 2011 in Environmental, Grid & Infrastructure | Comments Off on Mother Nature Takes a Heavy Toll on Heartland Coops
Coop staffers in parts of the Southwest are hoping for rain as they brace for the effects of several huge wildfires. Coops in the Midwest are also facing challenges in face of potential prolonged flooding and heavy rains. Coop officials across the heartland have been de-energizing lines and removing meters and other equipment to protect coop assets as they prepare for service...
Landowners Comment on Minnkota Power Cooperative’s Proposed High-Voltage Transmission Line
Posted on Jun 17, 2011 in Grid & Infrastructure, Land Use, Permitting, Project Development | Comments Off on Landowners Comment on Minnkota Power Cooperative’s Proposed High-Voltage Transmission Line
Landowners commented on Minnkota’s plan for a 250-mile high-voltage transmission line during Minnkota’s presentation before the North Dakota Public Service Commission. Minnkota is in the in the process of obtaining easement options, and in order to address landowners’ concerns, it is pricing the easement options on a county by county basis. The Grand Forks Herald is covering this...
North Dakota Senator Introduces Energy Plan that Contains Incentives for Coops that Use Clean Energy
Posted on Jun 17, 2011 in Energy Savings Programs, Grid & Infrastructure, Innovation/Efficiency, Legislative & Politics, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on North Dakota Senator Introduces Energy Plan that Contains Incentives for Coops that Use Clean Energy
Senator Kent Conrad recently introduced the “Fueling U.S. Energy Leadership Act” or FUEL Act as a broad plan to address energy independence and to provide a means to improve the economy. Among other things, the Fuel Act contains incentives for rural electric coops that make use of various clean energy technologies. See Senator Conrad’s press release for more.
Electric Coops Leading the Way in Modernization of the Nation’s Electric Grid
Posted on Jun 13, 2011 in Financing, Grid & Infrastructure, Innovation/Efficiency, Project Development | Comments Off on Electric Coops Leading the Way in Modernization of the Nation’s Electric Grid
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack joined Administration officials on Monday to announce several initiatives aimed at modernizing the nation’s electric grid. The USDA Rural Development’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) is providing funding for several projects, and rural electric cooperatives are heavily involved in smart grid deployments. Last year, RUS approved $7.1 billion in loans for...
Load Growth and Rising Commodity Prices May Lead a North Dakota Coop to Increase Rates
Posted on Jun 3, 2011 in Grid & Infrastructure, Rates | Comments Off on Load Growth and Rising Commodity Prices May Lead a North Dakota Coop to Increase Rates
Roughrider Electric Cooperative Inc. projects that demand will grow by 10 percent per year for the next five years. Based on this projection, the coop is investing in additional generation and transmission facilities to meet its members’ future needs. According to the executive team, higher commodity prices will significantly increase the construction costs of the new facilities and ...
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