House Passes RURAL Act
Posted on Dec 18, 2019 in Legislative & Politics | Comments Off on House Passes RURAL Act
On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed the Revitalizing Underdeveloped Rural Areas and Lands Act of 2019, the RURAL Act. The RURAL Act will protect more than 900 electric coops from the risk of losing their tax-exempt status when they accept government grants for disaster relief, broadband service and other programs that benefit coop members. The Senate is expected to pass the...
Kansas Coop Contemplates Construction of Coal Plant
Posted on Nov 15, 2019 in Climate Change, Legislative & Politics, Regulation & Policy, Reliability | Comments Off on Kansas Coop Contemplates Construction of Coal Plant
Sunflower Electric Power Corp. (“Sunflower”), an electric power cooperative in Kansas, plans to build the Holcomb 2 Plant, an approximately 895 MW coal plant. However, Sunflower must begin construction of the coal plant by March 2020 or it will lose its state construction permit. Against the backdrop of current prevailing politics regarding coal-fired plants and the steady retirement...
NRECA CEO Promotes Diverse Electric Generation Options
Posted on Oct 31, 2019 in Legislative & Politics, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on NRECA CEO Promotes Diverse Electric Generation Options
In testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee of Congress, Jim Matheson, CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), stressed the importance of a diverse mix of fuel, including coal and natural gas, to provide affordable electricity rates from electric cooperatives serving rural communities. Jim Matheson was one of six witnesses to testify at...
Q&A: RURAL Act Sponsors Discuss Strategy for Passage
Posted on Oct 29, 2019 in Broadband, Legislative & Politics | Comments Off on Q&A: RURAL Act Sponsors Discuss Strategy for Passage
More than a third of senators have now signed on to support the RURAL Act, a bipartisan bill to protect electric cooperatives’ tax-exempt status. As of Monday, 38 senators were co-sponsoring the bill, which would allow not-for-profit coops to accept government grants for disaster relief, broadband service, and other priorities without losing their tax-exempt...
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Delivers Broadband Grant to Forked Deer Electric Cooperative
Posted on Oct 28, 2019 in Legislative & Politics, Technology | Comments Off on U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Delivers Broadband Grant to Forked Deer Electric Cooperative
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue recently delivered a $2.8 million grant to Forked Deer Electric Cooperative for rural broadband development. The grant is part of the ReConnect program, which began in 2018 with a $600 million budget to be disbursed for rural broadband in...
Majority of House Members Co-sponsor RURAL Act
Posted on Oct 17, 2019 in Legislative & Politics, Tax | Comments Off on Majority of House Members Co-sponsor RURAL Act
A majority of the members of the House of Representatives are co-sponsoring the RURAL Act, which is a bill addressing electric cooperatives’ tax-exempt status.
House Lawmakers Co-sponsor Bill to Solve Unintended Tax Consequence Problem
Posted on Oct 14, 2019 in Legislative & Politics, Tax | Comments Off on House Lawmakers Co-sponsor Bill to Solve Unintended Tax Consequence Problem
A bipartisan majority in the U.S. House of Representatives recently co-sponsored legislation to fix an unintended consequence for electric cooperatives from the 2017 federal tax law changes. Under the current federal tax laws that were adopted in 2017, coops that receive federal, state or local government grants are at risk of losing their tax-exempt status. The RURAL Act aims to...
Coop CEO Advocates to Expand Rural Broadband by Passing RURAL Act
Posted on Oct 7, 2019 in Legislative & Politics, Technology | Comments Off on Coop CEO Advocates to Expand Rural Broadband by Passing RURAL Act
Tim Johnson, CEO of Otsego Electric Cooperative, recently testified before a congressional committee with respect to coops’ tax-exempt status under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Johnson advocated that Congress fix the federal tax code so that not-for-profit cooperatives would no longer lose their tax-exempt status by taking federal, state or local grants to bring broadband service to...
NRECA Voices Support for Repeal of Waters of the U.S. Rule
Posted on Sep 17, 2019 in Legislative & Politics | Comments Off on NRECA Voices Support for Repeal of Waters of the U.S. Rule
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) CEO Jim Matheson issued a statement regarding the repeal of the Waters of the U.S. rule. Matheson praised the repeal for creating clarity in a patchwork regulatory environment and for its benefits for electric cooperatives building and maintaining key...
NRECA Provides Insight on Progress of Coop Priorities in Congress
Posted on Aug 9, 2019 in Legislative & Politics, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on NRECA Provides Insight on Progress of Coop Priorities in Congress
John Cassady, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s (NRECA) Vice President of Legislative Affairs, provides an update on how key interests to electric coops have progressed in Congress thus far in 2019.
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