Rate Case Returned to Surface Transportation Board for Review
Posted on Feb 18, 2014
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has decided that the Surface Transportation Board must revisit the arguments of BNSF Railway Company about how to allocate costs and revenues in the $345 million electric rate case involving Basin Electric Power Cooperative and Western Fuels Association, a fuel supply coop. This is a dispute that has lingered for ten years. For history on the case and more information on this decision, click here.
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South Carolina Coops Hit Hard by Winter Weather
Posted on Feb 18, 2014
Rural South Carolina was hit especially hard by the winter storms that recently swept across the Southeast, with most of the damage in areas served by The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina. At one point, as many as 346,000 South Carolina residents were without power after more than an inch of ice coated trees and power lines in some areas. Click here for more.
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Oregon Coop Continues Fight Against State’s Renewable Mandates
Posted on Feb 18, 2014
Oregon law currently requires that large utilities get 25 percent of their energy from new renewable sources by 2025, and increased demand for electricity from data centers in the eastern part of the state is pushing smaller utilities toward large-utility status for the purposes of the mandate. A lobbyist for Umatilla Electric Cooperative (Umatilla) has been collecting signatures for a ballot measure that would exempt electric cooperatives from the mandates. Meanwhile, a compromise that would allow affected utilities more flexibility in meeting the 25 percent by 2025 standard is making its...
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Webinar: How to Get a Better LTSA
Posted on Feb 13, 2014
With a number of third-party providers joining original equipment manufacturers in providing parts and services for power plants, the market for long-term service agreements (LTSA) has never been more robust. At 1:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday, February 25, 2014, Sutherland and South Mississippi Electric Power Association (SMEPA) will present, “How to Get a Better LTSA,” addressing how to implement an efficient process for pursuing, and the key points for negotiating, a better LTSA.
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New White Paper Calls for Focus on Grid Stability
Posted on Feb 13, 2014
Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska recently issued a white paper warning that grid stability is complicated by coal plant retirements, environmental regulations and requirements for integrating renewable energy resources. Senator Murkowski’s paper, which has been praised by some in the industry, calls for policymakers to place grid reliability and affordability at the front of their agendas. Read more here.
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Congress Seeks Changes to Endangered Species Act
Posted on Feb 11, 2014
A congressional working group report that cites electric coops’ costly struggles to comply with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) concludes the law is ripe for improvement. Specifically, some impediments of the ESA as described in the report include the ability of coops to site and maintain power lines. The report seeks to update and prioritize the ESA. For more information, click here.
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Droughts Threaten 2014 Hydro Production
Posted on Feb 11, 2014
Total water flow to the Northwest river system is now the 11th lowest total since recordkeeping started in 1960. This lingering drought in the West is causing a decreased output of hydro production and is likely to persist or intensify through the end of April in parts of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California and Nevada. In those states, electric coops rely heavily on hydropower. Without expected amounts of hydro, wholesale power prices may be increasingly determined by the cost of natural gas-fueled generation in the region, and the region will be on high alert for reliability. Read...
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Arizona Coop Forgoes 100% Equity Financing, Becomes CFC Borrower
Posted on Feb 11, 2014
Duncan Valley Electric Cooperative (DVEC), based in Duncan, Arizona, recently borrowed from the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC) to prepay future National Rural Electric Cooperative Association Retirement Security Plan contributions. The move makes DVEC a 100% CFC borrower and marks a departure from its existing financing strategy. DVEC, which last borrowed from a lender in the 1970s, paid off its final outstanding loan in 2009, becoming fully financed by equity, including interest earned by its CFC Member Capital Securities investment. For more on this...
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Texas Coop Amends and Extends CFC Facility
Posted on Feb 11, 2014
South Texas Electric Cooperative (STEC), a generation and transmission cooperative based in Nursery, Texas, recently amended and extended its $350 million revolving syndicated credit facility, for which the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC) serves as administrative agent and lead arranger. The transaction allowed CFC to extend the maturity date by two-and-a-half years and improve pricing. STEC, which serves members in the Eagle Ford Shale region of South Texas, will use the facility to finance its general corporate activities, including some transmission and...
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EPA Continues Work on Carbon Rule
Posted on Feb 11, 2014
The Environmental Protection Agency is continuing its efforts to issue a draft carbon rule by June 1, 2014. The new rule, which will be issued under the Clean Air Act and based on a 2007 Supreme Court decision, will regulate carbon emissions from existing power facilities. Click here for the full story. See the Sutherland Coop Team’s October 29, 2013, post for more on the issue.
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Tri-State Signs Largest Wind PPA To Date
Posted on Feb 6, 2014
Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association (Tri-State) has signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with a NextEra Energy Resources subsidiary for the output and environmental attributes of the Carousel Wind Farm, a 150-MW wind farm facility to be constructed in eastern Colorado. This facility will be Tri-State’s largest wind energy PPA to date. To learn more about this exciting development, click here.
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West Virginia Water Contamination Brings Company Safety Practices into Focus
Posted on Feb 6, 2014
At least twenty putative class actions asserting claims of negligence, gross negligence and strict liability for ultra-hazardous activity have been filed naming Freedom Industries Inc., the company that owns the site responsible for leaking 7,500 gallons of coal-cleaning chemical into West Virginia’s Elk River. The region’s U.S. Attorney has also pledged to take action if federal criminal laws were violated in relation to the spill. Read the Sutherland article, which explains how the recent spill highlights the need for effective implementation of company process safety and risk management...
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Passage of New Farm Bill to Help Coops
Posted on Feb 6, 2014
Congress has recently approved the Agricultural Act of 2014 (Farm Bill), which President Obama is expected to sign into law. The $956 billion legislation is being hailed by electric cooperatives as a step forward for rural America. The Farm Bill includes several key beneficial items for rural electric cooperatives, including authorization of $75 million towards the Rural Energy Savings Program and the possibility that the Rural Utilities Service lend for baseload projects for the first time since 2005. To read more about this story, click here.
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Florida Coop Retiring $5 Million in Capital Credits
Posted on Feb 4, 2014
Clay Electric Cooperative will distribute its 40th consecutive capital credits refund this March. This $5 million refund, which will be distributed to current and former customers who received service between 1987 and 2012, will appear be issued in the form of a credit on March bills to current customers. Former customers will be issued a check in mid-March. The money for the refund comes from net profits from the prior year. For more information, click here.
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