Texas Coop Refinances with CFC
Posted on Jan 7, 2014
Swisher Electric Cooperative, based in Tulia, Texas, recently reached out to the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC) to refinance $10 million in outstanding debt from other lenders. This move, combined with a long-standing relationship with CFC, makes Swisher officially a 100-percent CFC borrower. Read more here.
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Fitch Releases Positive Report on Electric Coops
Posted on Jan 6, 2014
Fitch Ratings (Fitch) released a January 6 report on electric coops that highlights their generally strong financial position. The report called the electric coop sector fundamentally sound and said that coops are experiencing “a financial coming of age.” Fitch noted that in addition to factors that have traditionally strengthened the financial position of coops like the existence of long-term power supply contracts, the ability of coops to obtain financing from more diverse sources played a significant role in shaping the rating agency’s favorable view. Click here for...
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Short-Term Deal Made to Maintain Grid Reliability
Posted on Jan 2, 2014
The Electric Division, based in Wallingford, Connecticut, and the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative (CMEEC) have reached a short-term agreement to ensure critical transmission data continues to flow between Wallingford and the regional grid operator ISO-New England. The Electric Division will have access to CMEEC’s transmitting equipment until June, at which time the municipal utility plans to purchase its own equipment. Read more here.
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North Carolina Coop Authorizes $3 Million in Capital Credits
Posted on Jan 2, 2014
Members receiving electric service in 2011 and 2012 from EnergyUnited and in 1986 and 1987 from Crescent EMC or Davidson EMC (which later consolidated with EnergyUnited) were refunded $3 million in capital credits in December 2013. The Dispatch has the full story.
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Arkansas Coop Refunds $6.5 Million in Capital Credits
Posted on Jan 2, 2014
First Electric Cooperative members saw a refund in the form of $6.5 million in capital credits in late 2013. The amount represents a retirement of 1986 capital credits and a portion of all years through 2012. Click here for more information.
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New England Coops Recovering from Winter Storms
Posted on Jan 2, 2014
A Vermont Electric Cooperative representative said that the late December ice storms in the area will lead to its most expensive restoration effort ever, potentially topping $6.5 million in cost. Other Northeast coops are facing the same challenges; Maine had more than 3,200 customers without power on Christmas Eve. Progress is being made quickly as coop employees cooperate to make repairs, but spotty outages are expected to continue as ice-weakened trees give way. Read more here.
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New York Coop Refinances with CFC, Changes Patronage Capital Distribution Policy
Posted on Dec 30, 2013
Otsego Electric Cooperative (OEC), based in Hartwick, New York, recently refinanced its outstanding debt owed to other lenders with the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC), becoming the first 100% CFC borrower in the state. OEC, which serves about 4,500 members in the area between the Catskill and Adirondack mountain ranges, also worked with CFC to develop a new capital credits policy that will permit more frequent distributions to members. Click here for more.
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Basin Electric Signs Deal to Add More Wind to Generation Portfolio
Posted on Dec 27, 2013
Basin Electric Power Cooperative (Basin Electric) announced on December 20 that it had signed a deal to add 98 MW of additional wind capacity to its generating portfolio. The Campbell County Wind Farm is currently under development in South Dakota and is expected to be brought online in 2015. Electric Co-op Today has the full story.
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Iowa Appeals FEMA Decision
Posted on Dec 26, 2013
As last reported by the Sutherland Coop Team on October 2, 2013, the state of Iowa has appealed a decision by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to forego additional disaster relief funding for Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative, Lyon Rural Electric Cooperative, Osceola Electric Cooperative and Sanborn Electric and Telecommunications Utility. The rural coops requested an additional $19 million in the wake of an April ice storm. To learn more about this story, click here.
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South Carolina’s First Solar Farm Online
Posted on Dec 26, 2013
South Carolina’s first solar farm is officially online as of Friday, December 20. The 3-MW, $6 million Colleton County project will sell output to Santee Cooper. South Carolina Electric and Gas is also planning a series of future solar farms that could generate up to 20 MW of power in the state. Read more here.
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Coop Sparks Ballot Fight Over Oregon RPS
Posted on Dec 26, 2013
Oregon’s Umatilla Electric Cooperative (Umatilla) is challenging the state’s renewable energy portfolio standard (RPS), hoping to revise the standards to allow hydropower to count towards meeting the requirements. Without this revision, the coop plans to add an initiative on the ballot that could gut the law. The challenge is raising debate about whether the coop is strong arming or seeking something reasonable that will strengthen Oregon’s position as the data center capital of the world. For more information about how Oregon coops like Umatilla would be affected by the existing RPS and...
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NRECA: NIST Cyber Security Framework Should Consider Needs of Coops
Posted on Dec 26, 2013
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) is urging the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to keep in mind the varying organizations and structures of companies operating in the energy sector when developing its Cyber Security Framework (Framework), a project undertaken in response to a February 2013 executive order issued by President Obama. The NRECA, along with other trade organizations, has expressed concern that sections of a preliminary version of the Framework cut too broadly, covering areas such as “general business practices” rather than...
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Public Power Council Continues to Voice Support for Adjustments to Hydro Power Treaty
Posted on Dec 19, 2013
Following up on recent regulatory filings, the Public Power Council, which represents cooperatives and other consumer-owned utilities, voiced its continued support for adjustments to the Columbia River Treaty. The Public Power Council and others are seeking a more even distribution of hydro power benefits between the United States and Canada under the treaty. Various interest groups and government entities continue to discuss this issue, which is significant to ratepayers in the Northwest. Read more here.
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Golden Spread Proposes New Transmission Line
Posted on Dec 17, 2013
Golden Spread Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Golden Spread) is planning a new transmission line that would connect the present divide between the power grid that covers the Texas Panhandle and the grid for the rest of Texas. The coop, along with Sharyland Utilities, L.P. (Sharyland) will connect new and existing natural gas generation units north of Abernathy to the new transmission lines that are also intended to send wind power to downstate cities. The substation Sharyland is planning for the connection of the proposed transmission line to its existing line will have the additional benefit...
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