Department of Energy and Western Area Power Administration Issue New Proposals on Hydropower
Posted on Nov 26, 2012
On November 27, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Western Area Power Administration’s joint outreach team laid out a set of proposals in a Federal Register notice that are aimed at reforming Western’s hydropower marketing amid electrical grid upgrades. The DOE and Western say their recommendations would improve Western’s operations and optimize its transmission services but some lawmakers assert that the measures will drive up electricity prices. The new proposals are the result of a directive from DOE Secretary Steven Chu calling on Colorado-based Western and the other three power...
Continue Reading
Cost of Transporting Coal on the Rise
Posted on Nov 26, 2012
According to a new study conducted by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), power plant owners are paying nearly 50 percent more to haul coal to their units than they did a decade ago. The EIA’s annual analysis of coal transportation costs said electric generators spent an average of $17.25 per ton in 2010, a 46 percent hike from $11.83 per ton in 2001. Most of the cost increase was attributable to freight railroads. In fact, the long distances involved in transporting coal from certain source areas means that hauling coal can cost more than the coal itself. Click here for...
Continue Reading
Federal Analysts Find that Natural Gas Costs are Climbing
Posted on Nov 19, 2012
According to federal analysts at the Energy Information Administration (EIA), historically low natural gas prices are starting to increase. The EIA is projecting an average 22 percent jump in the price of natural gas delivered to generators in 2013. The agency reports that record-high natural gas inventories are expected to decline, leading to tighter demand and higher prices as the heating season approaches. Spot market prices for natural gas will average about $3.49 per million BTU in 2013, up from $2.77 per million BTU in 2012, and the average cost of coal is likely to increase by only...
Continue Reading
Two Illinois Coops Plan to Merge
Posted on Nov 19, 2012
Members of Farmers Mutual Electric Company approved a merger with fellow electric cooperative Jo-Carroll Energy, Inc. last Tuesday. Under the agreement, Farmers Mutual members will become members of Jo-Carroll Energy. Jo-Carroll Energy’s bylaws do not require its members to vote on a merger with another coop. Farmers Mutual will return $936,000 in capital credits to its members over a two-year period, the release said. Click here for more.
Continue Reading
Some Members Challenge Rate Increases in Wake of Utility Merger
Posted on Nov 16, 2012
Following the merger of Central Vermont Public Service with and into Green Mountain Power, two members of the surviving Green Mountain Power are protesting certain transmission-related rate increases before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Although the rate increases are to be phased-in over time, the new transmission rates represent an increase of more than 75 percent. According to Green Mountain Power spokeswoman, Dottie Schnure, the new rates address the fact that the two member coops challenging the increase have been paying under-market rates subsidized by Green Mountain...
Continue Reading
Member Cooperatives Considering Legal Action Over Rate Hike
Posted on Nov 16, 2012
Three member cooperatives of Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association Inc. (Tri-State) have objected to a 4.9 percent wholesale rate increase by filing a written complaint with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission. The Santa Fe New Mexican is covering this story.
Continue Reading
Dairyland Power Coop Rebuilding Transmission Line
Posted on Nov 14, 2012
In September, Dairyland Power Cooperative (Dairyland) began a $22.5 million project to rebuild the 65-year-old, 20-mile Q1 transmission line that provides power to La Crosse, Wisconsin, and its surrounding areas. The project includes the addition of steel poles and a new conductor and foundations. Dairyland officials said that when the project is completed, it will eliminate overloading and greatly increase the transmission line’s efficiency. Read more here.
Continue Reading
New Partners Sought for Wolf Creek Nuclear Power Plant
Posted on Nov 13, 2012
Kansas City Power & Light Co. and Kansas Electric Power Cooperative, two of the owners of the Wolf Creek Nuclear Power Plant located near Burlington, Kansas, are seeking new partners to help operate the plant. Citing operational issues such as extended outages and increased regulatory oversight as reasons, the owners are soliciting proposals to fill this role. Click here for more.
Continue Reading
Border Facility Finally Getting Power
Posted on Nov 12, 2012
A new outpost to house U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and Border Patrol agents in southern New Mexico is finally getting a power line upgrade from the Columbus Electric Cooperative in Deming. The project has experienced a year-long delay because federal planners failed to make sure the local power coop could provide enough electricity. It wasn’t until final construction plans were in place that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers realized the new facility would require more than twice the amount of electricity than the old power system could provide. The outpost is expected to...
Continue Reading
Kentucky PSC Accepts Settlement in Big Sandy RECC Rate Case
Posted on Nov 7, 2012
The Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) accepted a proposed settlement in a rate adjustment case filed by Big Sandy Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation (Big Sandy RECC). The agreement allows Big Sandy RECC to receive its requested 3.7 percent increase in annual revenue. However, less of this increase will come from flat monthly customer charges and more will come from usage-based energy charges. Big Sandy RECC will also be required to continue its existing demand-side management and energy efficiency programs and expand those programs in the future. Click here for the full press...
Continue Reading
MFA Oil Acquires Propane Business of Two Missouri Regional Electric Cooperatives
Posted on Nov 7, 2012
Platte-Clay Electric Cooperative and United Electric Cooperative, Inc. recently sold their propane businesses to MFA Oil, a farmers cooperative based in Columbia, Missouri. The propane businesses, originally formed as a response to electricity deregulation, no longer fit with the business plans of the electric cooperatives. Read more here.
Continue Reading
Power Wholesaler Predicts Slow Growth in Energy Demand
Posted on Nov 5, 2012
According to a planning outlook filed with state regulators last week, Great River Energy (GRE), a large power wholesaler to Minnesota coops, projects slow growth in electrical demand and no need to build new power plants for at least 15 years. The Maple Grove-based utility is the state’s second-largest electricity producer behind Xcel Energy. GRE supplies power to 28 retail cooperatives serving 645,000 customers from the Arrowhead region to southwest Minnesota, including the outer suburbs of the Twin Cities. The StarTribune has more.
Continue Reading
Nevada Coop Wins Bid to Supply Government Site
Posted on Nov 5, 2012
Valley Electric Association, Inc. recently won a bid to provide power to the Federal Radiological Monitoring and Assessment Center—the former test site where hundreds of nuclear weapons were tested—and other facilities at the Nevada National Security Site. The nearly 1,400-square-mile installation, one of the most secure government installations in the world, is larger than the state of Rhode Island. Click here to read more about the terms of the parties’ contract.
Continue Reading
Golden Valley Electric Association Wind Farm Produces Power
Posted on Nov 1, 2012
The largest wind project in Alaska began producing power this week in a key milestone toward beginning commercial operation. The $93 million project called the Eva Creek Wind Farm near Healy, Alaska, is part of Golden Valley Electric Association’s (GVEA) plan to produce 20 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2014. The project is expected to produce 77 million kilowatt-hours per year and could save consumers more than $10 million over the next 20 years. To read more about the Eva Creek Wind Farm project, click here.
Continue Reading
Subscribe
