CFTC Head Issues Statement in Support of Exemption for Coops
Posted on Aug 20, 2012
The head of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued a statement last Friday in support of the proposed relief from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) swaps provisions for certain electricity and electricity-related energy transactions between rural electric cooperatives and federal, state, municipal, and tribal power authorities. Click here to read the full statement.
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Alaska Coop Breaks Ground on New Plant
Posted on Aug 20, 2012
Matanuska Electric Association (MEA), Alaska’s oldest and second-largest electric cooperative, recently broke ground on a new plant site. The dual-fuel generation plant will sit on a 70-acre site northeast of Anchorage at Eklutna. MEA has been a CFC 100-percent Independent Borrower since 1995. Construction of the plant is being supported by bridge financing from the National Cooperative Services Corporation, which is an affiliate of CFC. Click here for more.
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Rate Increase for New Mexico Coop Customers on the Horizon
Posted on Aug 16, 2012
The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (PRC) approved a controversial rights-of-way agreement which will result in a rate increase for customers of Jemez Mountains Electric Cooperative. The PRC and members of the public had previously raised concerns that Native American tribes and other pueblos had not been properly notified of the negotiations leading up to the agreement. The Santa Fe New Mexican has more.
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Colorado Coop Encourages Geothermal Installation
Posted on Aug 16, 2012
San Isabel Electric Association is offering rebates to customers who install geothermal heating and cooling systems. The systems are touted as being significantly more efficient at heating and cooling compared to ordinary systems. Read the full story.
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Coops Team Up for Illinois Landfill Gas-to-Energy Facility
Posted on Aug 16, 2012
Wabash Valley Power Association and Hendricks Power Cooperative teamed up with Waste Management to construct a 3.2-MW landfill gas-to-energy facility located in Danville, Illinois. The facility is the fourth of its kind at the site and can be expanded in the future as the landfill’s methane gas generation increases. Click here for more.
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Discounting of Capital Credits of Deceased Members Upheld in North Carolina
Posted on Aug 16, 2012
On August 8, 2012, the North Carolina Business Court held that electric cooperatives may lawfully discount capital credits of deceased members when they are retired early. The court also held that electric cooperatives do not owe a fiduciary duty to those members with respect to the timing and procedures for retiring capital credits. Read the full Sutherland Legal Alert.
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Two New Patronage Capital Cases Hit Alabama Coops
Posted on Aug 14, 2012
Click here to read a Sutherland Legal Alert about two class action patronage capital cases that were recently filed in Alabama courts.
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PRC and New Mexico Coop Face Off over Internet Spin Off
Posted on Aug 13, 2012
Kit Carson Electric Cooperative (Kit Carson) is pushing back against the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (PRC) order to spin off the coop’s subsidiary Internet business. In September 2011, the PRC approved a rate increase for Kit Carson but ordered the coop to create a separate internet company within nine months based on potential liabilities associated with the its Internet and broadband services. Kit Carson is arguing that reorganizing its internet company would violate contractual obligations associated with a $64 million grant/loan from the federal government. The PRC will...
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Kentucky Coop Becomes CFC 100-Percent Borrower
Posted on Aug 13, 2012
Nolin Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation, based in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, became the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation’s (CFC) latest 100-percent borrower. The coop took out its first loan with CFC in February 1972 and became a 100-percent borrower last month. To read more about the Nolin’s choice to become a 100-percent borrower, click here.
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Iowa Nuclear Plant Will Dredge River for Water Access
Posted on Aug 10, 2012
The Duane Arnold Energy Center, Iowa’s only nuclear power plant which is co-owned by Central Iowa Power Cooperative and Corn Belt Power Cooperative, plans to dredge a section of the drought-stricken Cedar River to ensure access to enough water to operate the plant. Click here for the full story.
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New Mexico Coop Likely to Raise Rates in Response to Financial Strains
Posted on Aug 10, 2012
Jemez Mountains Electric Cooperative may have to raise rates to cover deals it made years ago with local tribes for right-of-way easements for transmission lines that cross the property of eight pueblos and two tribes. The coop is facing another financial strain – it has only a month’s worth of cash left in the bank and is in default on $29 million owed to two lenders. The New Mexican has more here.
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Virginia Coop Suspends Efforts to Acquire Permits for Surry Coal Plant
Posted on Aug 10, 2012
Virginia-based Old Dominion Electric Cooperative is suspending its efforts to obtain the environmental permits needed to build what would have been the state’s largest coal-fueled power plant in Surry County. The coop’s decision to pull back from the proposed $6 billion Cypress Creek Power Station was based in large part on the Environmental Protection Agency’s new, more stringent environmental regulations. The Daily Press has the full story.
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Coops in 18 States to Receive Federal Funding to Improve Services
Posted on Aug 10, 2012
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that multiple rural electric utilities will receive loan guarantees to make improvements to electric lines and transmission facilities, and to reduce peak electric loads by deploying smart grid technologies. The funds include nearly $29 million in smart grid projects. Click here for a list of the rural utilities that will receive USDA funding.
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Patronage Capital Remains Sticking Point for New Mexico Coop
Posted on Aug 9, 2012
As litigation continues between Socorro Electric Cooperative (SEC) and its members, patronage capital appears to be an ongoing sticking point. Coop members want at least $10 million refunded back to them over the next five years and are concerned with how SEC is handling the capital account. Click here for the full story.
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