Pedernales Running Out of Legal Options for Fuelberg Restitution
Posted on Mar 22, 2011
Federal law and a settlement agreement will likely prevent the Pedernales Electric Cooperative board of directors from being able to withhold pension benefits from its former general manager, Bennie Fuelberg, or pursue a lawsuit against him for that money. Fuelberg was the head of Pedernales, the nation’s largest member-owned electric utility, for more than 30 years before he was found guilty of felony theft, money laundering and misapplication of fiduciary property. Pedernales is working to exhaust all of its options to seek restitution, but so far has run into the legal barriers...
Continue Reading
Santee Cooper Seeks Sale of Nuclear Capacity
Posted on Mar 22, 2011
Faced with the need to reevaluate its future electricity needs after Central Electric Power Cooperative said that it will reduce its power purchases by 1,000 megawatts beginning in 2013, Santee Cooper, South Carolina’s state-owned utility, is negotiating the sale of 5 to 10 percent of its portion of capacity from its new nuclear facilities near Jenkinsville to a utility out of state. Bloomberg Businessweek has more.
Continue Reading
Great Falls Lawsuit Develops
Posted on Mar 21, 2011
In a suit filed Wednesday in state District Court in Great Falls, Montana, the city of Great Falls is seeking the return of a $792,411 security deposit from Southern Montana Electric Generation & Transmission Cooperative, as well as a decision on whether various contracts and obligations between the city and Southern Montana Electric should be voided. The city, which is in the midst of terminating its membership in the coop, cited the inability to reconcile the dispute amicably as the reason to ensue litigation. The Great Falls Tribune has more on the recent developments on this...
Continue Reading
Take Back Cobb EMC Seeks Signatures to Oust Incumbents and Elect New Directors
Posted on Mar 21, 2011
A group of Cobb EMC members called Take Back Cobb EMC seek to conduct a special meeting and board election in response to the present board’s decision to re-hire former CEO Dwight Brown as an independent consultant to Cobb EMC. Brown was recently indicted on multiple counts of theft and racketeering. Members kicked-off a petition drive over the weekend to collect signatures from fellow members to conduct a special meeting and board election on May 21, 2011. If the petition garners signatures from 10 percent of the 193,000 EMC members, or roughly 20,000 signatures, then members can vote...
Continue Reading
Minnkota Wins the 2010 Wind Cooperative of the Year Award
Posted on Mar 21, 2011
Minnkota Power Cooperative has received the tenth annual 2010 Wind Cooperative of the Year Award at the NRECA TechAdvantage Conference in Orlando, Florida. The award is sponsored by the Department of Energy’s Wind Powering America initiative. Minnkota was chosen because it has executed wind energy power purchase agreements that guarantee that energy from wind projects will be purchased and used. These wind projects are expected to contribute an average of nearly 1,300 gigawatt-hours per year to the grid, altogether representing more than 30 percent of Minnkota’s total member...
Continue Reading
CEO of Basin Announces Retirement
Posted on Mar 21, 2011
Ron Harper, the head of Basin Electric Power Cooperative, announced to his staff this week that he will retire at the end of this year. Harper has been Basin’s chief executive officer and general manager since 2000. He shares his thoughts on the decision, as well as the growth and progress made by Basin in an article by the Bismarck Tribune.
Continue Reading
Maryland Governor’s Proposal to Subsidize Development of Wind Farms Hampered by Costs
Posted on Mar 18, 2011
The Maryland Public Service Commission told the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday that subsidizing a 500-watt wind farm would add between 92 cents to $3 per month to residential electric bills. The commission’s latest cost prediction was far lower than earlier this month, when the prediction was that household electric bills could increase as much as $8.70 per month. Members of both parties are worried that the governor’s proposal does not protect poor people and struggling small businesses from taking a financial hit. The Gazette has the rest of the story.
Continue Reading
Arkansas Bill Utility Bills Passes Through House
Posted on Mar 18, 2011
House Bill 1895 won passage in the Arkansas House of Representatives on Friday in a near unanimous vote. The bill allows the public service commission to hear key aspects of electrical utility projects in separate dockets before the Commission and changes the law on the ability of utilities to declare a particular project exempt from certain regulatory hearing proceedings if the utility does not intend to recover construction or operations costs for the project from its ratepayers. To read more about the bill which rewrites how utilities do business before the Arkansas PSC click here.
Continue Reading
Members of Cobb EMC Move to Unseat Board
Posted on Mar 18, 2011
Members of Cobb EMC are planning to kick off a petition drive Saturday intended to oust the coop’s board. A group called Take Back Cobb EMC said the board’s decision to re-hire Dwight Brown, the coop’s indicted ex-CEO, is the reason. The group needs to submit signatures from 10 percent of the coop’s 190,000 customers to request the removal of a board member. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has more details on the plan to oust the board.
Continue Reading
City of Great Falls Files Suit Against Southern Montana Electric
Posted on Mar 17, 2011
Following a meeting on Tuesday between Great Falls, Montana, city commissioners and Southern Montana board members to discuss the city’s desire to terminate its membership in the coop, the city has filed a lawsuit against Southern Montana. The city’s electric utility arm is running a more than $4 million deficit, and the lawsuit is the latest development in the ongoing tensions between Great Falls and Southern Montana. The Great Falls Tribune has more details.
Continue Reading
Black Hills Energy Proposes New $100 Million Gas-Fired Unit
Posted on Mar 17, 2011
Black Hills Energy has asked Colorado regulators for permission to build an 88 MW natural gas-fired unit to replace the power from a coal plant the company plans to retire. The new unit would reportedly cost over $100 million. Click here to read an explanation of all the implications of the proposed gas-fired unit.
Continue Reading
Ohio County Will Pay Coop to String Fiber-Optic Cable
Posted on Mar 14, 2011
Delaware County, Ohio, is making a $655,000 investment in fiber-optic cable. The county has engaged Consolidated Electric Cooperative to string 288 strands of fiber-optic cable along Route 23. Half will be used by the county and the other half will be operated by the cooperative. The choice to invest in fiber-optics came after county officials were unprepared when asked about their fiber-optic resources by a business considering relocating to the county. The Columbus Dispatch has the full breakdown on the county’s fiber-optic future.
Continue Reading
City of Great Falls Looks to Withdraw From Southern Montana Coop
Posted on Mar 14, 2011
Tensions have been rising between the city of Great Falls, Montana, and Billings-based Southern Montana Electric Generation and Transmission Cooperative as the city looks for ways to exit from Southern Montana. A special meeting has been set for Tuesday, March 15, between city officials and representatives of Southern Montana to discuss possible exit plans. Southern Montana is concerned about the financial impact of losing the city as a customer, with the general manager of Southern Montana estimating that the loss to the company could be as high as $80 million. The Great Falls Tribune has...
Continue Reading
Arkansas Bill Regarding Turk Plant Moving Forward
Posted on Mar 11, 2011
Arkansas House Bill 1895 (related to the John W. Turk Jr. Plant being constructed by Southwestern Electric Power Co. and Arkansas Electric Cooperatives Corp.) has been approved by a House committee. The Arkansas Public Service Commission approved construction of the plant in 2007. However, the Arkansas Supreme Court overturned the commission’s approval, holding that such approval must be completed in one hearing (not two as was the case for the Turk plant). The bill would permit the commission’s use of two hearings for the approval of construction of a power plant. Arkansas Times has a...
Continue Reading
Subscribe
