Eversheds Sutherland Coop Law Blog
content top

HomeWorks Tri-County Electric Cooperative Donates $15,000 to Aid Ukraine

HomeWorks Tri-County Electric Cooperative in Portland, Michigan has donated $15,000 to the nonprofit Cooperative Development Foundation which will help support COOP Ukraine, an organization that is providing housing and meals for displaced Ukrainians
Continue Reading

Upshur County Electric Cooperative Unveils New Solar Farm

Upshur County Electric Cooperative and Hecate Energy recently announced the completion of their 3-megawatt solar farm with over 8,000 panels in Upshur County, Texas. The solar farm is Hecate’s second largest in Texas, at about 30 acres.
Continue Reading

Permitting Action Plan Fails to Address Electric Infrastructure Needs, NRCEA Says

Electric cooperatives have historically encouraged policymakers to support solutions that modernize the National Environmental Policy Act and help to ameliorate the lack of federal coordination, inconsistent processes, and protracted litigation that threatens electric reliability. NRCEA believes President Biden’s “permitting action plan” fails to deliver the necessary reforms needed to reach these goals.
Continue Reading

Coop Lineworkers Volunteering to Help Electrify Guatemalan Village

A team of 16 lineworker volunteers from electric cooperatives in Oklahoma and Colorado, including Cimarron Electric Cooperative, Northeast Oklahoma Electric Cooperative, and Holy Cross Energy, will travel to Guatemala in this summer with NRECA International to help electrify a small mountain village of about 250 people.
Continue Reading

Lewis County Rural Electric Cooperative Receives $13.4 Million USDA Loan

Lewis County Electric Cooperative in Lewiston, Missouri has received a $13.4 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The loan will go towards upgrading transmission lines and funding smart grid upgrades.
Continue Reading

Louisiana Cooperatives Form Power-Buying Coalition to Create Cost Savings

Five electric cooperatives in Louisiana have joined together to form 1803 Electric Cooperative to pool their power supply needs. By collectively negotiating for power supply, the cooperatives expect to provide a 10 to 15 percent rate decrease starting in 2025.
Continue Reading

Great River Energy Completes Sale of Coal Creek Station

Rainbow Energy Center, LLC has purchased Coal Creek Station, a coal-fired power plant, from Great River Energy. The sale will preserve jobs at the plant, and the new ownership has stated its commitment to carbon capture objectives.
Continue Reading

Great Lakes Energy Cooperative Receives $27 Million as Part of USDA Clean Energy Grant

Great Lakes Energy Cooperative (Great Lakes) is the largest recipient of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funds to support clean energy in Michigan. The USDA funds will be distributed to eight different projects in the state, many of which are small scale solar projects that will help small businesses. Great Lakes will receive $27 million to expand and remodel its headquarters and warehouse in rural Michigan.
Continue Reading

Federal Courts Uphold Wholesale Power Contract Terms to Prevent Early Termination

Federal courts in South Carolina and South Dakota have upheld the terms of wholesale power contracts (WPCs) between East River Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. (East River) and Central Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. (Central Electric) and their members. The separate cases involved distribution cooperative members of East River and Central Electric who sought to terminate and buy out of their WPCs prior to the end of their respective contract terms. Both courts found that the terms of the agreements, as well as East River’s and Central Electric’s bylaws, were unambiguous and did not...
Continue Reading

NRECA Spotlights Legislative Goals as Electric Cooperative Leaders Head to Capitol

Electric cooperative leaders are going to Washington to ask Congress for help in taking advantage of energy incentives, reducing their debt, and accessing billions of infrastructure dollars. The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) has identified dozens of components of the bipartisan infrastructure bill that may be of interest to electric cooperatives, and they will meet with federal agency officials as they decide how to distribute funding from the bill.
Continue Reading

NRECA Creates Membership Service Tier to Focus on Rural Broadband

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) has created a new membership tier for cooperatives considering or currently providing broadband services. This membership group is designed to help provide assistance with strategy and support for a wide range of related issues, including technology, communication, regulations, and federal policy. NRECA anticipates that about 400 of its members will offer broadband services.
Continue Reading

Arizona Cooperative Plans Investments to Meet Growing Need

Arizona’s Trico Electric Cooperative is investing in connecting more than 4,100 new services to its distribution system and upgrading 49 miles of power lines. These investments will allow Trico to meet the needs of the growing Tucson metropolitan area while continuing to serve members taking more control of how they use energy.
Continue Reading

Courts uphold wholesale power contracts among electric cooperatives

Courts in South Carolina and South Dakota have recently recognized the validity of term provisions in wholesale power contracts between generation and transmission cooperatives and their member distribution cooperatives. In late 2020, two distribution cooperatives—Dakota Energy Cooperative, Inc. and Marlboro Electric Cooperative, Inc.—each sued their generation and transmission cooperatives (G&Ts)—East River Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. and Central Electric Power Cooperative, Inc., respectively—seeking to terminate and buy out of their wholesale power contracts (WPCs) prior to the...
Continue Reading

East River Electric Cooperative Wins Summary Judgment on Wholesale Power Contract Buy-Out Dispute

U.S. District Judge Larry Piersol granted East River Electric Cooperative’s (East River) motion for summary judgment in a suit initiated by Dakota Energy Cooperative (Dakota Energy). Dakota Energy requested that it be able to terminate its wholesale power contract with East River and pay a buy-out fee. Judge Piersol ruled that the contract did not provide for early termination and that Dakota Energy must continue to meet its obligation to purchase all of its power from East River for the duration of the contract.
Continue Reading