Construction begins on Dairyland Power and Richland Electric Solar Projects
Posted on May 26, 2016
On Monday, May 23, Dairyland Power Cooperative (Dairyland Power), Richland Electric Cooperative (Richland Electric) and SoCore Energy began construction on two solar projects. The first is a community solar project being constructed for members of Richland Electric and the second is the first of 12 major solar projects announced by Dairyland Power in February. SoCore Energy will install, own, operate and maintain both of the solar facilities.
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USDA Invests More Than $200 Million in Electric Infrastructure Improvements in Five States
Posted on May 26, 2016
The USDA recently celebrated the 80th anniversary of the Rural Electrification Act and announced funding of more than $200 million to build and upgrade rural electric infrastructure in five states. East Kentucky Power Cooperative, Inc. will receive a $131.8 million loan to acquire the Bluegrass Generating Facility, a natural gas fired power plant.
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Middle Tennessee Cooperative Withdraws Offer to Purchase Electric Utility
Posted on May 20, 2016
Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corp. informed the Mayor of Murfreesboro that it has withdrawn its offer to purchase Murfreesboro Electric Department which was recently valued between $175.5 million and $247.3 million. The City Council is discussing whether to take away the utility’s authority to make decisions as a governing body and convert the members into an advisory board to make recommendations for the elected officials to consider for approval.
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Wabash Valley Power Association Purchases Participation Interest in Illinois Power Plant
Posted on May 20, 2016
Wabash Valley Power Association purchased a 5 percent participation interest in a 1,600-MW coal-powered electric plant in the Prairie State Energy Campus for $57 million. The Campus, operational since 2012, is comprised of a power plant and an adjacent coal mine. The deal was completed a day after Peabody Energy received final approval on a financing package that puts it on a path toward a Chapter 11 restructuring.
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Texas Coop to Offer Broadband Service through WiFi
Posted on May 19, 2016
Texas-based Bandera Electric Cooperative (Bandera) plans to run fiber cables along its power poles to feed WiFi access points, which will provide wireless internet service to its customers. Bandera estimates that service speeds will range from 10—50 Mbps. The service will be tested in 200 homes for approximately six months before being rolled out to Bandera’s entire customer base.
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Hoosier Energy Constructing New Solar Panels in Johnson County, Indiana
Posted on May 19, 2016
Hoosier Energy, a G&T cooperative, plans to start construction within the next month on a $2.5 million solar farm on a site recently selected in Johnson County, Indiana. Approximately 4,100 solar panels will be installed at this site, and each panel will eventually collect about 1.5 kilowatt hours of energy per day, totaling about 2 million kilowatt hours per year. Hoosier Energy has already built three solar farms, currently has two others under construction and plans to construct another three in 2017.
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New Mexico Coop Obtains Solar PPA
Posted on May 19, 2016
Western Farmers Electric Cooperative (WFEC) has entered into a 25-year agreement with Duke Energy Renewables (DEN) to purchase power from DEN’s 25-MW Caprock Solar Power Project near Tucumcari in Quay County, New Mexico, allowing WFEC to further diversify its generating portfolio.
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Virginia Coop’s Permitting Dispute Drags On
Posted on May 19, 2016
A Pennsylvania environmental appeals board recently denied Old Dominion Electric Cooperative’s motion for summary judgment in a permitting dispute related to a proposed gas-fired plant, citing the importance of a factual question—whether water discharged into a river after being used as coolant for the plant might end up in a local water authority’s intakes.
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Alaska Coop to Receive $8 Million from FEMA
Posted on May 9, 2016
Alaska Village Electric Cooperative (Village Electric), located in Anchorage, Alaska, will be receiving more than $8 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to repair damages from a devastating 2013 storm. The storm produced 90 mph winds and significant flooding within Village Electric’s service territory. The funds will be used to repair damaged lines and other equipment serving Teller, Alaska, which is situated on the Seward Peninsula, about 70 miles southeast of the Bering Strait.
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Iowa Cooperative Raccoon Valley Becoming Carbon-Free with Purchase of Renewable Credits
Posted on Apr 29, 2016
Raccoon Valley, an Iowa electric cooperative, plans to purchase renewable credits from three wholesale suppliers to offset its use of carbon-based fuels and become carbon-free. Purchasing the credits from its suppliers supports the cooperative of which it is a member and puts more renewables back in the generation mix while adding less than half a percent to Raccoon Valley’s total cost of power.
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Great River Energy and NRECA Co-Sponsor Research Regarding Underutilized Energy Storage Resources
Posted on Apr 29, 2016
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) and Great River Energy co-sponsored a research study that showed that residential electric water heaters can serve as energy storage for wind or solar power, increasing efficiency, better integrating renewable energy and saving customers money. The large capacity water heaters can be enabled to make immediate use of wind or solar power to heat the water and then be shut down when renewables are scarce and wholesale costs are high.
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Cooperative Chosen to Build Walkemeyer Project
Posted on Apr 29, 2016
The Southwest Power Pool Board of Directors has selected Mid-Kansas Cooperative to be the transmission owner responsible for building the new “Walkemeyer” line, a 22.6-mile, 115 kV line from Walkemeyer to North Liberal.
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Tri-State Electric Breaks Ground on Research Center
Posted on Apr 29, 2016
Tri-State Electric has just broken ground on the Wyoming Integrated Test Center. The Center is an industrial-scale lab that will research methods that could be used to remove carbon emissions from coal-fired plants and convert them into a revenue-producing resource. Products made from waste carbon emissions could include chemicals, fuels, building materials and graphene.
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Texas Coop to Host Distributed Community Solar
Posted on Apr 27, 2016
Renewable Energy Systems Distributed has entered into an agreement with Pedernales Electric Cooperative (PEC) to construct the Pedernales Electric Community Solar Project. This solar project will be comprised of PV projects at 15 sites owned by coop members, and each site will host up to 998 kw of solar PV. PEC will purchase the output from each project under long-term contracts, and this electricity will then be sold to PEC’s members through PEC’s community solar program. Construction on these projects is expected to be completed by the end of 2017.
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