USDA Announces Efficiency Funding for Two Coops
Posted on Oct 23, 2014
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Utilities Service will provide $10.5 million in loans from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Loan Program to Roanoke Electric Membership Corporation and North Arkansas Electric Cooperative. The funds will be used by members of the coops to invest in efficiency upgrades to their homes or businesses. Click here to read more.
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Nevada Coop Launches Utility-Scale Solar Project
Posted on Oct 23, 2014
Nevada’s Valley Electric Association, which has over the past few years implemented an award-winning solar water heating program, is planning a 15-MW solar generation project, which will include a community solar component. Click here for more information.
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Wolverine Announces New Gas-Fired Plant
Posted on Oct 23, 2014
Michigan’s Wolverine Power Cooperative (Wolverine) announced earlier this week its plans to develop a new gas-fired power plant in Elmira Township, Otsego County. The site for the new plant, called the Alpine Power Plant, was selected after a nearly two-year evaluation period and was picked for its proximity to existing pipelines and electric transmission lines. Click here for more information.
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NRECA Intervenes in Endangered Species Litigation
Posted on Oct 22, 2014
The National Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (NRECA) has intervened in a lawsuit filed by conservation groups against the Fish and Wildlife Service’s classification of the lesser prairie chicken as “threatened” rather than “endangered.” NRECA told a federal court that listing the chicken as “endangered” would affect more than 20 electric cooperatives that have already undertaken significant and costly efforts to mitigate impacts to the bird. Click here to read more.
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Federal Court Delays Mandate Overturning FERC Order 745
Posted on Oct 22, 2014
The federal court that recently overturned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) controversial Order 745, which required consumers be paid for using less power during high-demand periods, has granted FERC’s petition for a stay. The federal court said it would delay its mandate until December 16. During the stay, FERC could file a writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court. To read more please click here.
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Three U.S. Coops Listed in Top 300 Coops Globally
Posted on Oct 21, 2014
The International Co-operative Alliance’s Global 300, a list of the world’s largest cooperatives, included three U.S. electric cooperatives—Basin Electric Power Cooperative (Basin Electric), Oglethorpe Power Corporation (Oglethorpe) and Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association. Basin Electric and Oglethorpe were also in the top 15 industry and utility cooperatives. For more on the Global 300, click here.
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Missouri Electric Coop Offers Members 18th Fastest Internet in U.S.
Posted on Oct 20, 2014
Co-Mo Connect, a Missouri internet service provider and subsidiary of Co-Mo Electric Cooperative, ranks 18th in the United States and 1st in the state of Missouri for speed of internet service provided. Click here for more.
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Midwest Coops Support Increased Regional Planning
Posted on Oct 20, 2014
Representatives from two large generation and transmission cooperatives, Minnesota’s Great River Energy and Indiana’s Hoosier Energy, urged state and federal leaders to engage in more coordination at the regional level at a recent conference sponsored by the Midwestern Governors Association. Coops suggested, among other things, that plans to comply with new Clean Air Act regulations be established at the regional, rather than state, level and expressed concerns about how Midcontinent Independent System Operator has imposed transmission development costs on cooperatives that are not in line...
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USDA Announces Loan Guarantees for Rural Improvements
Posted on Oct 17, 2014
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced $1.4 billion in loan guarantees to improve rural electric infrastructure, including moneys for smart grid and renewable energy investments. Electric coops were among the recipients of this recent round of funding. Click here for more information.
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Groundbreaking Held for New Maryland Gas-Fired Power Plant
Posted on Oct 17, 2014
The groundbreaking ceremony for the Wildcat Point Generation Facility, a gas-fired plant being built in Cecil County, Maryland, by Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC), generated such a large turnout that people had to take turns using the shovels and hard hats. The ceremony on the grounds of Rock Springs Generation Facility in Maryland brought together the 11 coops that run ODEC. When completed in the spring of 2017, Wildcat Point is expected to generate 1,000 MW of power. For more on the current story, click here. For more background on this project, click here to read Sutherland...
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Michigan Coops Consider Merger Opportunity
Posted on Oct 17, 2014
Alger Delta Cooperative Electric Association (Alger Delta) may merge with Great Lakes Energy (GLE), according to an announcement made at Wednesday’s Alger Delta Board meeting. Alger Delta officials say that a merger would lead to more stable electric rates and would save its residential customers an estimated $24 per month. GLE, based in Boyne City, has 125,000 customers and Alger-Delta, based in Gladstone, Michigan, has 10,000 members. Any merger would have to be approved by both Boards of Directors and the members of both coops. Membership voting could come sometime early in 2015...
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Recent CoBank Report Indicates Solar Growth
Posted on Oct 15, 2014
CoBank recently released a report noting that the U.S. could experience a jump in solar installations of more than 70 percent by 2016. The study projects that solar installation will increase from 7 GW in 2014 to 12 GW in 2016. The increase is based in large part on the Solar Investment Tax Credit, which is currently 30 percent but will drop to 10 percent in 2017. Click here to read more about this story.
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Basin Awards Supply Contract for Peaking Plant in North Dakota
Posted on Oct 15, 2014
Basin Electric Power Cooperative (Basin) and Wärtsilä have entered into an agreement for the supply of generation technology at Basin’s planned 112 MW peaking power plant in Williston, North Dakota. To read more about this story, please click here.
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Cooperative to Purchase Power from Eastern New Mexico Wind Farm
Posted on Oct 13, 2014
New Mexico’s Lea County Electric Cooperative (LCEC) has contracted to buy the output from the Anderson Wind Farm, which is currently under construction in Lea County. The farm is in fact a series of several small 7- to 8-megawatt farms, a structure that allows the farms to provide power “behind the meter” and not be subject to the open market. LCEC recently became a member of Western Farmers Power Cooperative (WFPC), and the power purchased from the Anderson farm, together with power to be purchased from WFPC, will help LCEC make required reductions of its purchases from another power...
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