Coop Leaders Join President Obama for Solar Event
Posted on May 12, 2014
Bob Marshall, general manager of Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative (Plumas-Sierra), and David Gottula, general manager of Okanogan County Electric Cooperative (Okanogan), joined President Obama at a May 9 event in Mountain View, California, at which the president highlighted electric cooperatives’ efforts to develop solar projects. Plumas-Sierra has plans for a community and rooftop solar program, as well as installations at the Sierra Army Depot in Herlach, California. Okanogan has residential and community solar programs in place, including a community solar project at its...
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Kansas Regulators’ Amendments to Permit May Clear Way for Coop’s Coal Project
Posted on May 12, 2014
After the Kansas Supreme Court overturned a permit granted to Sunflower Electric Power Corporation in 2010 to build a coal-fired power plant in the southwestern part of the state, state regulators are proposing an amendment to the permit that would require the new plant to meet the more rigorous standards laid out by the supreme court. The project is again meeting resistance from members of environmental groups, who argue that regulators should have started over, rather than amending the overturned permit. Click here for more.
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Colorado Law Would Make Metal Theft from Coops a Felony
Posted on May 9, 2014
A bill that would make theft of commodity metals, such as copper and aluminum, from electric cooperatives and other utilities a felony awaits the signature of Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper. Commodity metal theft is punishable by up to eight years in prison under the bill. Click here for more.
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New Mexico City Plans to Acquire Coop
Posted on May 9, 2014
The City of Socorro, New Mexico, has plans to acquire Socorro Electric Cooperative (SEC), said the city’s mayor, Ravi Bhasker. Recently energy costs have been significantly higher in Socorro than in other New Mexico cities. Click here for more.
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Oregon Coop Faces Maintenance Permitting Delays
Posted on May 9, 2014
Under federal law, Redmond, Oregon-based Central Electric Cooperative (CEC) must obtain permits to perform maintenance on its transmission lines located on public land. CEC has argued that the permits can make providing safe and reliable electricity more difficult. Click here for more.
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TVA Rates for Coops 13 Percent Above Average
Posted on May 9, 2014
Michael Watson, president of Shelbyville, Tennessee-based Duck River Electric Membership Corporation (DREMC), told the board of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) that the rates DREMC pays TVA for the power it distributes are 13 percent higher than the average wholesale rate that distribution coops pay. Click here for more.
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Alaska Coop Takes Over Territory
Posted on May 9, 2014
Alaska Village Electric Cooperative (AVEC) has completed a takeover of a service territory from Bethel Utilities Corporation. The takeover brings the number of AVEC’s customers from around 8,000 to around 10,800. Click here for more.
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USDA Announces New Rural Development Funding
Posted on May 9, 2014
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced funding of $540 million in loan guarantees to fund improvements to the rural electric system, including more than $35 million for smart grid projects. Awards for 2014 are contingent upon the recipients satisfying the terms of the applicable loan agreements. To read more about this story, click here.
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New CVEC Initiatives Could Reduce Vegetation-Related Outages
Posted on May 6, 2014
Central Virginia Electric Cooperative (CVEC) has designed two initiatives to reduce costs and increase reliability. One initiative involves a computerized vegetation management system that will communicate to the coop what trees need to be trimmed. CVEC will transfer geographic information from hard copies to a computerized version with GPS capabilities, hopefully making vegetation-clearing efforts more targeted and efficient. For more information on both initiatives, click here.
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Election for CoServ Electric Coop Board Heats Up
Posted on May 6, 2014
The annual board of directors election for Texas utility CoServ Electric has been heating up. Certain residents have formed the West Frisco Homeowners Coalition and have recruited their own candidate in hopes of making a bigger impact on an upcoming decision of where to site new high-voltage transmission lines. Two routes initially proposed by Brazos Electric Power Cooperative both run through highly populated areas. For more information about this race, click here.
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North Carolina Coop Offers Tornado Victims Rebates
Posted on May 6, 2014
Tideland Electric Membership Corporation, a North Carolina coop, has doubled its rebates for new homes to be rebuilt following two devastating tornadoes in the area. The rebates will increase from $1,250 to $2,500 for any tornado-impacted coop member building a new home or purchasing a new manufactured home. Read more here.
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DOE Issues New Cybersecurity Guidance
Posted on May 1, 2014
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released new guidelines intended to help manage supply chain risk and develop cybersecurity protections during the product design and manufacturing phases. The new guidance, titled “Cybersecurity Procurement Language for Energy Delivery Systems,” is intended to help energy sector participants and technology suppliers address supply chain considerations. To learn more about the guidance, click here.
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Bluebonnet Members to Receive Capital Credits
Posted on May 1, 2014
Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative in Texas will return $3 million in patronage capital to its members using a member’s past electricity usage and length of membership to determine the amount returned in the form of capital credits. The San Marcos Daily Record has the full story.
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Storms and Tornadoes Strike Coops Throughout the South
Posted on May 1, 2014
Throughout the South, electric cooperatives have sent crews and equipment to restore power to thousands of consumer-members after this week’s storms. For more on the repair efforts, click here.
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