Eversheds Sutherland Coop Law Blog
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Three Iowa Coops May Be Able to Recover Their Costs After All

An ice storm in April 2013 required three Iowa coops and a municipal utility to spend $19 million for repair and recovery work.  The coops requested reimbursement for those expenses from the Federal Emergency Management Agent (FEMA), but their initial request was denied in the Fall of 2013.  However, the initial regional FEMA ruling denying recovery was recently overturned, paving the...

FEMA Grant Will Help Vermont Coop Clean Up

Vermont legislators announced last Friday that the Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) will receive a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).  The $2.1 million grant will cover cleanup and repair costs related to severe weather that occurred last December and caused 45,000 outages in VEC’s service territory.  Click here for more.

Mississippi Coop to Receive FEMA Funds for Severe Weather Cleanup

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has approved over $2.43 million in Disaster Relief Fund grants to be distributed to the City of Tupelo and the East Mississippi Electric Power Association to fund debris removal and utility repairs necessitated by tornadoes and severe weather that hit northeast Mississippi in April.  Click here for more.

FEMA Aid Never a Guarantee for Coops

Coops across the country struggle to comply with the regulations of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).  As a result, federal reimbursement for damage caused by natural disasters continues to elude many coops, leaving members to foot the bill for these unavoidable expenses.  Click here to learn more.

South Dakota Coop Gets Reimbursement Funding from Winter Storm

The South Dakota Office of Emergency Management and the Federal Emergency Management Agency will award roughly $20 million to Grand Electric Cooperative for the repair and replacement of more than 1,500 poles damaged by an early October blizzard.  To read more, click here.

Iowa Legislators Back Coops Revisiting Denial of FEMA Aid

After being denied aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) following an April 2013 ice storm, several Iowa coops, as well as the State of Iowa itself, appealed the agency’s decision.  The Iowa congressional delegation has asked that FEMA revisit the decision, which Chuck Grassley, U.S. Senator from Iowa, says resulted from an “abrupt change of policy.”  Click here for...

Iowa Appeals FEMA Decision

As last reported by the Sutherland Coop Team on October 2, 2013, the state of Iowa has appealed a decision by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to forego additional disaster relief funding for Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative, Lyon Rural Electric Cooperative, Osceola Electric Cooperative and Sanborn Electric and Telecommunications Utility.  The rural coops requested an...

Iowa Coops Appeal Denial of FEMA Aid

Iowa electric cooperatives are appealing a decision by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) which denied $20 million in aid for emergency and permanent repair costs from a snow and ice storm in spring 2012.  FEMA based its decision on distribution and transmission line laboratory testing requirements, passed in 2009, which the Iowa coops claim are unrealistic.  To read more...

Iowa Coops Protest Denial of Aid for Storm Damage

Representatives of several Iowa power providers traveled to Washington, D.C., after they learned the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) denied disaster aid for coops in Dickinson, Osceola, Lyon, Sioux and O’Brien counties.  Three Iowa electric cooperatives and two municipal utilities reported damage to infrastructure after a severe ice storm passed through the Iowa Great Lakes...

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