Study Documents Challenge to Utilizing Renewable Energy Potential
Posted on Apr 21, 2011 in Climate Change, Environmental, Innovation/Efficiency, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Study Documents Challenge to Utilizing Renewable Energy Potential
Rural areas have abundant opportunities for wind power and other renewable energy production. Electric coops, however, may not be able provide enough transmission lines to carry power from new renewable production facilities to many U.S. farms. Few rural coops are using renewable resources for energy, either because of technology costs, disadvantageous tax issues or problems with...
Chevron Begins Operations of New Solar Field
Posted on Apr 20, 2011 in Environmental, Grid & Infrastructure, Innovation/Efficiency, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Chevron Begins Operations of New Solar Field
Chevron Mining has begun the operations of a solar field located in New Mexico. The company installed concentrating photovoltaic technology, which uses lenses to collect and focus direct sunlight onto layers of high efficiency cells on the site of Chevron’s molybdenum mine in Questa, New Mexico. Read more about the solar field’s technology, including 173 solar trackers, here.
Coops in North Carolina and Virginia Plan Sharp Rate Hikes
Posted on Apr 20, 2011 in Financing, Grid & Infrastructure, Rates | Comments Off on Coops in North Carolina and Virginia Plan Sharp Rate Hikes
North Carolina-based ElectriCities Inc. and Virginia-based Rappahannock Electric Cooperative are both planning rate increases of as much as 30 percent. According to ElectriCities, rates for the 19 cities that buy power from it would increase a cumulative total of 29.2 percent over the next five years if the coop does not restructure its debt. A full debt restructuring would limit rate...
Customer Satisfaction With Energy Utilities Hits Decade High
Posted on Apr 20, 2011 in Corporate Governance, Rates | Comments Off on Customer Satisfaction With Energy Utilities Hits Decade High
According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), customer satisfaction with energy utilities has risen by 0.8 percent to 74.7 on the ACSI’s 0-100 index scale. This year, the ACSI expanded its coverage of energy utilities to include the three major categories of investor-owned, municipal and consumer-owned coops. Coops have much higher scores than investor-owed utilities,...
Coop Manager Sees Pay-As-You-Go Power On The Horizon
Posted on Apr 19, 2011 in Energy Savings Programs, Grid & Infrastructure, Innovation/Efficiency | Comments Off on Coop Manager Sees Pay-As-You-Go Power On The Horizon
According to Covington Electric Cooperative (CEC) general manager Ed Short, pay-as-you-go energy consumption may be coming to consumers in the foreseeable future. In his speech to CEC members at their annual meeting last Thursday, Short said a new meter-reading system is currently being installed to save operating costs and provide members with information they’ll need to manage energy...
Pedernales Coop Board Expresses Cautious Support For Regulation Bill
Posted on Apr 19, 2011 in Corporate Governance, Legislative & Politics, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on Pedernales Coop Board Expresses Cautious Support For Regulation Bill
Members of the Texas-based Pedernales Electric Cooperative board of directors said Monday that they will support Senator Troy Fraser’s latest attempt to impose state regulation on the coop if he addresses some concerns about the bill first. Pedernales continues to recover from a scandal that exposed closed-door practices, excessive spending and criminal activity. As some members noted...
Minnesota Coop Benefits From Roll Back of Coal Restrictions
Posted on Apr 19, 2011 in Environmental, Legislative & Politics, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on Minnesota Coop Benefits From Roll Back of Coal Restrictions
Minnesota senators voted last Thursday to lift restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions from coal production. Supporters said the restrictions have amounted to a moratorium on both new coal plants in the state and the purchase of energy produced by new coal plants in neighboring states. Several Democrats joined the chamber’s Republicans in their unanimous support of rolling back the...
North Carolina Coops Make Progress Restoring Energy After Massive Storms
Posted on Apr 19, 2011 in Environmental | Comments Off on North Carolina Coops Make Progress Restoring Energy After Massive Storms
Following severe storms in North Carolina last weekend, coop crews in the area have worked diligently to restore power to customers. As of Sunday, approximately 32,000 outages remained across the cooperatives’ service areas, down from a peak of nearly 100,000 as the storms moved through the state. The storms, which moved through North Carolina last Saturday, made national news...
Proposed Plant Would Convert Methane to Electricity
Posted on Apr 19, 2011 in Environmental, Innovation/Efficiency, Project Development | Comments Off on Proposed Plant Would Convert Methane to Electricity
Hoosier Energy, a coop in Indiana, plans to build a plant in the western region of the state that would turn methane extracted from the region’s coal bed into electricity. The project would generate 13 MW of power – enough to power roughly 7,000 homes. Hoosier spokesman Rick More said the plant’s cost is still being calculated. The plant is expected to go online in July 2012 and...
New Mexico Coop Clashes With Critics Over Records Requests
Posted on Apr 19, 2011 in Corporate Governance, Litigation, Rates | Comments Off on New Mexico Coop Clashes With Critics Over Records Requests
Coop members who have requested records from New Mexico-based Kit Carson Electric Cooperative in preparation for an upcoming rate case say the coop is unfairly refusing to release the requested records. After hundreds of Kit Carson members protested a proposed rate hike, the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission, in January, ordered an investigation into the rate increase. Many of...
Subscribe
