Electrical Demand Expected to Triple in the North Dakota Oil Patch
Posted on Oct 24, 2012 in Grid & Infrastructure, Project Development | Comments Off on Electrical Demand Expected to Triple in the North Dakota Oil Patch
The Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative (MWEC) in North Dakota will energize six new substations today in an effort to keep up with rapidly increasing demand spurred by increased oil production in the state. According to a recent study, the electrical demand in the Williston Basin and surrounding areas is expected to triple by 2032. MWEC reported that it has seen its peak load...
Georgia Coop Protects Endangered Fish
Posted on Oct 24, 2012 in Environmental | Comments Off on Georgia Coop Protects Endangered Fish
Georgia Transmission Corporation (GTC), based in Tucker, GA, and federal wildlife officials have partnered together to protect the Cherokee darter, a one- to two-inch fish, by preventing sediment from entering its primary habitat. The fish, which has been on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Endangered Species List since 1994, is found only in streams in the Etowah River basin,...
Hawaii Coop Reveals Solar Facility Progress
Posted on Oct 23, 2012 in Land Use, Project Development, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Hawaii Coop Reveals Solar Facility Progress
Kaua’i Island Utility Cooperative of Hawaii is building a $40 million, 12-MW solar project on 67 acres on the south side of its island territory. The project site, a former sugar cane farm, will be leased from the Grove Farm Co. The coop hopes to obtain the necessary regulatory approvals by July 2013, and the goal is to have the site online by late 2014. Read more on this...
CFTC Provides Temporary Exemption for Coops
Posted on Oct 23, 2012 in Legislative & Politics, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on CFTC Provides Temporary Exemption for Coops
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has passed a temporary “no-action relief” provision exempting most transactions among and between electric coops and other not-for-profit electric utilities from most Commodity Exchange Act regulations. Deals exempted include those involved with the physical delivery of electricity, generation capacity, transmission services, fuel, and...
Lowell Mountain Wind Project Survives Legal Challenge
Posted on Oct 22, 2012 in Climate Change, Environmental, Litigation, Renewable Energy, Technology | Comments Off on Lowell Mountain Wind Project Survives Legal Challenge
Green Mountain Power and Vermont Electric Cooperative, Inc. can proceed with the construction of an industrial wind project on Lowell Mountain, as the Vermont Supreme Court has dismissed a legal challenge to the project. The 21-turbine Kingdom Community Wind project is due to come on line in December 2012. The project’s challengers, Lowell Mountains Group Inc. and the towns of Albany...
Texas Coop Finalizes Financing for Biomass Plant
Posted on Oct 22, 2012 in Financing, Project Development | Comments Off on Texas Coop Finalizes Financing for Biomass Plant
East Texas Electric Cooperative, based in Nacogdoches, Texas, has finalized long-term financing for a 49.9-MW biomass plant currently under construction. The coop will fund the project with $55 million in Clean Renewable Energy Bonds issued by the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation and a loan from the Rural Utilities Service through the Federal Financing Bank. ...
Public Regulation Commission Rescinds Internet Spin-off Order
Posted on Oct 17, 2012 in Financing, Legislative & Politics, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on Public Regulation Commission Rescinds Internet Spin-off Order
On October 16, the Public Regulation Commission (PRC) voted to rescind an order it made last year requiring Kit Carson Electric Cooperative (Kit Carson) to spin-off its Internet division in order to protect electric ratepayers from potential losses. Kit Carson did not provide official notice of the PRC order to the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), and as a result, RUS instituted a...
Ninth Circuit Upholds Power Rate Contract
Posted on Oct 17, 2012 in Litigation, Rates | Comments Off on Ninth Circuit Upholds Power Rate Contract
On October 16, the Ninth Circuit denied requests by utility cooperatives to review a power rate contract between Alcoa, Inc. (Alcoa) and Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). The coops argued that BPA was selling power to Alcoa at the statutorily mandated industrial firm power rate, thereby forgoing profits that could have been used to lower rates to its customers. The Ninth Circuit...
An Activist Framework for Cybersecurity Oversight
Posted on Oct 16, 2012 in Grid & Infrastructure, Legislative & Politics, Regulation & Policy, Reliability | Comments Off on An Activist Framework for Cybersecurity Oversight
Three recent initiatives by different arms of the federal government intended to help combat cyber threats to the nation’s critical energy infrastructure reveal an activist approach to regulating cybersecurity. At this juncture, it is difficult to ascertain the legal and political ramifications of the three initiatives, but members of the energy sector should pay attention — the...
Federal Grants to Boost Smart Grid Development
Posted on Oct 15, 2012 in Grid & Infrastructure, Legislative & Politics, Project Development, Technology | Comments Off on Federal Grants to Boost Smart Grid Development
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced $134 million in grant funding for rural electric coops and utilities to develop smart grid technologies. These funds will be added to the $250 million in financing announced by the USDA in August. (See previous Sutherland Coop team reports on this USDA grant funding from August 6, August 10, September 10, October 5...
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