Court Rejects Challenge to EPA Haze Rule
Posted on Jul 31, 2013 in Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on Court Rejects Challenge to EPA Haze Rule
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit upheld the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2009 regional haze rule in Oklahoma despite challenges that the EPA overstepped its authority. The decision is expected to impact coal-based electricity, which makes up about 70% of cooperative-owned generation. To read more about this story and a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals...
Arkansas Coop Enters Wind Agreement
Posted on Jul 31, 2013 in Environmental, Financing, Project Development, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Arkansas Coop Enters Wind Agreement
RES Americas and Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation (AECC) have entered into a 20-year power purchase agreement, which will result in the construction of 75 new wind turbines in two Oklahoma counties. The 150-MW Origin Wind Project, which is slated to begin operations by late 2014, will add to the 51 MW of wind capacity acquired by AECC through a 2012 power purchase agreement. ...
Alaska Coop Seeking to Partner with State on Developing LNG Plant
Posted on Jul 30, 2013 in Financing, Grid & Infrastructure, Permitting | Comments Off on Alaska Coop Seeking to Partner with State on Developing LNG Plant
Alaska’s Golden Valley Electric Association is one of four entities seeking to partner with the state in developing a small LNG plant at Prudhoe Bay, a spokesman for the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority said. The proposed LNG plant would process 9 billion cubic feet of gas per year and ship 300,000 gallons of LNG per day by truck to Fairbanks in Interior Alaska. For...
New Mexico Coop, Tribal Negotiations at Impasse
Posted on Jul 30, 2013 in Land Use, Legislative & Politics, Rates | Comments Off on New Mexico Coop, Tribal Negotiations at Impasse
Jemez Mountains Electric Cooperative has been unable to obtain help from members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation, who say the federal government has no jurisdiction in the conflict between the coop and Indian pueblos over easement payments. The coop says that the fees charged by the tribes are too high, and the costs then must be passed on to the coop’s customers. In April,...
Coal Ash Bill Passes House – On to Senate
Posted on Jul 26, 2013 in Environmental, Legislative & Politics | Comments Off on Coal Ash Bill Passes House – On to Senate
Backed by numerous coops and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the U.S. House has passed a bill that identifies states, rather than the Environmental Protection Agency, as the primary regulators of coal ash storage. The Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act of 2013 received bipartisan support and will allow utilities to continue selling coal ash to companies that...
Debate Arises over Issue of Sustaining Net Metering Projects
Posted on Jul 25, 2013 in Environmental, Regulation & Policy, Renewable Energy, Technology | Comments Off on Debate Arises over Issue of Sustaining Net Metering Projects
Some coops in the Northeast are concerned about the legal ambiguities of financing small renewable energy projects. Coops in Vermont are subject to a law that requires utilities to credit customers 20 cents for every kWh they produce through small renewable energy systems, or net metering systems, unless a utility’s total net metering surpasses 4 percent of its peak demand from the...
Maryland Coop Tops Rankings In J.D. Power Survey
Posted on Jul 25, 2013 in Corporate Governance, Reliability | Comments Off on Maryland Coop Tops Rankings In J.D. Power Survey
For the sixth consecutive year, Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative topped out the rankings among mid-sized utilities in the J.D. Power Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study. The study, now in its 15th year, measures customer satisfaction with electric utility companies by examining six factors: power quality and reliability; price; billing and payment; corporate...
Oregon Utilities Consider Territory Transfer
Posted on Jul 25, 2013 in Corporate Governance, Grid & Infrastructure | Comments Off on Oregon Utilities Consider Territory Transfer
The Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB), an Oregon municipal utility, is considering transferring a portion of its McKenzie River Valley service territory to Lane Electric Cooperative (Lane Electric). The transfer will only occur if EWEB and Lane Electric determine that such a transfer would make “technical, operational, business and customer sense.” Both EWEB and Lane Electric...
FERC Grants Coop’s Appeal of NERC Registry Decision
Posted on Jul 25, 2013 in Litigation, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on FERC Grants Coop’s Appeal of NERC Registry Decision
On July 18, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an order granting the appeal of the South Louisiana Electric Cooperative Association (SLECA) of a registry decision by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). This dispute stemmed from NERC’s registration of SLECA as a distribution provider and load-serving entity. SLECA claimed it was...
Appeals Court Upholds Award in Dairy Farmer’s Suit Over Stray Voltage
Posted on Jul 23, 2013 in Grid & Infrastructure, Litigation | Comments Off on Appeals Court Upholds Award in Dairy Farmer’s Suit Over Stray Voltage
An appeals court decided that a Waverly, Minnesota, dairy farmer can be awarded damages from a local coop because of the effects of stray electrical currents from the coop’s transmission lines on his dairy cows. Stray electrical currents, which were conducted through the ground rather than a neutral wire connected through the farm, were found to have killed and stressed a number of...
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