Mild Summer to Dampen Debt Service Coverage Ratios
Posted on Sep 17, 2014 in Financing | Comments Off on Mild Summer to Dampen Debt Service Coverage Ratios
Mild summer weather conditions in much of the country could dampen year-end electric sales and contribute to declining debt service coverage ratios for the public power and electric cooperative sectors in 2014, Fitch Ratings says. Public power and electric cooperative credit ratings can withstand some variability in annual cash flow metrics from changing weather or economic conditions....
USDA Announces Investment to Improve Reliability of Rural Electric Systems
Posted on Sep 9, 2014 in Financing, Grid & Infrastructure, Legislative & Politics, Regulation & Policy, Reliability | Comments Off on USDA Announces Investment to Improve Reliability of Rural Electric Systems
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) plan to invest more than $518 million in rural electric cooperatives to improve rural electric infrastructure. More than $23 million of the announced funding will be targeted for smart grid improvements. For more information and a list of the loan recipients, click here.
CFC Joins NRECA’s Solar Initiative
Posted on Aug 26, 2014 in Financing, Innovation/Efficiency, Legislative & Politics, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on CFC Joins NRECA’s Solar Initiative
The National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC) has formally joined the Solar Utility Network Deployment Acceleration (SUNDA) project led by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA). The SUNDA project is supported by a $3.6 million grant to NRECA from the U.S. Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative and will provide a knowledge base for...
Coops Challenge FERC’s New ROE Calculation
Posted on Aug 18, 2014 in Financing, Litigation, Rates, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on Coops Challenge FERC’s New ROE Calculation
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has signaled that it intends to change the methodology with which it calculates utilities’ return on equity (ROE), eliciting concern from the electric cooperative community. In a June 19 order involving New Hampshire Electric Cooperative, FERC used a new “two-step” method to calculate the ROE for oil and gas pipelines, and the commission has...
Iowa Coop Begins Operation of Largest Solar Farm in State
Posted on Aug 1, 2014 in Financing, Project Development, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Iowa Coop Begins Operation of Largest Solar Farm in State
Farmers Electric Cooperative’s new 2,900 panel solar farm has commenced operations. The solar farm is the state’s largest, generating up to 1.1 million kWh a year. State and federal tax credits and investor-owned utility incentives have sparked interest in solar development in the state. Click here for more information.
USDA to Fund Electric System Improvements in Rural Areas
Posted on Jul 16, 2014 in Financing, Grid & Infrastructure, Reliability, Technology | Comments Off on USDA to Fund Electric System Improvements in Rural Areas
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it will invest more than $250 million in loan proceeds to help improve the reliability of electric systems in rural areas in eight states. A portion of the funds will be used to modernize the systems with smart grid improvements. To read more about this story, please click here.
Coops Increase Power Sales in 2013
Median kilowatt-hour sales by electric cooperatives grew by 3.13 percent in 2013, reversing a recent trend of declining power sales. This figure shows that electric cooperatives continue to be the fastest-growing segment of the retail electric industry; retail kilowatt-hour sales for the entire industry decreased by 0.1 percent in 2013. To read more about this story, please click...Montana Coop Set to Emerge from Bankruptcy
Posted on Jun 17, 2014 in Corporate Governance, Financing, Litigation | Comments Off on Montana Coop Set to Emerge from Bankruptcy
A federal bankruptcy judge tentatively approved a reorganization plan for Southern Montana Electric Generation and Transmission Cooperative last week, pending receipt of a proposed order and other supplemental plan documents and agreements. As the Sutherland Coop Team reported on March 29, 2014, Southern Montana settled in March with noteholders that funded the construction of a gas...
USDA Loans and Grants Given to Coops
Posted on Jun 11, 2014 in Financing | Comments Off on USDA Loans and Grants Given to Coops
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant program has awarded $22.5 million in loans and grants to organizations in nine states to promote rural economic development. The USDA provides these zero-interest loans and grants to utilities that lend funds to local businesses for projects to create and retain employment in rural areas. The...
Coal Squeezed Out By Environmental Regulations
Posted on Jun 11, 2014 in Climate Change, Environmental, Financing, Legislative & Politics, Rates, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on Coal Squeezed Out By Environmental Regulations
New environmental regulations and coal plant retirements will affect the nation’s energy mix by 2015, according to a government report. Coal consumption is projected to drop by 3.1 percent in 2015, despite the demand for coal power during the coldest parts of last winter. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates coal plant operators will shut down 60 GW of capacity by...
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