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Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative to Provide Broadband Access

Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative (MEC) has requested $2.7 million from the Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission to provide broadband access to all of MEC’s customers. MEC intends to partner with Mid-Atlantic Broadband Communities Corporation to build the fiber optic network that will ultimately provide broadband services to the rural areas within MEC’s service region.

CoBank Report: Electric Cooperatives Increasingly Bringing Broadband to Rural Communities

People living in rural communities are four times more likely to lack access to broadband than those in urban communities. Rural electric cooperatives, some of which were formed nearly 80 years ago to bring electricity to rural America, are increasingly making the move into broadband to fill the supply gap. Many coops have found that building out a broadband network using their...

GridLiance Completes Purchase of Valley Electric Association’s High Voltage Transmission System

GridLiance Holdco, L.P. (GridLiance) has completed an acquisition of Valley Electric Association, Inc.’s (VEA) 230kV transmission system and entered into an ongoing partnership with VEA for the operation and maintenance of the transmission system. The acquisition consists of approximately 160 miles of transmission lines and related substation equipment.

Drones Help Coops Restore Power After Harvey

Multiple cooperatives used drones to locate problems in hard-to-reach areas after Hurricane Harvey. Pedernales Electric Cooperative relied on its drone team to fly 60 missions and inspect more than 1,600 poles after the storm.

Electric Cooperative to Provide Clean Energy to Coop Members

Central Virginia Electric Cooperative (CVEC), a member-owned electric distribution cooperative serving over 36,000 meters in 14 Virginia counties, and Coronal Energy, powered by Panasonic, a leading independent power producer and provider of turnkey renewable energy solutions, are developing two 5 MWac solar electric generating facilities along the Interstate 64 corridor in Virginia....

Bandera Electric Awarded Project in Liberia

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association has awarded Bandera Electric Cooperative a contract to construct a solar-plus-storage microgrid for a community in Liberia, which will benefit around 400 homes and businesses. The project will include approximately 220 solar panels and 90kWh of lithium-ion battery energy storage, alongside diesel backup generation.

Unfinished Nuclear Plant Site Repurposed With Solar Farm

An unfinished nuclear power plant in Tennessee has recently been converted into a 1 MW solar farm. North Carolina-based Birdseye Renewable Energy partnered with Georgia-based United Renewable Energy to design and construct the new solar farm, and the energy is being sold to Holston Electric Cooperative as part of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Distributed Solar Solutions...

Homeland Security and F.B.I. Say Hackers Are Targeting Nuclear Facilities

According to security consultants and an urgent joint report issued by the Department of Homeland Security (Homeland Security) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.) last week, hackers have been penetrating the computer networks of companies that operate nuclear power stations and other energy facilities, as well as manufacturing plants in the United States and other...

Pedernales Electric Cooperative Partnering with University of Texas to Improve Energy Grids

The University of Texas at Austin (UT) was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to participate in the Grid Modernization Initiative. Pedernales Electric Cooperative (PEC), the nation’s largest electric cooperative, is partnering with UT to help design the “grid of the future.” The projects will help utilities advance and expand distributed energy resources onto the grid,...

Bandera Electric Cooperative Modernizes Electric Grid

Bandera Electric Cooperative (BEC), a rural Texas cooperative, recently completed its first distribution circuit automation project in the first step in developing a “smart grid” which will increase the reliability, efficiency, safety, and cost effectiveness of the power system.  The distribution system automation will provide real-time adjustment to changing loads and operating...

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