Eversheds Sutherland Coop Law Blog
content top

Two Wisconsin Coops Lead Charge on New Solar Project

A new solar project being developed in Wisconsin will serve the state’s electric cooperatives, providing 15 megawatts of capacity.  The “Sunflower II” array, to be located in Hammond, will be interconnected into the distribution system of St. Croix Electric Cooperative, which has contracted to buy 7 percent of the project’s output and will sell the balance of its power to generation...

Tennessee Coops Encouraged by Findings and Recommendations of Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development

The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development recently issued a report finding that regulatory barriers hinder electric cooperatives from providing broadband internet access to their members.  The Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association issued a press release praising the report, stating that “[c]o-ops have a legacy of expanding critical services beyond the city...

GRE to Retire North Dakota Coal Plant

Minnesota generation and transmission cooperative Great River Energy (GRE) has decided to retire its Stanton Station, a coal plant located near Bismarck, North Dakota.  The 189-megawatt plan served GRE’s customers in Minnesota.

Colorado Coop Offers Ultra-Fast Internet Access

Colorado’s Delta-Montrose Electric Association plans to provide one gigabit broadband internet to members this winter.  It will take approximately five years for the cooperative to construct the facilities necessary to provide access to all of its members, however.  Doing so will require overlaying 4,000 miles of distribution line with fiber cables connected to individual homes.  Once...

NRECA Partners With Department of Energy

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) will be partnering with the Department of Energy and the American Public Power Association to enhance protection of the electric grid from attack.  The partnership will give the nation’s electric cooperatives access to cybersecurity technology and training.

Wolverine Announces Commission of Alpine Power Plant

Wolverine Power Supply Cooperative, Inc. (Wolverine) announced that the new Alpine Power Plant, a natural gas-fired peaking plant located turbine in Elmira, Michigan, is now fully-powered.  Once final commissioning is complete, the two generators, capable of producing a combined 410 MWs of electricity, will be handed off to the Midcontinent Independent System Operator for routine...

Texas Grid Operator Expects Major Increase in Solar Growth

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas expects solar to become the second or third largest source of electric generation in Texas by 2031.

Clean Power Plan to Rush Need for Infrastructure

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) has forecasted that by 2030 the Clean Power Plan will boost renewable resources 10-20 gigawatts and coal capacity will fall by as much as 27 gigawatts.  This shift will accelerate the need for more transmission and pipeline infrastructure, with most new gas generation in the North and Southeast, and most wind power in the...

Dairyland Power Cooperative Announces Significant Wind Expansion

Dairyland Power Cooperative, located in La Crosse, Wisconsin, recently announced that it will begin purchasing energy from a 98 megawatt wind project located in southwestern Wisconsin. The project is owned by EDP Renewables North America. The project is currently working its way through the MISO generation interconnect process, and construction is set to begin in 2017.

Texas Coop to Offer Broadband Service through WiFi

Texas-based Bandera Electric Cooperative (Bandera) plans to run fiber cables along its power poles to feed WiFi access points, which will provide wireless internet service to its customers.  Bandera estimates that service speeds will range from 10—50 Mbps.  The service will be tested in 200 homes for approximately six months before being rolled out to Bandera’s entire customer...

« Older Entries Next Entries »