Sutherland Webcast: NIST’s Preliminary Cybersecurity Framework – Impact on Energy Companies
Posted on Nov 6, 2013 in Grid & Infrastructure, Legislative & Politics, Regulation & Policy, Reliability | Comments Off on Sutherland Webcast: NIST’s Preliminary Cybersecurity Framework – Impact on Energy Companies
Cybersecurity and the protection of critical infrastructure are major concerns for the energy industry. New government regulations and guidance are in the works under the President’s Cybersecurity Executive Order, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework. NIST released its Preliminary Framework on October 22. Join Sutherland...
USDA Makes $960 Million Investment in Rural Electric Utility System Improvements
Posted on Oct 28, 2013 in Grid & Infrastructure, Innovation/Efficiency, Reliability, Technology | Comments Off on USDA Makes $960 Million Investment in Rural Electric Utility System Improvements
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced funding for rural electric utility system improvements that will benefit residential and business customers in 23 states, including more than $14.3 million to implement smart grid technology and nearly $11 million to improve electric service for Native Americans. The $960 million in USDA loan guarantees will go...
Coops Working to Make Smart Grid Data More Accessible and Useful
Posted on Oct 25, 2013 in Grid & Infrastructure, Innovation/Efficiency, Technology | Comments Off on Coops Working to Make Smart Grid Data More Accessible and Useful
As more coops and their members adopt smart meters and smart grid technology, the next step is to find ways to use this data to meet members’ needs. A number of coops have hired the Atlanta firm Verdeeco Inc. to help implement methods for coop members to better monitor and manage their energy use. Click here for more on this story.
MISO Will Not Allow Shutdown of Presque Isle Power Plant
Posted on Oct 22, 2013 in Climate Change, Environmental, Grid & Infrastructure, Project Development, Regulation & Policy, Reliability, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on MISO Will Not Allow Shutdown of Presque Isle Power Plant
The Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) says We Energies’ Presque Isle coal-fired power plant in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula needs to remain operational for reliability reasons, despite a bid by We Energies to suspend operations. We Energies had discussed retiring the power plant several years ago but changed its mind after Wolverine Power Cooperative (Wolverine) agreed to...
Dairyland to Retire Alma Station
Posted on Oct 22, 2013 in Climate Change, Environmental, Grid & Infrastructure, Project Development, Regulation & Policy, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Dairyland to Retire Alma Station
Dairyland Power Cooperative (Dairyland) has announced plans to shutter two boilers of one of its coal-fired generating plants in Alma, Wisconsin, because of the age of the facility, demand, market prices and regulations. Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) obligations require that Dairyland produce a quarter of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2025. Currently about 88...
Man Arrested in Connection with Arkansas Grid Attacks
Posted on Oct 14, 2013 in Grid & Infrastructure | Comments Off on Man Arrested in Connection with Arkansas Grid Attacks
The FBI and the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas have announced that Jason Woodring, 37, of Jacksonville, Arkansas, was arrested on a criminal complaint charging him with destruction of an energy facility. The affidavit filed with the complaint charges that Woodring is responsible for multiple acts of sabotage to the power grid in Central Arkansas, including...
South Dakota Coops Respond to Early Season Blizzards
Posted on Oct 9, 2013 in Grid & Infrastructure | Comments Off on South Dakota Coops Respond to Early Season Blizzards
Early season blizzards have hit South Dakota, causing damage to the systems of many electric cooperatives. While trying to replace thousands of broken poles and hundreds of miles of disrupted lines, the cooperatives are also facing more damage from falling limbs and muddy surfaces. Dick Johnson, general manager of West River Electric Association, stated, “This is the worst ice and...
FBI Reports Attacks on Arkansas Power Grid
Posted on Oct 7, 2013 in Grid & Infrastructure | Comments Off on FBI Reports Attacks on Arkansas Power Grid
The FBI, ATF, Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office, and Cabot Police Department, in coordination with Entergy Arkansas and First Electric Cooperative, are investigating three potentially related attacks on the Arkansas power grid. The FBI has announced a $25,000 reward leading to arrests in connection with the incidents. In the first incident, a high-voltage transmission line was downed...
Iowa Coop Refinances More Than $8 Million in Outstanding Debt
Posted on Oct 7, 2013 in Financing, Grid & Infrastructure, Project Development | Comments Off on Iowa Coop Refinances More Than $8 Million in Outstanding Debt
Raccoon Valley Electric Cooperative (RVEC), which serves parts of nine counties in west-central Iowa, has refinanced more than $8 million in outstanding debt with other lenders. After a January 2010 ice storm ravaged RVEC’s system, requiring millions of dollars in restoration and reconstruction work, the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC) provided an...
Iowa Coops Appeal Denial of FEMA Aid
Posted on Oct 2, 2013 in Grid & Infrastructure, Regulation & Policy, Reliability | Comments Off on Iowa Coops Appeal Denial of FEMA Aid
Iowa electric cooperatives are appealing a decision by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) which denied $20 million in aid for emergency and permanent repair costs from a snow and ice storm in spring 2012. FEMA based its decision on distribution and transmission line laboratory testing requirements, passed in 2009, which the Iowa coops claim are unrealistic. To read more...
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