Coops Intervene in State’s Challenge of FERC Incentives
Posted on Feb 3, 2014 in Grid & Infrastructure, Litigation, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on Coops Intervene in State’s Challenge of FERC Incentives
On January 24, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, against a challenge by the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC), upheld incentives granted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for certain transmission projects undertaken by Virginia Electric and Power Company. Two generation and transmission cooperatives, Old Dominion Electric Cooperative...
Sioux City Looks to Settle Excessive Fee Claims
Posted on Feb 3, 2014 in Legislative & Politics, Litigation, Rates, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on Sioux City Looks to Settle Excessive Fee Claims
Residents in multiple Iowa cities have filed lawsuits claiming that franchise fees added to customers’ utility bills by those cities were excessive and amounted to an illegal tax. Despite the Iowa legislature’s subsequent passing of a law legalizing franchise taxes of up to 5 percent, many cities will be forced to settle the claims. Customers of Woodbury County Rural Electric...
Iowa Coops in Legal Battle with Solar Energy Company
Posted on Jan 22, 2014 in Litigation, Regulation & Policy, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Iowa Coops in Legal Battle with Solar Energy Company
Public utilities and electric cooperatives in Iowa are arguing in front of the Iowa Supreme Court that a solar energy company has violated Iowa law by installing solar systems on buildings belonging to customers of the utilities and cooperatives and then selling the electricity produced by the systems back to those customers that commissioned the installation. The case will likely...
EPA Decision in Wyoming Means Big Dollars for Basin Electric
Posted on Jan 16, 2014 in Environmental, Litigation, Regulation & Policy, Technology | Comments Off on EPA Decision in Wyoming Means Big Dollars for Basin Electric
A recent decision by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will impose a stricter emissions limit in Wyoming that will force utilities and coops, including Basin Electric Power Cooperative (Basin Electric), to invest in expensive technologies to comply by early 2019. The compliance costs are estimated upwards of $1 billion in capital costs and hundreds of millions in operating...
AECC Requests Review of Coal Tariff Decision
Posted on Jan 15, 2014 in Litigation | Comments Off on AECC Requests Review of Coal Tariff Decision
Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation (AECC) has asked the federal Surface Transportation Board to reconsider its December ruling related to the shipping of coal. AECC argued that the decision, which upheld a rail tariff that requires shippers to cover the cost of cleaning coal dust emissions from railcars, lacked sufficient justification. AECC provided evidence suggesting that...
Short-Term Deal Made to Maintain Grid Reliability
Posted on Jan 2, 2014 in Grid & Infrastructure, Litigation, Reliability | Comments Off on Short-Term Deal Made to Maintain Grid Reliability
The Electric Division, based in Wallingford, Connecticut, and the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative (CMEEC) have reached a short-term agreement to ensure critical transmission data continues to flow between Wallingford and the regional grid operator ISO-New England. The Electric Division will have access to CMEEC’s transmitting equipment until June, at which time the...
Iowa Appeals FEMA Decision
Posted on Dec 26, 2013 in Grid & Infrastructure, Litigation, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on Iowa Appeals FEMA Decision
As last reported by the Sutherland Coop Team on October 2, 2013, the state of Iowa has appealed a decision by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to forego additional disaster relief funding for Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative, Lyon Rural Electric Cooperative, Osceola Electric Cooperative and Sanborn Electric and Telecommunications Utility. The rural coops requested an...
Kentucky PSC Grants Rehearing on Big Rivers
Posted on Dec 13, 2013 in Litigation, Rates, Regulation & Policy, Reliability | Comments Off on Kentucky PSC Grants Rehearing on Big Rivers
The Kentucky Public Service Commission will reconsider the revenues Big Rivers Electric Corporation (Big Rivers) is positioned to receive for its continued operation of a power plant required by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator for reliability reasons. Big Rivers’ opponents claim that the coop understated the revenues it will receive from continued operations by roughly...
Arkansas Grid Vandal Indicted
Posted on Dec 10, 2013 in Grid & Infrastructure, Litigation, Reliability | Comments Off on Arkansas Grid Vandal Indicted
An Arkansas man accused of damaging electric coop facilities has been issued an eight-count indictment on charges relating to sabotage of high-voltage power lines and power stations earlier this year in several cities. Among them: a terrorist attack against a railroad carrier and destruction of energy facilities, including a 115,000-volt transmission line owned by First Electric...
Connecticut Coop and Local Town at Odds over Terminated Contract
Posted on Dec 4, 2013 in Litigation | Comments Off on Connecticut Coop and Local Town at Odds over Terminated Contract
Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative (CMEEC) and the town of Wallingford, Connecticut, are at odds after the town decided to terminate its agreement to purchase wholesale power from the coop. Wallingford town officials have approved a five-year contract to buy power from a competing source. The power purchase agreement between CMEEC and Wallingford had been in place...
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