Valley Electric Association (NV) Announces Plans for Solar Project
Posted on Aug 28, 2015 in Project Development, Rates, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Valley Electric Association (NV) Announces Plans for Solar Project
Bombard Electric, LLC will engineer, procure and construct a 15 MW Solar Project (the “Project”) for Valley Electric Association, Inc. (“VEA”) in Pahrump, Nevada with the plan for the Project to start delivering energy on July 1, 2016. VEA’s fixed rate power-purchase agreement with Nevada Valley Solar Solutions I, LLC will provide VEA with one of the lowest priced solar energy...
Ouachita Electric Cooperative Enters Into Service Agreement with Today’s Power Inc. for Solar Power
Posted on Aug 21, 2015 in Project Development, Rates, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Ouachita Electric Cooperative Enters Into Service Agreement with Today’s Power Inc. for Solar Power
Today’s Power Inc., a subsidiary of Arkansas Electric Cooperatives, Inc., will install and service a 100 kW AC solar array for Ouachita Electric Cooperative. The system will involve approximately 312 solar panels at 410 watts each and can ultimately lower the cost of power to cooperative members at a relatively low capital investment. Read more about the service agreement...
Final EPA Carbon Rule Released; NRECA Weighs In
Posted on Aug 3, 2015 in Environmental, Legislative & Politics, Rates, Regulation & Policy, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Final EPA Carbon Rule Released; NRECA Weighs In
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officially released its final version of the Clean Power Plan rules on Monday. The rules represent the first federal limits on power plant carbon dioxide emissions and require a 32 percent reduction (from 2005 levels) in carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by 2030. The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) has voiced...
Southern Minnesota Energy Cooperative Completes Acquisition of Electric Service Territory from Alliant Energy
Posted on Jul 31, 2015 in Mergers/Acquisitions, Rates, Reliability | Comments Off on Southern Minnesota Energy Cooperative Completes Acquisition of Electric Service Territory from Alliant Energy
The Southern Minnesota Energy Cooperative, a group of 12 electric cooperatives, finalized the acquisition of electric service territory in southern Minnesota from investor-owned Alliant Energy. Approximately 43,000 Alliant Energy customers in southern Minnesota are now member-owners of their respective electric cooperative. Read more about the acquisition here.
Bonneville Power Administration’s Rate Increase to Hit Coops
Posted on Jul 27, 2015 in Grid & Infrastructure, Legislative & Politics, Rates, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Bonneville Power Administration’s Rate Increase to Hit Coops
Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) recently announced that it will raise its wholesale power rates by 7.1 percent and its transmission rates by 4.4 percent, effective October 1. BPA, a federal agency and the largest wholesale provider in the northwestern United States, supplies wholesale power to 54 electric cooperatives. Click here for more.
Kentucky PSC Approves Big Rivers Sales into Nebraska
Posted on Jul 22, 2015 in Rates, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on Kentucky PSC Approves Big Rivers Sales into Nebraska
The Kentucky Public Service Commission (KPSC) has approved a plan allowing Big Rivers Electric Corp. (Big Rivers) to sell wholesale power to customers in the State of Nebraska. The settlement provides that, under certain conditions, the profits from these sales would be contributed to funds being used to ease the impact of recent rate increases. Big Rivers will begin sales in January...
Coops Fare Well in J.D. Power Utility Study
Posted on Jul 20, 2015 in Innovation/Efficiency, Rates, Reliability | Comments Off on Coops Fare Well in J.D. Power Utility Study
Several coops were highly ranked in the J.D. Power 2015 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study. Only 20 coops were reviewed for the study, which was limited to utilities with at least 100,000 residential customers, but many of those included scored well. Click here for a link to J.D. Power’s report and here for more information on the performance of coops.
Great River Energy Offers Electric Vehicle Users 100% Wind Charge at No Extra Expense
Posted on Jul 20, 2015 in Environmental, Innovation/Efficiency, Rates, Renewable Energy, Technology | Comments Off on Great River Energy Offers Electric Vehicle Users 100% Wind Charge at No Extra Expense
In June Minnesota-based generation and transmission cooperative Great River Energy (GRE) and its members rolled out their new “Revolt” program, which allows electric vehicle (EV) users to charge their vehicles using 100 percent wind energy at no extra expense. Consumers pay standard rates to charge their cars, and GRE retires renewable energy credits to cover every kilowatt-hour of...
SMEPA Terminates Power Purchase Agreement for Kemper Power Plant
Posted on May 27, 2015 in Financing, Project Development, Rates | Comments Off on SMEPA Terminates Power Purchase Agreement for Kemper Power Plant
South Mississippi Electric Power Association (SMEPA) has announced that it has pulled out of a deal with Mississippi Power to purchase 15 percent of the power generated by the Kemper County power plant, which is currently under construction. SMEPA noted that its decision to terminate the purchase agreement was based on both the rising costs of electricity from the Kemper County plant...
Fitch Ratings Study Finds that Cooperatives Must Adapt to Maintain Stable Credit Quality
Posted on May 15, 2015 in Economic Downturn, Financing, Innovation/Efficiency, Rates, Renewable Energy, Technology | Comments Off on Fitch Ratings Study Finds that Cooperatives Must Adapt to Maintain Stable Credit Quality
A recent report by Fitch Ratings found that electrical cooperatives today face challenges created by changing technologies, slowing growth and changing consumer usage patterns. These challenges will require that cooperatives find ways to adapt if they want to maintain strong credit quality in the A to AA range. For example, one adaptation made by many cooperatives has been to decouple...
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