NRECA Pleased with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Designation of Northern Long-Eared Bat as “Threatened”
Posted on Apr 3, 2015 in Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on NRECA Pleased with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Designation of Northern Long-Eared Bat as “Threatened”
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service classified the long-eared bat as “threatened” rather than “endangered” allowing electric co-ops to maintain power lines and rights-of-way in the species’ habitat. Had the FWS designated the bat as “endangered” co-ops would have been forced to choose between complying with reliability standards or complying with habitat protection rules. Read more...
New RUS Administrator Appointed
Posted on Mar 30, 2015 in Financing, Legislative & Politics, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on New RUS Administrator Appointed
President Obama has appointed Brandon McBride as the new Administrator of the USDA’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS). Mr. McBride served as a Senior Professional Staff on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry from 2009 through his appointment. Prior to that, he served as a Legislative Assistant and Grants Specialist for Senator Blanche Lincoln from 2003 to 2009...
NRECA Argues Against CEQ Greenhouse Gas Proposal
Posted on Mar 26, 2015 in Climate Change, Environmental, Legislative & Politics, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on NRECA Argues Against CEQ Greenhouse Gas Proposal
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) commented Tuesday on draft guidance submitted by the Whitehouse Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). The draft guidance would require agencies to consider the effect of a proposed action on climate change. NRECA argued that the proposed guidance would complicate compliance with the EPA’s proposed Clean Power Plan, which...
EPA Proposes Costly New Water Regulations
Posted on Mar 25, 2015 in Climate Change, Environmental, Land Use, Legislative & Politics, Permitting, Project Development, Regulation & Policy, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on EPA Proposes Costly New Water Regulations
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed new water regulations which would increase costs and require extensive permitting for power line construction and maintenance. At a hearing on the proposed rules, Russ Biggica of the Pennsylvania Rural Electric Association warned Congress that the rules would drive up costs for cooperatives, including the cost of renewable energy...
Legal Alert: Power Surge: TCPA Litigation and the Energy Industry
Posted on Mar 17, 2015 in Litigation, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on Legal Alert: Power Surge: TCPA Litigation and the Energy Industry
Few industries have been spared from the recent wave of class actions filed under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). The energy sector is no exception. TCPA cases against electricity and natural gas providers are on the rise with more than half a dozen such cases filed in 2015 in federal courts in Texas, New York, Ohio, Florida, California, and other states, in addition to...
Electric Cooperative Seeks to Reduce Credits Paid to Customers with Rooftop Solar Systems
Posted on Mar 6, 2015 in Climate Change, Energy Savings Programs, Environmental, Grid & Infrastructure, Innovation/Efficiency, Rates, Regulation & Policy, Renewable Energy, Technology | Comments Off on Electric Cooperative Seeks to Reduce Credits Paid to Customers with Rooftop Solar Systems
“Net metering” is the process by which electric suppliers pay credits to customers with home photovoltaic systems that generate more power than the customer uses. An Arizona EMC, Trico Electric Cooperative, has asked the Arizona Corporation Commission to approve its proposal to lower the amount of these credits from 4.2 cents per kilowatt hour to 3.7 cents. Trico believes that the...
Arizona Electric Power Cooperative Regional Haze Plan Approved by EPA
Posted on Mar 4, 2015 in Climate Change, Environmental, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on Arizona Electric Power Cooperative Regional Haze Plan Approved by EPA
Arizona Electric Power Cooperative (AEPCO) has become the first Arizona utility to settle out of court with the US Environmental Protection agency (EPA) regarding EPA’s regional haze rules. AEPCO presented an alternative plan than the one initially required by EPA’s original rule, and the approved plan will come at less cost to AEPCO’s members. To read more please click...
NRECA Urges FERC to Limit EPA’s Clean Power Plan
Posted on Feb 20, 2015 in Environmental, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on NRECA Urges FERC to Limit EPA’s Clean Power Plan
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), a group representing over 900 private, not-for-profit electric cooperatives in the U.S., has urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to limit the impact of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed Clean Power Plan. The proposal calls for cuts in carbon dioxide emissions from existing...
Decreased Coal Prices Do Not Equal Increased Consumption
Posted on Feb 18, 2015 in Environmental, Regulation & Policy, Technology | Comments Off on Decreased Coal Prices Do Not Equal Increased Consumption
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) has released an analysis related to the use of coal for the electric utility industry in 2014. The annual average price of coal declined in 2014 and the EIA expects the price to remain relatively static over the next two years. However, the EIA is also expecting a 1.5 percent drop in power sector coal consumption in 2015. To read more...
Coops Pleased as EPA Reaffirms NDDH Plan to Reduce Regional Air Pollution
Posted on Feb 13, 2015 in Environmental, Regulation & Policy | Comments Off on Coops Pleased as EPA Reaffirms NDDH Plan to Reduce Regional Air Pollution
Minnkota Power Cooperative and Basin Electric Power Cooperative received good news last week as the EPA reaffirmed the plan of North Dakota Department of Health (NDDH) to reduce regional haze and ruled that the equipment of both plants meets all environmental requirements. NDDH’s plan must be updated again in 2018 and then again every several years until 2064. Please click here to...
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