Coops Concerned about Coal Transportation
Posted on Nov 13, 2014 in Grid & Infrastructure, Regulation & Policy, Reliability | Comments Off on Coops Concerned about Coal Transportation
Electric cooperatives are expressing concern that railroads may fail to deliver all the coal necessary to meet winter’s heating demand. The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s CEO, joined by other industry leaders, has reached out to the Surface Transportation Board (Board) to express these concerns and to request that the Board require BNSF Railway to provide a coal...
Southwest Power Pool to Integrate Basin Electric
Posted on Nov 12, 2014 in Grid & Infrastructure, Regulation & Policy, Reliability | Comments Off on Southwest Power Pool to Integrate Basin Electric
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has accepted a proposal from Southwest Power Pool (SPP) to significantly expand its geographic footprint in the Upper Great Plains region of the United States. SPP’s proposal includes the integration of Basin Electric Power Cooperative, a portion of the Western Area Power Administration and Heartland Consumers Power District into SPP. ...
New Copper Theft Law Passes in in Pennsylvania
Posted on Nov 11, 2014 in Grid & Infrastructure, Legislative & Politics, Reliability | Comments Off on New Copper Theft Law Passes in in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania recently passed a law imposing increased penalties for metal theft, including stronger penalties for repeat offenders. The new law establishes three types of misdemeanors for metal theft under $1000, based on the value of items stolen. If the value of the metal stolen exceeds $1000, the metal theft will constitute a third-degree felony. If an individual is convicted of...
Tri-State Predicts Increased Load Growth
Posted on Nov 4, 2014 in Grid & Infrastructure, Innovation/Efficiency, Project Development, Reliability, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Tri-State Predicts Increased Load Growth
On Friday Tri-State Generation and Transmission (Tri-State) filed a resource plan update with state regulators, forecasting load growth at a rate that is faster than previously expected. If growth occurs at such rates, Tri-State indicated that it would utilize several options to secure increased capacity and stated that it has made no firm commitments on timing, size or location of...
USDA Announces Loan Guarantees for Rural Improvements
Posted on Oct 17, 2014 in Financing, Grid & Infrastructure, Regulation & Policy, Reliability, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on USDA Announces Loan Guarantees for Rural Improvements
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced $1.4 billion in loan guarantees to improve rural electric infrastructure, including moneys for smart grid and renewable energy investments. Electric coops were among the recipients of this recent round of funding. Click here for more information.
South Dakota Coops Bury Transmission for Reliability
Posted on Oct 7, 2014 in Grid & Infrastructure, Legislative & Politics, Project Development, Reliability | Comments Off on South Dakota Coops Bury Transmission for Reliability
Five South Dakota coops are using federal and state disaster funds to bury hundreds of miles of transmission lines. The coops are focusing on reliability after a blizzard caused outages for thousands of customers in early October of last year. Click here for more.
New MultiSpeak Cybersecurity Standard Ready for Testing
Posted on Sep 25, 2014 in Grid & Infrastructure, Reliability, Technology | Comments Off on New MultiSpeak Cybersecurity Standard Ready for Testing
MultiSpeak, an industry software interoperability standard developed in part by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, has expanded to include a new cybersecurity component that is now available for testing. The cybersecurity standard is intended to help coops protect against data breaches by ensuring safer billing and other data-related processes. Click here to read...
Basin Electric Receives Federal Approval for Major Transmission Line
Posted on Sep 16, 2014 in Grid & Infrastructure, Legislative & Politics, Permitting, Regulation & Policy, Reliability | Comments Off on Basin Electric Receives Federal Approval for Major Transmission Line
Basin Electric Power Cooperative (Basin Electric) recently received federal approval for construction of a 200-mile transmission line in western North Dakota. The project, which will include 345 kV transmission lines, two new substations and modifications to three existing substations, will start at Basin Electric’s Antelope Valley Station and end in Tioga, North Dakota. Basin...
Endangered Species Listing May Risk Reliability
Posted on Sep 15, 2014 in Environmental, Grid & Infrastructure, Regulation & Policy, Reliability | Comments Off on Endangered Species Listing May Risk Reliability
Several hundred distribution and generation and transmission coops may be affected if the northern long-eared bat is added to the endangered species list. The House Natural Resources Committee is considering this designation as the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and others argue that listing the bat will pose a risk to reliability because coops remove bat roosting...
USDA Announces Investment to Improve Reliability of Rural Electric Systems
Posted on Sep 9, 2014 in Financing, Grid & Infrastructure, Legislative & Politics, Regulation & Policy, Reliability | Comments Off on USDA Announces Investment to Improve Reliability of Rural Electric Systems
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) plan to invest more than $518 million in rural electric cooperatives to improve rural electric infrastructure. More than $23 million of the announced funding will be targeted for smart grid improvements. For more information and a list of the loan recipients, click here.
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