U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Hear Controversy Over EPA Haze Authority
Posted on May 28, 2014 in Environmental, Legislative & Politics, Litigation, Regulation & Policy, Reliability | Comments Off on U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Hear Controversy Over EPA Haze Authority
The U.S. Supreme Court denied petitions from North Dakota and Oklahoma challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decisions to prioritize the respective states’ emissions control plans in favor of a federal plan. In separate cases, the states claimed that the EPA’s action undermines the state-federal relationship outlined by the Clean Air Act. For more on the cases...
New CVEC Initiatives Could Reduce Vegetation-Related Outages
Posted on May 6, 2014 in Reliability, Technology | Comments Off on New CVEC Initiatives Could Reduce Vegetation-Related Outages
Central Virginia Electric Cooperative (CVEC) has designed two initiatives to reduce costs and increase reliability. One initiative involves a computerized vegetation management system that will communicate to the coop what trees need to be trimmed. CVEC will transfer geographic information from hard copies to a computerized version with GPS capabilities, hopefully making...
DOE Issues New Cybersecurity Guidance
Posted on May 1, 2014 in Grid & Infrastructure, Regulation & Policy, Reliability, Technology | Comments Off on DOE Issues New Cybersecurity Guidance
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released new guidelines intended to help manage supply chain risk and develop cybersecurity protections during the product design and manufacturing phases. The new guidance, titled “Cybersecurity Procurement Language for Energy Delivery Systems,” is intended to help energy sector participants and technology suppliers address supply chain...
Storms and Tornadoes Strike Coops Throughout the South
Posted on May 1, 2014 in Grid & Infrastructure, Reliability | Comments Off on Storms and Tornadoes Strike Coops Throughout the South
Throughout the South, electric cooperatives have sent crews and equipment to restore power to thousands of consumer-members after this week’s storms. For more on the repair efforts, click here.
New Power Supply Contract a Triple Win in New Mexico
Posted on Apr 24, 2014 in Rates, Reliability | Comments Off on New Power Supply Contract a Triple Win in New Mexico
Under a new eight-year power supply contract, the city of Gallup, New Mexico, will purchase power from Continental Divide Electric Cooperative, which in turn will purchase power from Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association (Tri-State). The resale arrangement makes everyone a winner. Gallup is positioned to receive competitively priced power while offsetting costs for...
Coal Plant Retirements Raise Reliability Concerns for FERC Commissioner
Posted on Apr 24, 2014 in Environmental, Grid & Infrastructure, Regulation & Policy, Reliability | Comments Off on Coal Plant Retirements Raise Reliability Concerns for FERC Commissioner
Commissioner Philip Moeller of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) expressed concern this week that the nation’s power grid lacks sufficient infrastructure to replace coal and nuclear generation plants scheduled to retire or go offline over the next few years. This winter’s extreme weather stressed the power grid, and there are increasing concerns that compliance with the...
Utilities Feel Effects of Rail Disruptions
Posted on Apr 14, 2014 in Grid & Infrastructure, Rates, Reliability | Comments Off on Utilities Feel Effects of Rail Disruptions
On April 10, representatives for companies that rely on rail shipments appeared at a Surface Transportation Board (STB) hearing to highlight the problems that recent rail shipment disruptions have caused in their industries and to ask STB to take steps to reduce these disruptions. In the utility sector, delays in shipping coal could lead to higher costs for energy or a decrease in...
North Dakota Sees Rapid Electric Coop Growth
Posted on Apr 1, 2014 in Grid & Infrastructure, Project Development, Rates, Regulation & Policy, Reliability | Comments Off on North Dakota Sees Rapid Electric Coop Growth
North Dakota’s rural economic development is being sparked by the state’s oil and gas boom, which is benefiting electric coops. The Public Service Commission in the state has now approved two additional units for a Basin Electric Power Cooperative power plant. These two units will add 90 MW of capacity by late 2014, a much needed step towards keeping up with the unprecedented load...
New Mexico Coop Under Fire for Wildfire
Posted on Mar 27, 2014 in Grid & Infrastructure, Litigation, Reliability | Comments Off on New Mexico Coop Under Fire for Wildfire
Local ranchers sued the Mora-San Miguel Electrical Cooperative in state court alleging that the coop failed to trim or remove trees that ultimately damaged power lines and caused a large wildfire in the area last summer. The Albuquerque Journal has the full story.
FERC Approves Revisions to Definition of Bulk Electric System
Posted on Mar 20, 2014 in Grid & Infrastructure, Regulation & Policy, Reliability | Comments Off on FERC Approves Revisions to Definition of Bulk Electric System
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) recently approved revisions by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) to its definition of “bulk electric system,” effective the first day of the second quarter after issuance of the order. The definition largely dictates which facilities are within NERC’s jurisdiction as FERC-Certified Electric Reliability...
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