North Dakota Generation and Transmission Cooperative’s Battery Rate Delivers Member Savings, Technology
Posted on Jan 20, 2023
In 2020, Basin Electric Power Cooperative (Basin) incorporated a member-owned trial battery rate into its rate schedule to permit its all-requirements contract members to test energy storage technology to reduce peak demand costs. The rate provision allows for up to 150 kilowatts of battery storage per distribution cooperative, and allows the cooperatives to decide when to charge and discharge the batteries. Corn Belt Power Cooperative, one of two Basin members utilizing the incentive, expects to avoid peak demand charges for up to six hours and recover its $3.5 million investment by...
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Electric Cooperatives and Broadband Assets at Risk of Cyberattacks
Posted on Jan 18, 2023
Director of threat intelligence for Lumen’s Black Lotus Labs, Mark Dehus, discusses ways electric cooperatives can be protected from system disruption or ransom by attackers.
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Tri-County Rural Electric Cooperative CEO Urges Congress to Prioritize Broadband in Rural America
Posted on Jan 17, 2023
As congress weighs programs to include in the new Farm Bill, electric cooperatives have weighed in. Aaron Young, president and co-CEO of 17,000 member Tri-County Rural Electric Cooperative, recently said that rural broadband which connects every home, business and community with reliable internet service should be a priority in the bill when speaking at a Farm Bill listening session held by the House Agriculture Committee.
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Jefferson Davis Electric Cooperative Spends Big on Storm Resilience
Posted on Jan 17, 2023
Jefferson Davis Electric Cooperative (JDEC), one of the largest cooperatives in the state of Louisiana, is taking the lessons from Hurricane Laura, which wreaked havoc on the state’s electricity grid in 2020, to heart. JDEC is spending $340 million dollars to weatherproof its systems through measures like replacing wooden transmission poles with steel and elevating substations.
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Flathead Electric Cooperative Adds Second Engine to Gas Energy Plant
Posted on Jan 10, 2023
Flathead Electric Cooperative created Montana’s first methane gas-to-energy project at the county landfill in 2009 through a collaboration with the county. The project has been so successful that the cooperative is adding a second engine to the facility, which will double its output to power about 3,200 homes.
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Cooperatives in Colorado File Complaint Against Provider Alleging Imprudent Supply Plans Before Winter Storm
Posted on Jan 10, 2023
Four Colorado electric cooperatives, Core Electric Cooperative, Holy Cross Energy, Yampa Electric and Grand Valley Power, have filed a complaint arguing that Xcel Energy, the state’s largest electricity provider, did not follow its own supply plans leading to high gas prices during Winter Storm Uri. The cooperatives are asking for the return of $6.9 million in fuel charges.
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Solar United Neighbors Announced Group Buy Program for Connexus Energy
Posted on Jan 5, 2023
Nonprofit Solar United Neighbors announced a group buy program where homeowners and business owners who are members of Connexus Energy, one of the nation’s largest electric cooperatives, can purchase solar systems. The program will allow members to leverage their numbers to purchase individual solar systems for competitive prices.
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Electric Cooperatives Discuss Top Policy Priorities for 2023
Posted on Jan 4, 2023
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association held a recent Question and Answer session to outline its 2023 policy goals aimed at helping pass legislation benefiting cooperatives and ensuring the new laws are implemented as intended.
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Basin Electric Power Cooperative Announced Power Purchase Agreement with ENGIE North America for 200 Megawatts of Wind Energy
Posted on Dec 15, 2022
Basin Electric Power Cooperative announced a twenty-five year, 200 megawatt power purchase agreement with ENGIE North America’s North Bend Wind facility in South Dakota, expected to come online in late 2023. The North Bend facility will power 73,000 homes and reduce the region’s carbon emissions by 620,000 tonnes per year.
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Basin Electric Power Cooperative Seeks to Expand Natural Gas Generation
Posted on Dec 13, 2022
In part to respond to a growing data center industry in McKenzie County, North Dakota, Basin Electric Power Cooperative has sought state approval to build Pioneer Generation Station Phase IV, an expansion of their existing 242 megawatt natural gas-fired facility. The $670 million project would increase the facility’s capacity by 141%.
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Cooperatives and Other Groups Urge the Department of Energy to Alleviate Supply Chain Challenges
Posted on Dec 8, 2022
The American Public Power Association, the Edison Electric Institute and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association submitted joint comments to the Department of Energy (DOE) at the end of November, urging the DOE to use the Defense Production Act to prioritize transformers and critical grid components. The groups noted that electric reliability is a prerequisite to many of the administration’s goals.
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Cooperatives Face Financial Pressures According to Fitch
Posted on Dec 8, 2022
Fitch Ratings said on Tuesday that sustained cost pressures due to inflationary pressures, higher natural gas prices and slowed growth will put pressure on electric cooperatives and public power companies. Cooperatives and public power companies also face ongoing supply and demand uncertainty from extreme temperatures and droughts.
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Cooperative Restores Power after North Carolina Attack
Posted on Dec 7, 2022
Randolph Electric Membership Corp., a North Carolina electric cooperative, has built more than two miles of tielines to connect de-energized lines affected by the gunfire attack on two Duke Energy transmission substations this past weekend to available power, restoring service to members.
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North Carolina Electric Cooperatives Complete Ten Battery Projects to Provide 40 Megawatts of Electricity
Posted on Dec 6, 2022
In collaboration with FlexGen Power Systems, Inc., North Carolina Electric Cooperatives Brunswick Electric, Randolph Electric Membership Corporation (EMC), Carteret-Craven Electric Cooperative, Central Electric, Four County EMC, Jones-Onslow EMC, Pee Dee Electric, South River EMC, Tri-County EMC and Wake Electric celebrated the completion of ten battery projects providing 40 megawatts of storage for 2.5 million North Carolinians this week. The new batteries, sited at substations in rural areas, will insulate the grid and enhance reliability.
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