Hoosier Energy and Capital Dynamics Sign 150 MW Solar Energy Power Purchase Agreement
Posted on Feb 22, 2021
Capital Dynamics CEI, the Clean Energy Infrastructure (CEI) business line of Capital Dynamics, an independent global private asset management firm, and Hoosier Energy recently announced the signing of a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). Under the terms of the PPA, Hoosier Energy will purchase 150 MW of the power generated by the Ratts 2 Solar Project, a CEI-owned greenfield solar project that is currently being developed in Knox County, Indiana.
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NRECA Asks Federal Agency for Rural-Friendly Broadband Grants Rules
Posted on Feb 22, 2021
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) recently sent a letter to the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) arguing that broadband grants worth $300 million should only go toward proven technologies, and some rural areas should remain eligible for this funding even if they have won awards in other specific federal efforts to bridge the digital divide. The February 17 letter incorporates concerns that regions covered by initial winners in the Federal Communication Commission’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction and similar programs...
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Maryland Electric Cooperative Launches Broadband Subsidiary
Posted on Feb 19, 2021
After much debate over removing Choptank Electric Cooperative (Choptank) from the oversight of the Maryland Public Service Commission, Choptank has launched Choptank Fiber, a wholly-owned broadband subsidiary. Choptank Fiber will take a community-by-community approach to installing broadband, using the monthly subscription revenue of established communities to invest in the development of new communities.
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SEEM Members Submit Filing for Proposed Advanced Bilateral Market Platform
Posted on Feb 15, 2021
The Southeast Energy Exchange Market (SEEM) members recently filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the approval of an automated, intra-hour energy exchange that aims to lower costs to customers and optimize renewable energy resources. The new SEEM platform will facilitate sub-hourly, bilateral trading, allowing participants to buy and sell power close to the time the energy is consumed, utilizing available unreserved transmission. Founding members of SEEM are expected to include Associated Electric Cooperative, Dalton Utilities, Dominion Energy South Carolina, Duke Energy...
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Coops, Wireless and Partnerships Likeliest Ways to Connect Rural America
Posted on Feb 12, 2021
A recent report produced by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond shows that coops, wireless and partnerships are the best ways to bring broadband to rural America. The biggest challenges to the cooperative approach are ambiguous laws regarding broadband provision by coops.
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Oklahoma Court Confirms Big Businesses Must Stick with Electric Cooperative
Posted on Feb 12, 2021
A large industrial Oklahoma cooperative customer brought suit seeking to add a well powered by Northwestern Electric Cooperative to an energy supply it receives from an investor-owned utility as a cost-saving measure. An Oklahoma Court confirmed the order of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission keeping the cooperative as the power provider.
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NRECA International to Operate Nigerian Utility
Posted on Feb 9, 2021
NRECA International has signed a $10 million, five-year contract to take over the operation of a struggling distribution utility in south-central Nigeria and transform it into a profitable company that provides high-quality service to its customers.
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Two More Georgia Cooperatives to Offer Broadband
Posted on Feb 9, 2021
Central Georgia Electric Membership Corp. and Southern Rivers Energy, two Georgia electric cooperatives, say they and partners will invest more than $200 million to extend broadband internet to more than 80,000 customers in 18 counties between Atlanta and Macon.
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NRECA Urges Congress to Pass $10 Billion in Low-Income Energy Aid
Posted on Feb 8, 2021
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) and six other energy groups wrote a letter to leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and related agencies urging Congress to approve an additional $10 billion in emergency assistance to low-income Americans struggling to pay their electric bills during the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter asks for additional funds to be added to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which provides help with home heating and cooling for low-income households, including the...
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NRECA Expresses Concerns Regarding Winning Bidders in Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Auction
Posted on Feb 5, 2021
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), accompanied by a white paper from the NRECA and the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative, detailing concerns about certain winning bids in the first phase of the recent Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Auction and offering remedies if an FCC review determines that any winners are unable to meet the commitments set forth in their bids.
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Southwest Power Pool Starts Energy Balancing Market in West
Posted on Feb 2, 2021
Southwest Power Pool announced on Monday, February 1, that at midnight it launched its Western Energy Imbalance Service (WEIS) market. Several regional utilities are participating in this WEIS market, including Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Deseret Power Electric Cooperative and Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association.
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Iowa Coop Receives REDLG Loan to Assist Local Business Expansion
Posted on Jan 29, 2021
Pella Cooperative Electric Association, an Iowa electric cooperative, and Co-Line Welding, Inc. successfully secured a $1 million loan through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant (REDLG) program to assist with a $6,675,000 building expansion for Co-Line, a metal fabrication and manufacturing business and a member of Pella Cooperative Electric Association. The REDLG program provides zero-interest loans to rural utility providers, such as Pella Cooperative Electric, that in turn re-lend the money at zero interest to businesses within...
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Members of Congress Call on the FCC to Vet Prospective Rural Broadband Providers
Posted on Jan 29, 2021
A bipartisan group of senators and House members asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to verify the promises that broadband providers are making in their bid proposals to the recent Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Auction. This request is being made at the urging of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association due to the concerns that some of the winning bidders may not have the technical, financial, managerial or operational skills and resources to support their ambitious plans.
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Louisiana Coops Issue RFP for 925 MW of Capacity
Posted on Jan 22, 2021
On December 23, 2020, Southwest Louisiana Electric Membership Corporation, Pointe Coupee Electric Membership Corporation and Concordia Electric Cooperative Inc. issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) seeking power supply solutions for annual peak demand of 925 MW and 2,900,000 MWh of annual energy. The RFP was jointly issued, but the coops anticipate executing separate independent contracts for services.
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