Indiana Awards Grants to Electric Coops to Build Broadband
Posted on Sep 23, 2020
Through the Next Level Connections Broadband Grant Program, Indiana is awarding $36 million in state broadband grants to eight electric cooperatives to connect unserved areas.
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Pedernales Electric Cooperative Energizes New Battery Storage System
Posted on Sep 23, 2020
Pedernales Electric Cooperative (PEC) has installed and energized a new battery storage system, making it the first cooperative in Texas to utilize battery storage. The battery storage system can hold a total of 2.25 MWs of electricity for two hours and are charged by PEC’s Johnson City solar installation.
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USDA Investment to Upgrade Arkansas Power Grid
Posted on Sep 21, 2020
US Sen. John Boozman and US Rep. Bruce Westerman recently announced that US Department of Agriculture (USDA) funds will go toward modernizing a power grid by installing fiber-optic cable to supply a secure high-speed communications path to nearly 60,000 Arkansas Valley Electric Cooperative customers. Specifically, a $151 million investment through the Department’s Electric Infrastructure Loan Program will help Arkansans in 10 counties: Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Logan, Madison, Newton, Pope, Scott, Sebastian and Yell.
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Pee Dee Electric and Marlboro Electric Announce Strategic Partnership
Posted on Sep 17, 2020
Pee Dee Electric Cooperative and Marlboro Electric Cooperative, neighboring cooperatives in South Carolina, have announced that they will enter into a management agreement, effective September 18, 2020.
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Central Iowa Power Cooperative Signs PPA for 54-MW Wind Project
Posted on Sep 16, 2020
Independent power producer RPM Access LLC has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) to supply electricity from a 54-MW wind park in Iowa to Central Iowa Power Cooperative.
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Oregon Wildfires Devastate Coop-Served Communities
Posted on Sep 15, 2020
Wildfires fueled by strong winds are ravaging western Oregon, destroying small towns served by electric cooperatives, forcing people to flee their homes, and spurring four coops to turn off power at night to avoid sparking new blazes. Ted Case, executive director of the Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative Association in Wilsonville said the wildfires have hit four of the state’s 18 coops hardest: Consumers Power Inc. in Philomath, Lane Electric Cooperative in Eugene, Blachly-Lane Electric Cooperative in Junction City and West Oregon Electric Cooperative in Vernonia.
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Indiana Electric Cooperatives Receive $36 Million in Broadband Grants
Posted on Sep 11, 2020
Seven Indiana electric coops will receive just over $36 million in grants from the Next Level Connections Broadband Grant Program, which is designed to strengthen broadband infrastructure investment in unserved areas of the state. A recent report estimated a return of nearly $4 to the local economy for every dollar spent on the necessary broadband infrastructure.
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FERC Affirms Exclusive Jurisdiction over Tri-State Generation and Transmission Rates and Exit Charges
Posted on Sep 9, 2020
Last week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) affirmed its exclusive jurisdiction over Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association’s rates and member exit charges, and further reaffirmed that Tri-State’s addition of new members was lawful under the Federal Power Act. The decision preempts Colorado Public Utilities Commission jurisdiction on these matters.
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Roanoke Electric Program Fights Systemic Discrimination Against African American Landowners
Posted on Sep 7, 2020
Roanoke Electric Cooperative’s Sustainable Forestry and Land Retention Project provides education and access to technical assistance as well as capital and estate planning services to African American landowners in order to transform unprofitable family farms and forests into economic assets and keep valuable land within families. The program was created to combat discriminatory practices and decades of decline in African American farm ownership.
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House Bill Would Give Coops Tax Credits to Help Pay Retirement Costs
Posted on Sep 1, 2020
NRECA is supporting a bipartisan House bill that would give electric cooperatives a temporary tax credit to help keep their retirement plans funded during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Preserving Employee Retirement Savings Act would provide a two-year tax credit for up to 20% of the retirement costs paid by coops and other small businesses experiencing hardships because of the pandemic. The credit would be refundable, so even a tax-exempt coop that pays no federal taxes would be eligible to receive as much as $100,000 in 2020 and 2021.
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NRECA Supports Bipartisan Legislation Giving Electric Cooperatives Tax Credit for Retirement Funds
Posted on Aug 28, 2020
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) supports The Preserving Employee Retirement Savings Act, introduced by Reps. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., and Mike Kelly, R-Pa., which would grant electric cooperatives a two-year tax credit for up to 20% of their retirement fund costs. The tax credit could generate as much as $100,000 in 2020 and 2021 for each eligible electric cooperative.
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Grundy Electric Cooperative and Missouri Department of Conservation Partner for Wildlife Projects
Posted on Aug 26, 2020
Grundy Electric Cooperative is partnering with the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) on a project to benefit wildlife habitat and reduce power line right-of-way maintenance costs. Missouri’s rural electric cooperatives must keep trees out of distribution lines that carry electricity from substations to homes and businesses. Under the voluntary Wires Over Wildlife program, landowners with distribution lines crossing or bordering their property will be able to request that right-of-way vegetation be converted to wildlife-friendly habitat. Native wildflowers and grasses add beauty, and...
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Basin Electric’s Carbon Storage Study Moves on to Geophysical Survey
Posted on Aug 26, 2020
Work toward a commercial-scale geological carbon dioxide storage complex near Gillette, Wyoming moved to the next stage today with a geophysical survey covering about 9 square miles of rural land around Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s (Basin) Dry Fork Station power plant. Basin and other partners are working to develop a site near Dry Fork Station and the Wyoming Integrated Test Center to store over 50 million metric tons of CO2 underground. The three-year, $19.1 million project is the third phase under the Department of Energy’s Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise initiative,...
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Coops Help Install a Microgrid for an Egg Farm
Posted on Aug 24, 2020
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, North Carolina EMC and Tideland EMC have worked in partnership to facilitate installation of a system comprised of a 2 MW solar array, a 2.5 MW battery, backup diesel generation and a controller that will serve the Rose Acre Farms egg farm in Hyde County, NC.
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