Four large electric grid operators are backing NRECA’s legal argument that the Environmental Protection Agency’s power plant greenhouse gas rule will drive the early closure of crucial generation sources and threaten grid reliability.

The operators voiced their concerns in a “friend of the court” brief supporting a federal lawsuit that NRECA, many states and other parties have filed against the rule. Among other things, the brief claimed that EPA did not adequately consider the grid’s overall “energy requirements” when deciding the best system of emission reduction under the rule.

The grid operators spoke out on the issue after more than a year of sustained outreach from NRECA and co-op leaders.

“The final rule unreasonably discounts that existing fossil power generators will need to decide whether to commit to installing untested technology or retire the generating unit years before the compliance deadline, given the economic cost and risk of compliance,” the Sept. 13 amicus brief states.

Premature retirements of generating units that provide critical reliability attributes “can have significant, negative consequences on reliability,” the grid operators noted.

 They asked the court to remand the final rule back to EPA, “with instructions for it to adequately consider the grid adequacy and reliability issues [we] previously raised.”

The brief was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, PJM Interconnection, Southwest Power Pool and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. Together, they maintain and enhance bulk power grid reliability in all or part of 30 states and the District of Columbia.

Their filing echoes NRECA’s concerns with the power plant rule, which EPA finalized in April. The regulation established greenhouse gas emissions standards for existing coal plants and new natural gas facilities, including requiring a 90% carbon capture rate for coal plants that operate past the start of 2039 and for new and modified baseload gas units.

The 90%  carbon capture and storage system that the rule mandates has not been adequately demonstrated and the emissions limits based on it are not achievable, according to NRECA. Furthermore, the rule’s timelines are too tight, and electric co-ops and their members will be saddled with the high cost of either deploying CCS or building extensive new renewable generation to replace lost coal and gas capacity, NRECA has said.

The rule is “based on overly ambitious and inadequately supported assumptions,” the grid operators said. “These assumptions then drive both the rate and timing of compliance, which in turn will drive the premature retirements of generation sources that will threaten the reliability of the electric grid.”

In comments before the rule was finalized, the grid operators had offered several “safety valve” options to mitigate their reliability concerns. But in its final rule, the EPA “did not address these specific recommendations, let alone explain why it did not adopt them,” the brief states.

Failing to address the rule’s consequences, along with those of other EPA power plant regulatory mandates, violates the Clean Air Act’s directive that EPA adequately consider the grid’s energy requirements, they stated.

“The grid operators have confirmed that the negative impacts of the power plant rule on the grid’s reliability that NRECA has warned EPA of are real and could have significant, harmful consequences for our nation,” NRECA Regulatory Affairs Director Dan Bosch said. “We are hopeful that the court will carefully consider the views of these operators that are responsible for ensuring the reliability of the bulk power grid in all or parts of 30 states and Washington, D.C.”

NRECA filed its lawsuit against the EPA power plant rule in May. The association has also asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the rule until the case is resolved, saying the regulation poses immediate harm to co-ops and the nation’s electric grid.

In addition, several lawmakers in Congress have sponsored a resolution to overturn the EPA rule.

Molly Christian is a staff writer for NRECA.

NRECA is taking its fight to halt the Environmental Protection Agency’s mercury and air rule for power plants to the U.S. Supreme Court, maintaining that the rule will create substantial costs and reliability impacts for electric cooperatives but provide no appreciable health benefits. 

On Aug. 22, the association led a coalition of co-ops and industry groups in filing an application to stay the rule with the Supreme Court after the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals declined a similar request earlier this month. A group of 23 states led by North Dakota separately asked the high court to halt the regulation until legal challenges against it are resolved. 

“This EPA rule is unlawful, unworkable and poses a serious threat to electric reliability,” NRECA CEO Jim Matheson said. “Absent a stay, it will force plant operators to install expensive, excessive and unjustified equipment that provides marginal benefit at their power plants or shut down. In many cases, this will push essential always-available generation off the grid, just as Americans are increasing their reliance on electricity.” 

As it did with the D.C. Circuit, NRECA told the Supreme Court that the rule will cause “substantial, irreparable, and immediate harm” to electric co-ops while having “no appreciable public health benefits.” 

The rule, released in April, ratcheted down filterable particulate matter emissions limits by 67% for all coal-fired plants and will require plants burning lignite coal to slash mercury emissions by 70% compared to EPA’s 2012 standard. EPA did so even though the agency found no residual health risks and did not identify any new cost-effective technologies that warranted tighter standards, which is unlawful under the Clean Air Act, NRECA argues. 

Plant operators must comply with the new standards by July 2027.  

In its stay request, NRECA said power plants are spending up to $1 million on testing just to assess whether they can meet the final rule’s emissions requirements while remaining commercially viable. It also noted the long lead time for upgrading emissions controls, with the electrostatic precipitator alterations needed to meet the rule’s filterable particulate matter limits taking three full years. 

“The final rule imposes an unduly short timeframe to commence lengthy and expensive control projects, or units will be forced to shut down,” NRECA told the Supreme Court. “The associated costs are unrecoverable.” 

NRECA filed its new stay request along with four generation and transmission co-ops—Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. in Missouri, Basin Electric Power Cooperative and Minnkota Power Cooperative in North Dakota, and East Kentucky Power Cooperative—as well as the Lignite Energy Council, the National Mining Association and Rainbow Energy Center. 

Minnkota estimated it could spend over $260 million to bring its Milton R. Young lignite coal-fired power plant into compliance with the EPA’s new standards, according to the new stay request.  

Molly Christian is a staff writer for NRECA.

NRECA is asking a federal appeals court to review the Environmental Protection Agency’s new rule for coal ash impoundments at inactive power plants and other sites, a regulation the association says will impose undue costs on electric cooperatives and exacerbate grid reliability challenges.

NRECA joined the Utility Solid Waste Activities Group and the American Public Power Association (APPA) in challenging the rule. The lawsuit was filed Aug. 2 in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“EPA has exceeded its statutory authority and finalized a one-size-fits-all coal ash rule that will impose unnecessary and duplicative costs on cooperatives,” said Viktoria Seale, NRECA regulatory affairs director. “Cooperatives will be forced to reclose coal ash units that have been properly closed under state requirements, including sites where all coal ash has been removed.”

The legacy coal combustion residuals (CCR) rule creates two new categories of federally regulated CCR facilities: inactive coal ash impoundments at inactive power plants and CCR “management units,” areas of land where coal ash was received, placed or otherwise managed that had not previously been regulated by EPA as a CCR unit.

The rule came after the EPA in 2015 established federal requirements for managing coal ash at CCR ponds and landfills and required some units to close. The agency at the time reaffirmed that CCRs are not hazardous wastes and encouraged their continued beneficial use, including as an ingredient in concrete.

But the new legacy coal ash rule will apply existing regulatory requirements to already closed sites, some of which are located under active CCR landfills and existing power plant infrastructure, NRECA said in a fact sheet on the rule.

Instead of standing up a risk-based federal CCR permitting program and approving state plans, the legacy coal ash rule takes a monolithic approach that relies on broad and unclear definitions of regulated sites, NRECA said.

The regulation could also expose currently exempt beneficial uses of CCR to the rule’s stringent requirements. The EPA has “significantly underestimated” the number of CCR management units that would qualify under its vague definition, meaning compliance timeframes and costs will be greater than the agency anticipates, NRECA said.

“EPA should reconsider this flawed rule, which would cause serious disruptions at active power plants and exacerbate grid reliability challenges for co-ops and other utilities,” the NRECA document stated.

The legacy coal ash rule was one of four power plant regulations that the EPA finalized in April. NRECA is suing to overturn the EPA’s power plant greenhouse gas rule and has requested that the Supreme Court stay the regulation. NRECA also has joined several of its member cooperatives in challenging and requesting a stay of the mercury and air rule.

In addition, the Utility Water Act Group, which NRECA is a member of, joined the Southwestern Electric Power Co. in suing the EPA over the power plant wastewater rule, also known as effluent limitation guidelines (ELG) rule, and requested a stay of the regulation.

Molly Christian is a staff writer for NRECA.

ARLINGTON, Va. – National Rural Electric Cooperative Association CEO Jim Matheson today issued the following statement on the Supreme Court’s decision to grant NRECA’s request for an emergency stay of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Ozone Transport Rule (also known as the “Good Neighbor Rule”):

“Today’s Court decision directly speaks to the gravity of EPA’s unlawful Ozone Transport Rule which directly threatens the American economy and way of life. This rule creates major threats to the reliability of the electric grid and will saddle Americans with higher energy bills while accelerating the retirement of always available generating resources. EPA’s approach to regulating the electric sector stretches well beyond the agency’s authority, and we thank the Court for listening to our concerns.”

The Transport Rule would lead to the early curtailment or retirement of 62 coal generating units as soon as 2026. The collective loss of these 32 gigawatts of capacity would further jeopardize the reliability of an already stressed electric grid.

NRECA challenged the transport rule in the D.C. Circuit and, along with numerous other parties, filed a motion to stay the rule while the case is pending. On September 25, the D.C. Circuit departed from every other court to date and denied this motion, prompting three states (Ohio, West Virginia, and Indiana) and industry parties to seek an emergency stay from the Supreme Court on October 13.

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the national trade association representing nearly 900 local electric cooperatives. From growing suburbs to remote farming communities, electric co-ops serve as engines of economic development for 42 million Americans across 56 percent of the nation’s landscape. As local businesses built by the consumers they serve, electric cooperatives have meaningful ties to rural America and invest $15 billion annually in their communities.

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NRECA has joined with four of its member cooperatives to urge a federal appeals court to halt implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s new mercury and air rule before it can cause “substantial, irreparable, and immediate harm” to electric co-ops.

If the rule is not paused, co-ops will suffer “exorbitant” costs to bring their power plants into compliance with standards that may later be deemed unlawful, according to a motion for a stay of the final rule that NRECA and others filed June 21 with the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Co-ops would never be able to get that money back, even if the rule is later thrown out by a court amid legal challenges to the EPA’s authority, the motion says. If the court grants NRECA’s request for a stay, the rule would be put on hold until the courts can evaluate its legality.

It’s also questionable whether the new standards are even achievable, according to NRECA and other petitioners. NRECA has urged the EPA to rescind the new mercury rule—which has “no appreciable public health benefits”—and keep the previous standards in place.

The new rule requires plants burning lignite coal to slash their mercury emissions by 70% compared to EPA’s 2012 standard. The chemical differences in lignite prevent emissions controls from achieving the same level of reductions as in other types of coal, NRECA says.

The rule—which plant operators must comply with by July 2027—also requires a 67% cut in filterable particulate matter for all coal-fired plants but does not identify any new cost-effective technologies to meet that goal.

If the standards can’t be met, power plants would be forced to shut down, which NRECA warns would threaten reliability at a time when demand for electricity is growing.

“The premature shutdown of plants will cause electricity costs to skyrocket,” the stay request warns. “Without generation, utilities must purchase power at unsustainable prices to meet demand.”

For example, Mac McLennan, president and CEO of Minnkota Power Cooperative in Grand Forks, North Dakota, estimated in court documents that if its Milton R. Young power plant was forced to prematurely retire, it could cost his generation and transmission co-op $236 million for just four days of replacement power.

In addition to Minnkota, the G&Ts that joined with NRECA in requesting the stay were East Kentucky Power Cooperative in Winchester, Associated Electric Cooperative in Springfield, Missouri, and Basin Electric Power Cooperative in Bismarck, North Dakota.

In a declaration attached to NRECA’s request for a stay, Jerry Purvis, EKPC’s vice president of environmental affairs, said that even if the co-op spent millions of dollars on plant upgrades, it still might not be able to meet the rule’s mandates.

The mercury and air rule was released in April alongside EPA’s final power plant rule for existing coal-fired power plants and new natural gas-fired plants. NRECA believes the two rules, along with other recent EPA final rules, would exacerbate reliability threats to the electric grid as U.S. power demand surges in the coming years.

Erin Kelly and Molly Christian are staff writers for NRECA.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s new power plant rule leaves many electric cooperatives with a dire choice: Spend billions to install an inadequately demonstrated emissions technology that will make member costs skyrocket and may not even satisfy EPA’s requirements, or shut down massive amounts of generation whose loss will undercut grid reliability. 

Nearly a dozen co-ops made such warnings in court filings supporting NRECA’s May 13 request to put the rule on hold. The request came after NRECA filed a lawsuit against the rule May 9 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, arguing the mandate is unachievable and unlawful. 

“EPA’s overreach poses immense, immediate, and irreparable harms for … members, the electric grid, virtually all Americans, and the economy,” NRECA said in its petition for stay. 

Co-op concerns over the rule were reinforced by a new report from the North American Electric Reliability Corp. warning of potential electricity supply shortfalls in several parts of the country this summer during extreme weather. The elevated risks stem partly from generator retirements and growing dependence on intermittent energy resources.  

The power plant rule, which EPA released April 25, seeks to cut greenhouse gas emissions from existing coal plants and new natural gas-fired facilities. 

The rule will force most existing coal plants to shut down or install technology that is capable of capturing and storing 90% of carbon dioxide emissions. New gas-fired units will likely need to be built with CCS or run at reduced levels under the regulation. Currently, no operating coal or natural gas power plants are utilizing carbon capture at-scale and with results that would comply with EPA’s regulations. 

The Real-World Impact 

Several generation and transmission co-ops joined NRECA in filing so-called “declarations of harm” with the D.C. Circuit showing the potential impacts of EPA’s rule. 

East Kentucky Power Cooperative said installing carbon capture and storage at its Spurlock coal plant would cost an estimated $10.7 billion, even when factoring in federal tax credits for the technology. That investment would push up average electric bills for EKPC customers by 67% to 96%, without including the cost of adding CCS at the Winchester, Kentucky-based co-op’s other power plant. 

If EKPC opts to build gas generation to meet growing demand, the co-op would have to construct two plants to equal the output of one larger facility given the capacity limits the EPA has placed on new gas units that lack carbon controls. That would essentially double the price tag of that new capacity. 

And although EKPC is working to expand its renewable energy portfolio, those resources are “intermittent, running appropriately 25% of the time as compared to the higher, dispatchable capacity factors of retiring coal units or natural gas-fired units,” the co-op stated. 

“We really believe that these are perverse rules that are going to have huge economic impacts on the end consumer and reliability issues [for] the end consumer,” EKPC CEO Tony Campbell said during a May 14 press call hosted by NRECA. 

With EPA’s rule in place, “we’re moving too far, too fast,” Campbell said. 

Even a CCS project already under development could struggle to satisfy the regulation. Minnkota Power Cooperative’s Project Tundra carbon capture and storage facility is not expected to reach commercial operation until 2029, 14 years after the project was first conceived. That’s well beyond the amount of time the power plant rule envisions for completing CCS projects, the co-op said in its declaration. 

Even then, Project Tundra may not fully comply with the power plant rule, despite about $1.6 billion in capital costs, the Grand Forks, North Dakota-based co-op said. Minnkota has not made a final decision on whether to proceed with Project Tundra. 

“I’m concerned … that what EPA has done in this rule ultimately is unrealistic for most plants in this country,” Minnkota CEO Mac McLennan said during the press call. 

Basin Electric Power Cooperative in Bismarck, North Dakota, said its projected incremental capital costs through 2035 to comply with the rule will total nearly $10 billion. And Columbus, Ohio-based Buckeye Power Inc. estimated that replacing the output from Units 1 and 2 of its Cardinal coal plant with market power for just eight years will cost around $800 million to $1.3 billion under current conditions—costs it said will ultimately be borne by co-op members. 

During the May 14 press call, NRECA CEO Jim Matheson noted the significant progress the U.S. power sector has made in cutting emissions but said current technology will not allow the Biden administration to reach its goal of a zero-carbon power sector by 2035 without encountering reliability problems.  

“Let’s have a pragmatic, practical, common-sense conversation about energy policy,” Matheson said. “Not one that undermines reliability and is framed by an all-or-none dynamic.” 

Hear from NRECA’s Ashley Slater and Minnkota Power Cooperative’s Mac McLennan in a new podcast episode on the EPA power plant rule:

Molly Christian is a staff writer for NRECA.

A new rule guiding the federal environmental review process for major infrastructure buildouts will impede critical projects needed to ensure reliable and affordable power, NRECA says.

The White House Council on Environmental Quality released its final Phase 2 rule under the National Environmental Policy Act on April 30. Despite Congress’ efforts to make the NEPA process more timely and efficient through the recently enacted Fiscal Responsibility Act in 2023, the administration layers on new requirements that undermine those improvements.

The administration’s rule, which applies to projects needing federal permits or that receive federal loans or grants, includes provisions that will make the NEPA process less efficient and more burdensome.

“CEQ’s final rule takes our nation in the wrong direction and further undermines reliable electricity,” NRECA CEO Jim Matheson said. “It will delay key infrastructure projects by prolonging and complicating environmental reviews while increasing litigation risk.”

The rule elevates certain environmental considerations, including a project’s climate impacts, above others. That is inconsistent with NEPA’s historical approach of using an objective project-specific method to assess proposed actions and would favor certain types of infrastructure over others, according to NRECA.

Furthermore, the final rule will require environmental mitigation measures and monitoring and compliance plans that CEQ lacks the authority to mandate under NEPA. The rule also adds new requirements for agencies that want to establish and apply categorical exclusions that allow low-impact activities to avoid more extensive NEPA reviews.

The Phase 2 rule will apply to projects starting environmental reviews on or after July 1.

“Our broken permitting system already makes it exceedingly difficult to add new energy resources to the grid,” Matheson said. “This rule makes that problem worse.”

Molly Christian is a staff writer for NRECA.

The Environmental Protection Agency released four major new regulations for the electric industry Thursday, including a much-anticipated rule to cut emissions from power plants, a sweeping move that NRECA CEO Jim Matheson said will aggravate reliability concerns for electric cooperatives and other utilities nationwide.

“The path outlined by the EPA is unlawful, unrealistic and unachievable,” Matheson said Thursday. “It undermines electric reliability and poses grave consequences for an already stressed electric grid.”

The power plant rule constrains existing coal and new natural gas plants by requiring them to deploy carbon capture and sequestration, a technology that is not yet proven or commercially available. The other three new rules tighten standards for mercury and air toxics and wastewater and impose requirements on legacy coal ash sites.

“This barrage of new EPA rules ignores our nation’s ongoing electric reliability challenges and is the wrong approach at a critical time for our nation’s energy future,” Matheson said.

He noted that the power plant rule would force the early retirement of always-available generation sources and limit construction of new natural gas plants just as the power sector is facing a surge in demand from factors like transportation electrification and the rapid expansion of data centers to support artificial intelligence, e-commerce and cryptocurrency.

Under the new rule, existing coal-fired units that plan to operate past the start of 2039 must reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by 90% by 2032. Units retiring before 2039 must co-fire with natural gas at a 40% rate starting in 2030.

Existing coal units that commit to close by 2032 will be exempt from the new requirements.

The rule also requires new natural gas plants operating as baseload— above a 40% capacity factor—to capture or avoid 90% of their carbon emissions by 2032. Operation of a natural gas unit without additional emissions controls is limited to 20% capacity factor.

The standards will inhibit cooperatives’ ability to economically and reliably replace lost coal generation. Cooperatives building new gas-fired facilities will either need to install CCS capturing nearly all emissions or run new gas units that can only operate a small portion of the time. The final rule did not include hydrogen co-firing as part of the EPA’s “best system of emission reduction,” but generators can use the technology to achieve compliance, EPA said.

The updated mercury and air toxics rule sets new limits on certain coal plant emissions. The effluent standards regulate wastewater discharges into water bodies near coal plants. And the legacy coal ash rule covers surface impoundments at inactive power plants and historical coal ash disposal sites.

Molly Christian is a staff writer for NRECA.

Nearly 20,000 electric cooperative consumer-members and employees have signed a petition urging the Biden administration to abandon any plans to breach the four Lower Snake River dams that provide carbon-free hydropower to more than 50 Northwest co-ops.

“We strongly oppose any efforts that would breach the Lower Snake River Dams and risk the reliability of our electricity,” states the petition, which was delivered to the White House on Dec. 14 on behalf of Voices for Cooperative Power, NRECA’s grassroots network. The 19,503 signatures were collected in eight Northwest states in about a week.

NRECA activated the VCP network in the states where co-ops receive hydropower marketed by the Bonneville Power Administration from 31 dams in the Federal Columbia River Power System, including the four Snake River dams. Those states are Washington, Oregon, California, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming and Nevada.

“It’s important for consumer-members to speak out on policy decisions that affect whether they can keep their lights on,” said Kelly Cushman, NRECA’s vice president of political programs. “VCP gives them the platform they need to make their voices heard.”

NRECA and its Northwest members became alarmed in late November when lawmakers leaked a draft legal settlement by the Biden administration, environmental groups, and tribal and state governments over the federal government’s operation of the lower Snake River dams.

In a lawsuit filed in 2021, plaintiffs charged that the dams are threatening the survival of endangered salmon. The draft settlement supports breaching the dams and replacing them with other types of renewable energy.

The VCP petition urges President Joe Biden to “abandon the Draft Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative Agreement as it will have grave consequences and jeopardize reliable, affordable electricity for millions of Americans across eight states.”

NRECA CEO Jim Matheson said the petition “is a powerful display of support and speaks directly to the importance of ensuring continued access to affordable, reliable electricity.”

“The Biden administration must change course before it’s too late,” he said.

The proposed agreement acknowledges that the administration does not have the power by itself to remove the dams. Congress would have to approve any plan to breach them.

“However, if this draft agreement is signed, I think that’s a step toward the possibility that the dams could be breached,” Cushman said.

BPA’s website says “the lower Snake River dams are part of a Northwest energy solution with the capability to generate over 3,000 megawatts of carbon-free power.”

Montana’s co-ops alone say they receive nearly 330 MW of electricity from the Columbia River Basin—enough power to serve more than 100,000 homes.

BPA also says that it has fish-passage systems that ensure that more than 90% of the salmon that migrate through the dams survive.

Erin Kelly is a staff writer for NRECA.

A Basin Electric Power Cooperative coal-based power plant in Wyoming is advancing efforts to ease the environmental impact of carbon dioxide and attracting international participation from both corporate and scientific researchers.

Representatives of Kawasaki Heavy Industries, the Japan Carbon Frontier Organization and Newark, California-based Membrane Technology and Research joined co-op and state officials in Gillette for a groundbreaking event at the Wyoming Integrated Test Center earlier this month for two facilities designed to use CO2 captured from the flue gas produced at Basin Electric’s Dry Fork Station.

“We are excited to be a part of the pursuit to find a means of reducing carbon while continuing to use coal to power the economy,” said Basin Electric CEO and General Manager Todd Telesz.

Launched as a public-private partnership in 2016, the $21 million Wyoming ITC is designed to collect CO2 from flue gas produced by the 405-megawatt, coal-based Dry Fork Station. It’s supported by funding from Bismarck, North Dakota-based Basin Electric, Denver, Colorado-based Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, NRECA and the state of Wyoming.

“Carbon capture will be absolutely essential to ensuring baseload power continues to be available to the grid,” said Jason Begger, managing director of ITC, during the groundbreaking event.

MTR President Brett Andrews said his company will build and operate a large pilot program at the Wyoming ITC capable of processing 150 tons of CO2 a day. “This will be the largest non-solvent-based capture plant in the world, and it represents our final step toward commercial deployment.”

Kawasaki is teaming with Japan Carbon Frontier Organization to produce sorbent, a dry product used to absorb or adsorb liquids or gasses, attaching them to more substantial solid molecule.

“We shall focus on our efforts to promote zero-CO2-emissions technologies for coal utilization and not on coal phase-out,” said Tomohiko Sugimoto, general manager of Kawasaki Heavy Industries.

While many carbon capture technologies are being developed and studied in laboratory settings, the ITC is one of the few research facilities at an operating coal-fired power plant. That allows for real-world testing and alleviates typical concerns over being able to transfer technology from a lab to a plant.

“Partnerships such as these with Japan and the [U.S. Department of Energy] underscore the global leadership Wyoming has to offer regarding transitioning traditional energy development through the reduction of carbon emissions,” said Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon at the groundbreaking.

While Dry Fork Station has only been in operation for a dozen years, Basin Electric has invested millions in projects designed to protect its investment and mitigate environmental impacts.

“Dry Fork Station is our newest power plant, and it made the most sense to continue with the research on that plant site,” said Jim Sheldon, Basin Electric’s manager of mechanical engineering. “We’re involved in these projects to educate ourselves, not only about capturing and storing carbon dioxide generally, but also specifically for the plant.”

Derrill Holly is a staff writer for NRECA.

When the city of Whitefish, Montana, needed a major upgrade of its wastewater treatment plant, it turned to Flathead Electric Cooperative for ideas. The result is a modern, more reliable facility built to handle population growth while using less electricity and cutting power costs by about $34,000 a year.

“Bring me every school kid in the county,” said plant operator Roxanna Chomas. “They need to know what happens when they flush the potty!”

Chomas and other city officials worked closely with Flathead EC’s energy services supervisor, Don Newton, for more than four years as contractors replaced the 50-year-old system of lagoons with anerobic digesters and digital controls.

The new system is expected to meet expanding community needs well into the middle of the century while eliminating many known or potential problems common among the more than 16,000 sewage treatment plants operating in the United States.   

“It takes in raw sewage, it draws off that clear water, and it’s a very quick process,” Chomas recently told reporters. “It’s very quick, very instantaneous. And it’s all governed by instrumentation. It doesn’t smell at all; there’s no odor from the lagoons.”

The new plant uses ultraviolet light and granulated microbes shifted through a series of batch tanks to filter and degrade solids. It replaces three lagoons that required constant mechanical stirring with a much more efficient process to drain and remove sludge.

Newton, who frequently works with the co-op’s institutional, industrial and commercial accountholders, studied up on wastewater treatment and called on expertise from the co-op’s wholesale power provider. 

Bonneville Power Administration offers economic incentives, in the form of power cost rebates, for energy efficiency improvements that reduce the overall load on its system.  Bonneville’s Energy Smart Industrial Program produced about $400 million in energy savings across its eight-state operational region in the past 10 years.  

“Clean water is something that everybody wants, and we want that water treated energy efficiently, so it consumes less power,” said Newton.  “If we have to buy less wholesale electricity, we can get it at lower cost, then we pass that on to our co-op members.”

While sewage treatment is an essential service, siting and environmental impact remain major concerns. That’s particularly true in areas known for water recreation, including boating, fishing and paddleboarding, which helps drive tourism growth and the development of vacation property. In the past five years, the co-op has added about 10,000 new accounts and now serves about 80,000 meters.

“Flathead Lake is one of the cleanest lakes in the country, so maintaining water quality is a high priority,” said Newton, adding that the system can shift power-intensive processes to off-peak periods when rates are lower. “Noise reduction and very little smell is appreciated by close neighbors.”

The $24 million project, one of four such U.S. plants now using the technology, is expected to reduce electricity usage by nearly 570 kilowatt-hours annually at current levels. Two 40 horsepower pumps that operate 24/7 consume far less electricity than the mechanical systems they replaced, with excess capacity to handle future growth.

Community interest in the project has been overwhelmingly positive. It not only meets or exceeds current federal and state environmental standards, but it’s also led to talks of repurposing some of the land at the wastewater treatment plant for a new solar array.

“Whitefish is not likely to need a new sewage treatment plant for at least 40 years, so adding solar power to the facility could offset some of its power needs from the co-op,” said Newton. “Replacing one of the existing lagoons with a solar installation would be a great opportunity.”

Derrill Holly is a staff writer for NRECA.

What on earth could be more popular than a top-ranked team of electric cooperative lineworkers winning the state lineman rodeo? Apparently the fate of a tiny shorebird nesting smack-dab in the middle of one of the South Carolina co-op’s parking lots.

“Normally our linemen are the big hits on our social media page, but that bird has sort of beat all of them,” said Micah Ponce, communications and media specialist at Berkeley Electric Cooperative based in Moncks Corner.

“That bird” is a mother killdeer who scratched out a nest for her four eggs in a gravel lot on Johns Island where the co-op keeps forklifts and line trucks. A co-op employee happened to spot the bird and her clutch, and the team quickly built a safe space around the nest with orange traffic cones. Three chicks hatched in early April, but it can be up to a month before they are fully fledged and ready to leave the nest.

“We still have the area cordoned off, and our facilities manager and director of corporate services sent out another heads-up to our guys who operate the trucks,” Ponce said. “They really have to keep an eye out, because those chicks are tiny.”

Killdeer, which are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, typically nest in open rocky areas to camouflage their eggs, which resemble pebbles. Berkeley Electric crews often see the birds settling into quieter gravel areas around the co-op’s substations, but this mother’s decision to nest amid heavy moving equipment was about as surprising as the widespread attention the story has gotten.

“It caught like wildfire,” said Ponce.

Media outlets from hometown television stations to Southern Living to Yahoo and MSN picked up the story. Schoolchildren traveled a half-hour from Charleston to bring the co-op handmade signs with messages to protect the killdeer.

Social media posts about the nest and Berkeley Electric’s accommodations soon eclipsed hits about the co-op’s lineworker team capturing first place overall in the third annual South Carolina Lineman’s Rodeo at Palmetto Electric Cooperative in Ridgeland in late March.

“Our guys did pretty good at the lineman rodeo that we just had, and so you know that post was doing well,” said Ponce. “And then here comes the bird and completely leaves them in the dust. It’s sort of become a running joke all in good humor.”

And that bird barricade wasn’t Berkeley Electric’s first rodeo. The co-op has assisted with critter conservation by setting up poles for ospreys to nest in and earlier this year aided the return of a fallen juvenile eagle to its nest 100 feet up a tree.

“We’re always willing to do our part to protect our environment,” Ponce said. “We work with our members as well on keeping the Lowcountry where we live and work a beautiful place to be.”

Cathy Cash is a staff writer for NRECA.

Electric cooperatives support the goals of the Endangered Species Act, but the law is creating major challenges to affordability and reliability and must be improved for the sake of wildlife and communities, an Oregon co-op leader told a House panel Tuesday.

Fred Flippence, general manager of Harney Electric Cooperative in Hines, Oregon, described how the federal Bureau of Land Management came up with a plan in 2014 to protect sage grouse habitat that, if implemented, would have bankrupted the 1,230-member co-op.

The BLM’s preferred plan would have required the co-op to relocate or bury more than 105 miles of transmission line and more than 530 miles of distribution line to protect sage grouse habitat, Flippence told the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries.

“The direct costs to the co-op of relocating or burying the transmission and distribution lines would have exceeded $400 million,” said Flippence, who is also president of the Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative Association. “HEC would simply have had to terminate service.”

The co-op serves a total of six counties in southeast Oregon and northern Nevada. Nearly half the residents of one of those counties, Harney County in Oregon, live below the poverty line, Flippence said.

Fortunately, he said, the co-op has not been required to implement those measures. But its projects, such as moving a line or changing easements, are often delayed because of possible impacts on sage grouse habitat.

“For instance, our easement with Malheur Refuge came up for renewal, and it was declined because they didn’t want power lines on the refuge,” he said. “I had to explain to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that the power serves their headquarters, fish weirs and irrigation on the refuge.”

In another case, the co-op’s renewable geothermal energy project is being delayed because of a golden eagle nest that has been abandoned for about 20 years, Flippence said.

“We are required to wait through the golden eagle breeding season to see if the eagles will reclaim the nest that has been abandoned for what we believe is two decades,” he said. “After so many years, we hope the Fish and Wildlife Service will deem the nest abandoned, so the project can resume. These project delays have an impact on the system and reliability.”

Flippence, who was also testifying on behalf of NRECA, recommended several ways to improve how critical habitat is designated under the Endangered Species Act:

• Only those areas that are actually habitable should be categorized as habitat.
• A proposed designation of critical habitat should focus on specific geographic areas.
• An area must be sufficiently habitable for a species’ long-term survival.

“Meeting current and future energy needs is a major challenge,” Flippence said. “Rising to meet this challenge will require collaboration, creativity and flexibility. HEC and our electric co-op brethren are ready to work with you, your colleagues in Congress, and your federal agency partners to meet these needs.”

Erin Kelly is a staff writer for NRECA.

New interim guidance for federal agencies when assessing the impact of greenhouse gas emissions goes beyond the authority of the National Environmental Policy Act and stands to delay critical electric infrastructure projects for small, rural communities.

That’s the message from NRECA and the American Public Power Association to the White House Council on Environmental Quality regarding its Interim Guidance on Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change.

In formal comments filed April 10, NRECA and APPA said the interim guidance for NEPA reviews is overbroad and urged CEQ to withdraw and revise the document.

Construction and maintenance of infrastructure for electric generation, transmission and distribution, and broadband often involve obtaining permits, financing and right-of-way authorizations from federal agencies that must review these projects under NEPA.

“Allowing the guidance to stand would result in further delays and higher costs for NEPA reviews as federal agencies struggle to follow CEQ’s directions, which are unmanageable and inconsistent with the statute and Supreme Court case law,” said Viktoria Seale, NRECA regulatory affairs director. “NEPA is a procedural statute that does not provide authority to change a project’s purpose or alter an agency’s duties or obligations under its statutory authorities.”

The guidance fails to provide sufficient direction to regulatory agencies on when they can determine a project will not have a significant impact on the environment, Seale said. It also favors renewable projects, she said, by presupposing they require less analysis than other work to improve the efficiency and reliability of the electric grid.

At the very least, Seale said, NRECA and APPA recommend that the guidance not be applied to ongoing NEPA reviews that have already passed the scoping stage.

The associations highlighted the innovative energy projects taken on by electric co-ops and public power authorities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These include adding more renewable energy, exploring energy storage, greater efficiency and research in carbon capture technologies.

CEQ issued the interim guidance in January and will review public comments to determine whether to revise or finalize the guidance later this year.

Cathy Cash is a staff writer for NRECA.

The federal environmental review process takes too long, costs too much and makes it more difficult for electric cooperatives to provide reliable, affordable power to their members, a Dairyland Power Cooperative leader told a House committee Tuesday.

“Electric cooperatives like Dairyland play a leading role in the ongoing transformation of the electric sector and often need to obtain permits or other authorizations from federal agencies to construct and maintain electric generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure,” John Carr, vice president of strategic growth at the Wisconsin-based generation and transmission co-op, told members of the House Natural Resources Committee.

“Dairyland and other electric co-ops support the appropriate consideration of potential environmental impacts of energy projects during the permitting process, but the existing process impedes our ability to deploy clean energy to meet the current and future needs of our consumers and communities. We simply must reform the process to enable the transition that is already underway and to ensure it can be done reliably and affordably for our customers.”

Co-ops must undergo National Environment Policy Act reviews when they seek permits to build new energy projects and when they want to remove vegetation that is threatening power lines on federal land. They also are required to go through the permitting process when they apply for Rural Utilities Service loans to expand, upgrade and modernize their systems.

“As Dairyland Power has experienced firsthand, lengthy NEPA reviews and litigation delay the completion of critical infrastructure projects, require significantly more time and resources, and have a direct negative impact on communities served by these projects,” Carr said.

The co-op’s efforts to build a transmission line that would cross a federal wildlife refuge to deliver wind energy from the upper Great Plains to southern Wisconsin has been delayed for more than three years because of litigation. It was approved by federal agencies in January 2020 but has been tied up in court by environmental groups challenging the decision.

“There are currently over 100 renewable generation projects depending upon the construction of the Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line,” Carr said. “These projects will generate enough electricity to power millions of homes with clean energy. But only if the line can be completed.”

He recommended four priorities for lawmakers as they look to reform permitting processes:

• Establish firm parameters for environmental reviews, including how long the reviews should take.
• Promote greater involvement by co-ops and other permit applicants in the process while still giving federal agencies the final word.
• Ensure faster, more efficient reviews for projects that clearly have minimal environmental impact.
• Limit unnecessary litigation of NEPA reviews. Put time limits on how long someone can wait before filing a lawsuit against a federal agency after the agency grants a permit.

Carr called on lawmakers to support the BUILDER Act, which contains many of those recommendations. The bill’s chief sponsor is Rep. Garret Graves, R-La.

“Meeting current and future energy needs is a major challenge,” he said. “Rising to meet this challenge will require collaboration, creativity and flexibility. Dairyland and our electric co-op brethren are ready to work with all of you and your colleagues in Congress and your federal agency partners to meet these needs.”

Erin Kelly is a staff writer for NRECA.

Electric cooperative leaders urged Congress to pass federal permitting reform legislation, warning that delays in approving projects to modernize electric power systems could threaten grid reliability.

“We’re looking at a significant electrification of the U.S. economy in transportation and other sectors,” NRECA CEO Jim Matheson told reporters Thursday at a media teleconference. “Is our electric infrastructure ready for that?”

To build or upgrade generation, transmission and distribution systems, co-ops must seek permits from federal agencies under the National Environmental Policy Act. But those approvals can take years to obtain and are often further delayed when groups sue the agencies that issue the permits, Matheson said.

“Everyone, even organizations that don’t always agree on a lot, recognizes the need for a more timely and predictable process in this transition to a much more electrified economy,” he said.

Matt Hanson, CEO of 4,600-member McKenzie Electric Cooperative in Watford City, North Dakota, said his co-op has had trouble bringing electricity to tribal members on the Fort Berthold Reservation because of lengthy delays getting permits from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

“It prevents economic development on the reservation,” he said. “And it impacts the environment. Our consumers there are running their power off generators until we can connect them to lines. It costs 30% to 50% more to connect homes on BIA-governed land.”

Brent Ridge, president and CEO of Dairyland Power Cooperative in Wisconsin, said the delays in federal permitting are making it tougher for the large generation and transmission co-op to reduce carbon dioxide emissions as quickly as it would like. The co-op’s goal is to use 40% renewable power by 2035.

Two separate energy projects—one to deliver wind power and another to build a natural-gas plant that would reduce the use of coal—have been stalled by litigation and other permitting delays, Ridge said.

“If we are to lower carbon emissions as quickly as possible, we need a process that is efficient and nimble,” he said. “The current process is delaying progress and raising costs.”

Ridge, Hanson and Matheson all urged Congress to support the BUILDER Act. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., would limit how long various environmental reviews must take, encourage greater involvement by co-ops and other permit applicants in the process and create deadlines for filing lawsuits after permits have been granted.

Matheson said he thought it was encouraging that the House Natural Resources Committee was focusing on the legislation at a Feb. 28 hearing, which includes testimony from Dairyland Power Vice President of Strategic Growth John Carr.

“I think the bill is a good first step,” he said. “I hope there’s a full-fledged bipartisan discussion in Congress. NRECA would certainly support that. We hope to build some momentum going forward.”

Erin Kelly is a staff writer for NRECA.

For more than a decade, members of Flathead Electric Cooperative have benefited from their own household waste as a source of electricity, and the co-op’s landfill gas project has been so affordable that it’s doubling the capacity.

The Kalispell, Montana-based co-op developed its methane-gas-to-energy project with zero-interest loans obtained through the Department of Agriculture’s Conservation Renewable Energy Bonds program after negotiating an agreement with the Flathead County Department of Solid Waste in 2008.

The $3.5 million loan enabled the co-op to contract with SCS Energy to develop the site for energy production. Methane, previously vented and flared from the 275-acre site, is collected through wells and vacuum pumps, filtered and used to operate a 1.6-megawatt generator.

“Our landfill project is one of the top-performing and most efficient landfill projects in SCS Energy’s fleet of projects they manage,” said Mark Johnson, CEO of Flathead EC. “The project has a capacity factor of over 93%, which means our original generation set has produced electricity at close to its maximum level.”

After 109,000 hours of operation, the original unit was pulled for overhaul in late 2022 as the co-op acquired and installed a second generation set at the landfill. The combined capacity of the two units, drawing methane from the same intake system, is expected to provide enough electricity to meet the needs of 3,200 average homes on the co-op’s 73,000-meter system.

“We are able to generate additional electricity for our members’ use at an economical cost and diversify our power portfolio,” said Jason Williams, Flathead EC’s assistant general manager for engineering, operations and power. “We handle the environmental compliance on an ever-growing landfill facility that continues to generate more and more methane.”

About 100 acres at the site are designated for solid waste disposal, and the landfill receives nearly 150,000 tons of solid waste per year. There are now 61 collection wells at the landfill, including some that were decommissioned as methane production declined due to fuel stock depletion near their locations. New wells are added to tap methane produced from decomposition as new collection pits are developed. Methane production achieves generation quality in about two years and increases over time. Landfill usage at the site increases at a rate of about 3,000 tons per year.

The co-op’s contributions to the project have included design, installation and maintenance of collection wells, piping and other support equipment. Leaching agents used to enhance the rate of decomposition improve the quality and consistency of the methane gas used for generation.

“We live in a fairly arid region, so that aids in the decomposition of the garbage,” said Williams. “This is basically a 24/7 production site, so there is quite a bit of maintenance to perform not only on the generator engine but also continuous tuning of the well-field to optimize methane production.”

While landfill gas generation is not the least expensive energy source available to meet the co-op’s demand, hosting the sites has been a modest enterprise for the county, offsetting some of the costs of waste disposal. It is also recognized as a renewable energy resource by the state of Montana and the co-op’s members.

Derrill Holly is a staff writer for NRECA.

For NRECA’s Tolu Omotoso, 2022 was a year of unparalleled opportunities. As director of energy solutions, he’s been helping members prepare to apply for grants from the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law, which will make historic investments in the energy sector.

But a major highlight came just at the end of Omotoso’s busy year: an invitation from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to attend the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, D.C., as an exceptional young leader from Africa. The department selected Omotoso to participate in the African and Diaspora Young Leaders Forum held Dec. 13 at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. In addition to Blinken, Vice President Kamala Harris and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan spoke at the forum, along with several members of Congress and African heads of state. The forum included breakout sessions on higher education, the creative industries and environmental equity.

Omotoso spoke with NRECA after the forum about his path from Lagos, Nigeria, where most of his family still lives, to Linden, Indiana’s Tipmont REMC to NRECA, where he’s an expert in distributed energy resources.

Tell me about your journey from Lagos, Nigeria, to NRECA. How did you learn about electric co-ops?

Omotoso: I came to the United States from Lagos in 2011 to attend graduate school at Purdue University [in West Lafayette, Indiana] and got my master’s degree in civil/environmental engineering, and I’m on track to get my Ph.D. in civil/environmental engineering. I worked at Purdue’s Energy Center and, among other projects, was leading an energy workforce development project—the Duke Energy Academy at Purdue primarily sponsored by Duke Energy. Tipmont REMC was also one of the sponsors, and that’s how I got to know them. It was a great opportunity working for Tipmont’s members. My best days were the ones that included direct interaction with the member-owners—from basic things like answering questions on energy usage to more complex/technical tasks like helping members and their contractors design and site distributed energy resources.

I was the co-op’s manager of smart grid before I left in December 2021 to be the director of energy solutions in NRECA’s Business & Technology Strategies department.

With your background, you could work at a large corporation. Yet you describe yourself as being attracted to purpose-driven work. What made you decide to work at a co-op and later, on their behalf at NRECA?

Omotoso: That’s true. Before I joined NRECA, I had verbally accepted a job offer from a subsidiary of Koch Industries, the country’s second-biggest private employer. I thought about what I was trying to do and then consulted my industry mentor [Curtis Wynn, CEO of SECO Energy and former NRECA president], and we talked about the impact that I would be able to make in the cooperative space…working directly with the members and improving their lives as opposed to a big corporation where the focus is more on satisfying their shareholders. Ultimately, I chose to join NRECA and so far, it’s been a great decision. It’s an awesome feeling being able to use my technical training to help people directly. I also love the cooperative principles…my favorites are No. 6 and No. 7, Cooperation Among Cooperatives and Concern for Community. Being able to help one another and improve people’s lives is just something that I really connect with.

Also, I had met my current boss, Paul Breakman, at a conference back in 2018. He was engaging, respectful and seemed impressed by me, so he made a joke about my coming to work for him in the future. I guess the future came through.

How did you learn about the African and Diaspora Young Leaders Forum? What did you learn and how do you think you’ll benefit professionally?

Omotoso: The State Department was seeking out exceptional young African leaders to participate in the U.S.-Africa Leader’s Summit, so I sent in my résumé and got an invitation directly from the secretary of state.

In the general session, they talked about power and the environment and strengthening the partnership between the African diaspora and U.S. leaders in terms of how to improve people’s lives, especially those in Africa. I was part of the breakout session on environmental equity that was led by the EPA administrator and Sabrina Dhowre Elba, United Nations Goodwill Ambassador.

It was valuable to listen to and collaborate with African counterparts on key areas the United States and Africa define as critical for the future of the continent and our global community.

Victoria A. Rocha is a staff writer for NRECA.

NRECA is diving into 2023 with a long list of policy goals that range from shaping a new five-year Farm Bill to helping electric cooperatives prepare for catastrophic wildfires.

“All of our priorities are aimed at helping our members maintain reliable and affordable power and giving them tools to help meet the challenges of the future,” said Hill Thomas, NRECA’s vice president of legislative affairs.

Thomas and Ashley Slater, NRECA’s vice president of regulatory affairs, said their teams will work closely together to help pass legislation that benefits co-ops and then ensure that those new laws are implemented as intended.

Co-ops saw major policy wins in 2021 and 2022 with passage of the bipartisan infrastructure law and key co-op provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act, and NRECA will continue its efforts this year to ensure that members benefit fully from the programs created by those laws.

In a recent Q&A session, Thomas and Slater outlined what’s ahead for co-op policy goals.

What are NRECA’s top regulatory priorities for 2023?

Slater: I have a long list!

• Implementing NRECA’s two priority provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act: direct-pay energy tax credits and the $9.7 billion U.S. Department of Agriculture program to assist co-ops with the energy transition.

• Shaping agency funding opportunity announcements for co-op programs included in the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law. Those programs include rural broadband, electric vehicle programs to build a network of chargers, grid resiliency and modernization, physical security and cybersecurity, and clean energy programs.

• Protecting co-op access to an affordable, reliable power supply as the Environmental Protection Agency looks to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants.

• Ensuring sound transmission policy as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission contemplates first-in-a-decade transmission reform.

• Ensuring that the Department of Energy uses its presidentially directed Defense Production Act authority appropriately to ease supply chain shortages.

• Ensuring that any new cybersecurity or physical security reporting requirements by the Department of Homeland Security are optimized for co-ops to enhance their security posture and improve their ability to protect against, detect and respond to—or recover from—threats to the electric system.

• Modernizing environmental permitting. The existing processes take too long, are too expensive and are an impediment to co-ops’ ability to meet future energy needs. They need to be modernized to give more certainty in the energy transition.

• Working with co-ops to prepare for and respond to catastrophic wildfires. Co-ops that want to do vegetation management are running into inconsistent guidance from the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service. We need to work with the agencies to streamline the process.

• Working with co-ops to ensure that the broadband maps produced by the Federal Communications Commission are done correctly to provide the best picture of where broadband is and isn’t available across the country. The FCC has released a pre-production draft of its latest broadband maps.

What are NRECA’s top legislative priorities for 2023?

Thomas: For the first couple of months, our top priority will be holding Co-op 101 sessions to meet the 81 new members of Congress and educate them about electric cooperatives. Beyond that, we want to make sure Congress is engaged when they need to be to ensure the legislation that has already passed is implemented the right way to benefit co-ops and their members.

A new five-year Farm Bill is being written by Congress that will affect electric co-ops and all of rural America, so that will be a priority. And we support a bipartisan permitting modernization conversation. Also, we’re going to continue to face supply chain problems, and we’re going to continue to work to solve that.

We’ve already had co-op leaders come and testify to Congress about the upcoming Farm Bill. How will it affect electric co-ops specifically?

Thomas: The Farm Bill is the only piece of legislation that Congress does that is uniquely and specifically aimed at rural America. It is designed to support rural America and we share that goal. It’s important for us to talk about our priorities, including many of the USDA programs that we use such as rural development financing, the home energy efficiency program and clean energy deployment financing. These programs can be reauthorized in the new Farm Bill, and we want to make sure they’re operating as effectively as possible and are good to go for the next five years.

The other big conversation will be about broadband. There’s an opportunity to rewrite and improve the USDA ReConnect broadband program, which has provided opportunities to many of our members but could also operate more efficiently. It’s a fairly new program that has received lots of money, but some of our members haven’t been able to get access to it because it’s just too bureaucratic. We need to streamline the program so we can serve the communities that need it most.

Is the environment in the Biden administration and in Congress, with divided government, conducive to accomplishing NRECA’s goals?

Thomas: On the congressional side, with the House majority and the president being from different parties, it is going to be a tough environment for big, game-changing legislation. But we have a good reputation for being able to bridge gaps and find partnerships and bipartisanship. I think there will be lots of opportunities for us to engage in these important conversations.

Slater: We recognize that resource planning decisions are unique to the needs of the specific co-op and the communities they serve. The administration understands that if they want their policies to have a real impact, they have to reach rural America. And they can’t get there without electric co-ops.

That presents a real opportunity for our members who want to participate. In order to push an energy transition across the country, if you want to get there, you have to go through electric co-ops. If there’s no uptake, you’re not going to be successful in getting these dollars utilized…To the extent that we can be a conduit, that’s our edge.

Erin Kelly is a staff writer for NRECA.

NRECA CEO Jim Matheson said the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling Thursday against the Environmental Protection Agency’s attempt to set carbon dioxide emission rates for existing power plants is a significant affirmation of electric cooperatives’ position in the case and will help co-ops’ efforts to keep power affordable and reliable.

“Today’s ruling clearly acknowledges that EPA overstepped its regulatory authority in the Clean Power Plan,” Matheson said June 30 after the court handed down its opinion in West Virginia v EPA.

“The court’s decision resets the agency to its appropriate regulatory path, requiring it to set achievable emissions guidelines that can be accomplished at existing power plants while also allowing states to consider local factors and have the final say on compliance options.”

The Supreme Court reversed and remanded a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that had upheld EPA’s Clean Power Plan to cap carbon emissions from the current fleet of coal-fired power plants.

The 2015 Clean Power Plan never took effect after opposition to the plan attracted a rare stay by the Supreme Court.

In the ruling released Thursday, the justices focused on whether Congress granted EPA authority to set carbon dioxide emissions that would shift generation resources away from baseload coal plants and toward renewable resources through what the majority opinion dubbed a “little-used backwater” of the Clean Air Act called Section 111(d). That section authorizes regulation of pollution from existing sources.

“On EPA’s view of Section 111(d), Congress implicitly tasked it, and it alone, with balancing the many vital considerations of national policy implicated in deciding how Americans will get their energy,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote. “There is little reason to think Congress assigned such decisions to the Agency.”

Roberts added: “Capping carbon dioxide emissions at a level that will force a nationwide transition away from the use of coal to generate electricity may be a sensible ‘solution to the crisis of the day.’ But it is not plausible that Congress gave EPA the authority to adopt on its own such a regulatory scheme in Section 111(d).”

The majority concluded that limiting carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants as the Clean Power Plan sought to do is outside EPA’s authority: “A decision of such magnitude and consequence rests with Congress itself, or an agency acting pursuant to a clear delegation from that representative body.”

NRECA supported an amicus brief filed by co-ops with the Supreme Court outlining key arguments as to why EPA’s Clean Power Plan was flawed and threatened electric reliability.

The rule’s “generation shifting” conflicted with the plain text of the Clean Air Act that preserves states’ authority to set emission standards for existing generating units within their borders, the co-ops told the court.

The D.C. Circuit of Appeals also ignored the Supreme Court’s “major questions doctrine,” which asserts that Congress must speak clearly when it assigns decisions of vast economic and political significance to a federal agency, the co-ops said.

Matheson said co-ops are doing their part to deliver electricity through a mix of reliable resources at a reasonable price, which is key given recent warnings by federal agencies of potential summer outages.

“Electric co-ops are investing in a diverse energy mix to keep the lights on reliably and affordably for American families and businesses,” he said. “The energy decisions we make today will determine whether there are sufficient resources for the lights to come on tomorrow.”

Cathy Cash is a staff writer for NRECA.

ARLINGTON, Va. – National Rural Electric Cooperative Association CEO Jim Matheson issued the following statement regarding the Supreme Court’s ruling in West Virginia v. EPA:

“Today’s ruling clearly acknowledges that EPA overstepped its regulatory authority in the Clean Power Plan. The court’s decision resets the agency to its appropriate regulatory path, requiring it to set achievable emissions guidelines that can be accomplished at existing power plants while also allowing states to consider local factors and have the final say on compliance options.

“The energy decisions we make today will determine whether there are sufficient resources for the lights to come on tomorrow. Electric co-ops are investing in a diverse energy mix to keep the lights on reliably and affordably for American families and businesses. As our nation depends on electricity to power more of the economy, policymakers must recognize the need for time, technology development and the importance of always available energy sources to maintain reliability and affordability. That’s particularly true in light of recent warnings that dozens of states may struggle with rolling blackouts this summer due to policies that promote the disorderly retirement of existing generation resources.”

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the national trade association representing nearly 900 local electric cooperatives. From growing suburbs to remote farming communities, electric co-ops serve as engines of economic development for 42 million Americans across 56 percent of the nation’s landscape. As local businesses built by the consumers they serve, electric cooperatives have meaningful ties to rural America and invest $12 billion annually in their communities.

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Achieving 100% carbon-free electricity generation by 2035 is an overly ambitious goal that could threaten grid reliability and requires technology that is not yet available, NRECA CEO Jim Matheson told a Senate panel Wednesday.

The Biden administration has set a goal of a carbon-free electric sector by 2035.

“As our nation works to strengthen energy security and reliability while also protecting the environment, we must realize that it is not an all-or-nothing choice,” Matheson testified before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “We can address these priorities—but it requires technology and time beyond what is currently available and what many have called for.”

Matheson said lawmakers should focus on three key points as they consider the nation’s energy future:

• A resilient and reliable electric grid that affordably keeps the lights on is the cornerstone of American energy security and the national economy.

• The ongoing energy transition must recognize the need for time and technology and be inclusive of all energy sources to maintain reliability and affordability.

• The bipartisan infrastructure bill made important investments to support an energy transition, but additional actions on tax credits, permit streamlining and coordination on electrification will be required to meet future energy needs.

Matheson urged senators to oppose efforts to “mandate energy sector transformations over unreasonable or unrealistic timelines and that fail to account for regional differences in energy resource availability or the potential for stranded assets.”

He pointed to a recent long-term reliability assessment by the North American Electric Reliability Corp. warning of the risks of energy shortfalls during extreme weather if too much baseload generation is retired prematurely.

“Such policies would have significant impacts on the reliability and security of the electric grid and could have an undue economic impact on co-op consumer-members, particularly as additional costs must be incurred for replacement generation,” he said at a hearing focused on American energy security and investments in clean energy technologies.

Electric cooperatives are accelerating energy innovations and investments in clean energy to reduce carbon emissions, Matheson said. Co-ops lowered their CO2 emissions by 23% between 2005 and 2020—the equivalent of taking nearly 9 million cars off the road.

“As electric co-ops continue to reduce CO2 and other emissions, it is critical that policymakers work with industry in a constructive manner that achieves these objectives while maintaining the exceptional reliability and affordability that American families and businesses expect and deserve,” Matheson said.

The electric sector is poised to play a major role in reducing carbon emissions through increased electrification of the transportation, agricultural and industrial sectors, he said.

“Electrifying other sectors of the economy, however, will require a three-fold expansion of the transmission grid and up to 170% more electricity supply by 2050, according to the National Academies of Sciences,” Matheson testified.

“The increasing role of electrification will place more demands on the electric grid and generation portfolio, and measures to enhance grid reliability are essential to maximize emission reductions and keep costs affordable.”

The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed by Congress last November “included significant opportunities for electric co-ops and the communities they serve through programs supporting clean energy deployment, grid resiliency and modernization, physical and cybersecurity, electric vehicles, and rural broadband,” Matheson said.

But he said more must be done to provide tax incentives, streamline the permitting process and coordinate electrification efforts.

“Policymakers must continue to balance realism with aspiration while recognizing that any energy transition will require additional time and technology and must be inclusive of all energy sources to maintain the reliability and affordability that is the cornerstone of American energy security.”

Erin Kelly is a staff writer for NRECA.

As the U.S. Supreme Court addresses whether Congress authorized the Environmental Protection Agency to issue rules capable of reshaping the nation’s electric grid through the Clean Air Act, electric cooperatives continue to support the preservation of state authority to set emission levels at fossil fuel generation sources.

“The oral argument presented today was clear that the Supreme Court should preserve the states’ authority to set emission standards at power plants. Federal agencies are not free to rewrite statutory terms to accommodate policy desires that lack clear congressional directive,” NRECA CEO Jim Matheson said Monday.

“The Circuit Court’s decision would unconstitutionally allow EPA to determine the type of electric generation used within the states’ borders. Congress has recognized that every state is different, and the Court’s decision should recognize this fact,” Matheson said.

Matheson’s statement followed oral arguments in West Virginia v. the Environmental Protection Agency. The case pits coal-producing states and mining interests against the agency over an appeals court’s decision to throw out the 2019 Affordable Clean Energy rule, which gave states the right to set emission standards for existing power plants.

The Supreme Court could decide the case by June.

The ACE rule replaced the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, which established emission guidelines for states to follow limiting carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated the ACE rule, sending the matter back to EPA.

EPA plans to propose a replacement for the ACE rule late this year and finalize a new rule in 2023, Elizabeth Prelogar, solicitor general representing the agency, told the justices.

Six generation and transmission co-ops and NRECA filed an amicus brief last December stating the position that Congress gave the states, not EPA, authority to set the standards for existing plants, with guidance from EPA, and that those standards must be achievable by each plant.

They said that the Clean Power Plan, which was sidelined by litigation and never took effect, would have forced “generation shifting” away from fossil fuel, harmed the economy and threatened the grid.

The G&Ts also raised the Supreme Court’s “major questions doctrine,” which asserts that federal agencies must have specific authorization from Congress when making policy of vast economic and political significance. Imposing emissions caps on electric generating units nationwide, they argued, would be such an action.

Cathy Cash is a staff writer for NRECA.

The electric industry is facing one of the most challenging and disruptive times in its history as changes in policy, energy markets and consumer expectations drive fundamental changes in how utilities generate and deliver electricity.  

Electric cooperatives recognized this trend more than a decade ago and have been adding wind and solar to their generation portfolios as well as leading innovation in the development of microgrids and carbon capture and sequestration. Today, increasing social, economic and political pressure to accelerate the timeline for this transition is causing concern among electric co-ops and other utilities over how it will affect their ability to reliably and affordably provide electricity.

To delve into this important topic, we’re joined by Lisa Johnson, CEO and general manager of Seminole Electric Cooperative in Florida, and Pat O’Loughlin, president and CEO of Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives and its generation and transmission co-op, Buckeye Power.

Listen to the episode below:

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With electric cooperatives leading the way, Minnesota recently passed landmark energy policy reform that benefits consumers with reduced costs, greater efficiency and incentives to meet greenhouse gas goals.

The new Energy Conservation and Optimization Act replaces the state’s Conservation Improvement Program and its outdated requirement that co-ops and other utilities spend 1.5% of their annual revenue to reduce their electricity sales by at least 1.5% each year.

It also embraces beneficial electrification, which promotes the use of electric-powered devices that boost consumer savings and reduce pollution while improving grid resiliency and quality of life.

“Our energy savings goals are no longer measured by how much we spend,” said Darrick Moe, president and CEO of the Minnesota Rural Electric Association. “ECO allows us to grow our load, but because it’s beneficial electrification, you reduce total energy use.”

The law allows co-ops and other utilities to offer incentives for consumers to switch from carbon dioxide-emitting devices to electricity-based ones like electric vehicles, heat pumps and commercial and agricultural equipment.

“Minnesota’s stakeholder-driven update to its flagship energy efficiency programs is a milestone of national importance,” said Keith Dennis, NRECA vice president of consumer member engagement in the Business and Technology Strategies department.

“By harnessing the benefits of electrification, the environment will benefit and the energy system will be more efficient.”

ECO also provides for three-year plans to deploy programs and measure progress, replacing an annual process.

MREA made state energy policy reform a priority in 2017 and gathered a multi-stakeholder, bipartisan coalition to advocate for change. The resulting legislation passed the Democratic-controlled state House and the Republican-led Senate this spring. Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, signed the bill into law May 25.

Walz heralded the bill for its energy conservation and “beneficial fuel switching” that will allow “homes and businesses to run more efficiently and have a lower impact on our environment” while creating good-paying jobs.

MREA praised Rep. Zack Stephenson, a member of Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, and Republican Sen. Jason Rarick for guiding the legislation through their respective chambers to the governor’s desk.

“This is the most significant energy efficiency legislation to pass in Minnesota in many years, and for that we are thankful for the bipartisan work and leadership of Rep. Zack Stephenson and Sen. Jason Rarick,” said Joyce Peppin, director of government affairs and general counsel at the statewide association.

To ensure widespread support for the legislation, MREA partnered with Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association, investor-owned utilities and the Center for Energy and Environment, a clean energy advocacy group.

“MMUA enjoyed working with MREA to get ECO across the finish line,” said Kent Sulem, director of government relations for the municipals’ organization. “The partnership created a formidable force on behalf of consumer-owned utilities in passing this important modernization of our state’s CIP statutes.”

“We didn’t always see eye to eye as we developed the policy,” said Mike Bull, the center’s director of policy and external affairs. “But the trust that was built … allowed us to work through those differences and led to a much more robust legislative initiative.”

Cathy Cash is a staff writer for NRECA.

For state wildlife biologists, building roosting lines to support a bevy of mourning doves in a remote and rugged wildlife area was a daunting challenge, technically and financially.

To Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative, helping out the state was just being a good neighbor.

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources called on the Pickens-based co-op this spring to install roosting lines as a way of creating new dove habitat fields in the Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area. Mourning doves need roosts to serve as a resting place and lookout for predators; biologists need them to count the resident dove population to set annual hunting limits.

The co-op in April sent a contract crew to the wildlife area to build two roosting areas using inactive power line strung across 30-foot poles. One roost is three spans totaling 1,400 feet of line along four poles, and the other spans 500 feet between two poles.

“We really appreciate everything that Blue Ridge did to make these power line structures happen,” said Tammy Wactor Waldrop, a state wildlife biologist. “A contract crew for Blue Ridge worked all day to put these lines up. SCDNR does not have the equipment or expertise to do this, and it would have been very expensive. This just goes to show you how community-oriented Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative is.”

The co-op has lent a hand to the natural resources department on other projects. When the agency built an observation tower on Sassafras Mountain, the highest point in South Carolina, Blue Ridge Electric trimmed trees help promote local tourism and to provide the community with better views to Tennessee and North Carolina.

“We try to help them out when we can,” said Sam McMillan, the co-op’s vice president of operations. “We have a good relationship and support DNR and support wildlife. That supports the community.”

The department established the dove fields last year as the only ones open for public hunting in Greenville County. McMillan noted that the crew that trekked to the dove fields in the wildlife area 30 miles away from town enjoyed the change of pace. The habitat improvements also benefit a variety of other birds and wildlife in the area.   

“We were just helping them do a little project,” he said. “We were just being a good neighbor, that’s it.”

Cathy Cash is a staff writer for NRECA.

NRECA is urging congressional leaders to provide electric cooperatives with direct payments to develop clean energy projects—giving them incentives comparable to the tax breaks granted to investor-owned utilities.

For-profit utilities have long received federal tax breaks for providing power from solar, wind and other renewable energy sources. But not-for-profit co-ops and public power utilities haven’t been able to tap into those programs because they are exempt from federal income taxes.

In a letter to top congressional leaders, NRECA, the American Public Power Association and the Large Public Power Council asked for direct payments to member-owned and community-owned utilities to help employ technologies such as battery storage, carbon capture and electric vehicle charging networks.

“Allowing public power utilities and rural electric cooperatives to receive these tax credits in the form of direct payments for building clean energy infrastructure would ensure that all utilities serving all Americans would have equal access to these federal resources,” said the May 14 letter, which was signed by NRECA CEO Jim Matheson, APPA President/CEO Joy Ditto and LPPC President John Di Stasio.

“The direct payments would be used to help offset project costs—increasing the incentive for further investments—and would enable public power utilities and rural electric cooperatives to own these facilities directly. It would also mean more local projects, with local jobs, under local control.”

The issue is one of NRECA’s top legislative priorities for this session of Congress.

The letter points out that co-ops and community-owned electric utilities together serve nearly 30% of all retail electric customers.

“The President and Congress have ambitious climate goals that cannot be met by leaving nearly 30 percent of the nation’s electric utility customers without access to incentives and support,” the three association leaders wrote.

President Joe Biden has set a goal of eliminating carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector by 2030 to help slow climate change. Matheson and the other association leaders called that “a daunting challenge” with a hefty price tag that must be borne in part by co-op consumer-members and public power customers.

“As such, we cannot afford inefficient or ineffective policies,” they wrote.

Erin Kelly is a staff writer at NRECA.

Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative is creating an electric vehicle charging network that will grow to 60 stations over the next four years as the co-op works to help the state achieve its ambitious EV goals.

By the end of May, the 141,000-member co-op will have installed eight charging stations at regional parks and public buildings in Charles and St. Mary’s counties, said Jeff Shaw, SMECO’s vice president of distributed energy and sustainability. It is also working with local officials in the other two counties it serves—Calvert County and Prince George’s County near Washington, D.C.—to find suitable sites there.

About two-thirds of the 60 total chargers will be Level 2, which typically take several hours to charge a vehicle. The remaining third will be DC-powered fast chargers, which can charge an EV to an 80% level in less than half an hour.

“We want to help our members get over any range anxiety they may have by providing them with convenient places to charge so they’ll feel free to move about,” Shaw said.

The state of Maryland has set a goal of having 300,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2025. SMECO has about 1,400 registered EVs in its service area, Shaw said. That number would need to grow to 18,000—more than 10 times the current amount— to meet the state’s target.

“We’re going to struggle as a state to get there, but that’s what goals are for—to push us forward,” he said.

The state Public Service Commission, which regulates SMECO and other utilities, requires that EV charging stations be placed at state, county or municipal government sites that are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The co-op’s stations are at public locations that include regional parks, senior centers and libraries. One of the goals is to help boost tourism by bringing people from throughout the area to southern Maryland for recreation, Shaw said.

For example, he said, a regional park with a huge baseball/softball complex could attract families for tournaments.

“If they’re driving EVs, they’ll want to know if they can get some juice to go home after the games,” Shaw said.

In addition to environmental benefits, EVs have the potential to boost business for SMECO and other co-ops by dramatically increasing demand for electricity, Shaw said.

“It’s a load growth we haven’t seen since the advent of air-conditioning,” he said.  “This is a tremendous opportunity, and we need to be thoughtful about how we approach it.”

Shaw’s advice for other co-ops interested in creating an EV charging network is to engage early with local officials and other stakeholders, ranging from environmental groups to automakers.

“Everybody wants to see this succeed, and we need to work together to make sure it does,” he said.

Read More:
Co-ops Create Electric Vehicle Charging Network in Upper Midwest
N.C. Co-ops Invest $1 Million in Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
Oklahoma Co-ops Are Helping Make EV Charging More Convenient

Erin Kelly is a staff writer at NRECA.

Researchers who made 10,000 modified concrete blocks containing fly ash from a coal-based electric cooperative power plant have won an international competition for turning carbon dioxide emissions into useful products.

CarbonBuilt, a team of researchers affiliated with UCLA, is one of two winners of the $20 million NRG Cosia Carbon Xprize. For the past year, researchers have been working at a test production facility drawing fly ash and flue gases from Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s Dry Fork Station near Gillette, Wyoming, to formulate a profitable concrete product.

“Deploying their technology to avoid and reduce emissions from heavy industry will be a gamechanger for global decarbonization in the fight against climate change,” said Marcius Extavour, vice president of climate and energy at XPRIZE.

The UCLA team, which began researching the technique in 2013, has reduced the carbon footprint of its concrete by more than 50% while permanently incapsulating CO2 in construction-grade concrete injected into cement during the curing process.

Carbon Cure Technologies, a second team working at a facility affiliated with a natural-gas-fueled plant in Canada, will split the $15 million final prize award to fund further research.

The 10 finalist teams shared $5 million to pursue projects directing CO2 toward a variety of products, including food additives and plastics, but both winners were focused on improving concrete.

“Concrete is one of the world’s most abundant materials, and a crucial frontier in the fight against climate change,” said Extavour. “The production of Portland cement, the key ingredient that binds concrete and gives it its strength, accounts for approximately 7% of global CO2 emissions.”

Carbon Cure Technologies produced concrete with reduced water content without compromising its reliability. CarbonBuilt’s concrete formulation is a replacement for ordinary Portland cement. It uses low-cost waste materials, potentially reducing storage and disposal costs.

CarbonBuilt’s work was conducted at Wyoming’s Integrated Test Center, a research facility funded by the state of Wyoming with support from NRECA, Denver-based Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association and Bismarck, North Dakota-based Basin Electric Power Cooperative.

“Finding alternative, economic uses of carbon dioxide is paramount to the success of [carbon capture, utilization and storage] in Wyoming and across the nation,” said Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon. “This is just the first of many opportunities for us to work collaboratively to provide technical solutions to CO2 capture challenges in Wyoming.” 

Basin Electric’s coal-based 385-megawatt Dry Fork Station is a lignite-fueled plant in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin. That region now accounts for 40% of the coal used domestically.

Controlling CO2 emissions and reducing fly ash waste are among the goals of “clean coal” research and considered key to preserving the value of coal as the world’s most abundant fossil fuel resource.

“When we started this process, carbon utilization and the incredible opportunity of this industry was relatively unknown,” said Jason Begger, managing director of the Integrated Test Center.

Electric cooperatives were among early supporters of the global competition to advance carbon utilization research. NRECA and its generation and transmission co-op members worked closely with the state of Wyoming to establish the Integrated Test Center and secure research projects for the facility.

“As we plan for a future that depends on electricity as the primary energy source for a majority of the economy, strategic investments in energy innovation that support reliability of an increasingly complex resource portfolio are critical,” NRECA CEO Jim Matheson said.

The two G&Ts are working with NRECA to support and advance federally funded carbon capture and storage technology, which includes development of new compounds and materials with potential commercial value.

“Technology advancement drives economic development and cleaner energy,” said Tri-State CEO Duane Highley. “The Carbon XPRIZE enabled the advancement of novel technology solutions to carbon challenges, and as more innovators come to Wyoming to evaluate technologies, the work of the ITC will continue to deliver important results.”  

Basin Electric’s Dry Fork Station, among the most modern coal-based generation facilities in the nation, supports ongoing research aimed at reducing emission and waste concerns related to fossil fuel combustion. “We’re proud to host innovation that could enable a path forward for coal,” said Paul Sukut, Basin Electric Power Cooperative CEO and general manager. “Our cooperative believes an all-of-the-above energy strategy is best for meeting our members’ needs, and coal as a reliable fuel source is part of that.”

In the video below, watch XPRIZE’s Marcius Extavour explain carbon technology:

Derrill Holly is a staff writer at NRECA.

More than 1,500 electric cooperative leaders from across the country will host online meetings with over 350 members of Congress this week as part of NRECA’s annual Legislative Conference, CEO Jim Matheson told reporters Monday.

Co-op CEOs and directors are essential in helping lawmakers understand how key energy issues affect local constituents, Matheson said during a virtual news conference.

“That connection back home is really significant for us in terms of our identity with elected officials,” he said.

Co-ops will be advocating for three major issues during the virtual conference:

• Repricing Rural Utilities Service loans so that co-ops can benefit from today’s low interest rates without being hit with prepayment penalties.
• Investing in broadband to help close the digital divide that has left many rural areas behind.
• Providing comparable incentives to tax-exempt co-ops for energy innovation.

On the RUS debt issue, co-ops are urging Congress to pass the bipartisan Flexible Financing for Rural America Act, which could save co-ops more than $10 billion in interest payments on their loans. Matheson said NRECA is pushing lawmakers to include the legislation in the infrastructure package that they are expected to take up later this year.

“I have yet to meet anyone who doesn’t support this idea, although we all know it’s hard to get anything through Congress these days,” he said.

Matheson called broadband “an essential aspect of life” that is still being denied to more than 23 million people in rural America. More than 200 co-ops provide high-speed internet service to their consumer-members, and co-op leaders are calling on Congress to support broadband financing that gives priority to projects in areas with the lowest population density.

Tax-exempt co-ops that want to invest in innovative energy technologies also are looking for direct federal incentive payments comparable to the tax incentives paid to for-profit utilities, Matheson said. Because they don’t pay federal taxes, co-ops and municipal utilities—which together make up 30% of the electric utility industry—aren’t able to take advantage of incentives for renewable energy, carbon capture, battery storage and other technologies.

“We just want parity,” Matheson said. “The direct-pay method seems to be where consensus is growing on Capitol Hill.”

In answers to reporters’ questions about President Joe Biden’s climate change policies, Matheson said he doesn’t think it’s realistic to eliminate all carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector by 2035.

“Zero carbon by 2035—we think that’s an overly ambitious goal,” he said. “We’re having trouble seeing how we get there. Where’s the technology today that can allow that to happen, to get all the way to zero?”

Co-ops are concerned about how climate policies will affect their primary goal of providing reliable, affordable power to their members, many of whom live in high-poverty areas, Matheson said.

“What are going to be the commercially viable, always available and affordable carbon-free technologies to provide electricity?” Matheson asked. “People can set goal X, Y or Z, but are the lights going to go on whenever consumers flip the switch? And will they be able to afford it? Those are the questions we’re asking.”

Erin Kelly is a staff writer for NRECA.

When Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s Dakota Gasification Co. plant uses locally mined lignite coal to manufacture products, the carbon dioxide produced as a byproduct is collected and used for industrial and commercial purposes. Over the past 20 years, more than 40 million metric tons of CO2 has been captured and sequestered in Canadian oil fields.

“This is a great example of an environmental initiative that is not just economical, but actually generates revenue,” said Basin Electric CEO and General Manager Paul Sukut.

Dakota Gas, a subsidiary of Bismarck, North Dakota-based Basin Electric, captures the CO2 from its synthetic natural gas production and uses it as an injection solvent additive in enhanced oil recovery. Dakota Gas and a Canadian partner jointly operate a 205-mile pipeline that transports the CO2 compound to oil fields in the province of Saskatchewan.  CO2 is permanently sequestered underground when it is injected into deep geologic formations to enhance the flow of oil during extraction.  

 “This has been a great revenue stream for Dakota Gas, and it has provided our Canadian customers with the ability to drastically improve the life and productivity of their oil fields,” said Dale Johnson, vice president and chief operating officer of Dakota Gas.

Dakota Gas can capture about 3 million metric tons of CO2 yearly for sale and export. Plant operators are also producing compounds for use in the beverage industry and municipal water treatment.

The company surpassed the 40 million metric ton capture milestone in November. Basin Electric is also investigating opportunities for carbon sequestration to help preserve coal as a resource for fossil-fuel-based electricity generation, said Johnson.

“We continuously look for new opportunities to create valuable products from North Dakota lignite, and it is exciting when we can do this while reducing our carbon footprint.”

Derrill Holly is a staff writer at NRECA.

Once nearly extinct, the red-cockaded woodpecker is making a comeback, but Central Electric Power Cooperative will continue its proven conservation efforts as it navigates a new power line through federal forestland the bird calls home.

The generation and transmission co-op headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina, is prioritizing preservation of the woodpecker’s habitat in its plans for a transmission route through Francis Marion National Forest. The co-op says it will continue its efforts even if federal protections for the bird are eased.

“Our focus is to ensure the ongoing maintenance standards adopted are sound, balance what the electric utility is required to do for maintenance and to preserve and enhance the population of the species,” said Mark Svrcek, Central’s senior vice president of member solutions and operations support.

With population numbers on the rise, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed to “downlist” the federally protected woodpecker from “endangered” to “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.

USFWS also is proposing a “4(d) rule” to ban activities that could result in accidental bird deaths. They include operating vehicles, mechanical equipment, lights at night and other human activities in habitat areas during the bird’s breeding season. Exceptions may be granted for required maintenancefor the safe operations of existing infrastructure, such as rights of way.

Central is studying three potential corridors for the 115-kilovolt power line that will serve the area adjacent to the McClellanville community in Berkeley Electric Cooperative’s service area. The G&T has been working with multiple stakeholders including the USFWS, the U.S. Forest Service and the Rural Utilities Service, which will ultimately decide the line’s route.

By being proactive, Central hopes that potential risks and mitigation options will be identified early to protect the bird and avoid project delays.

“Engagement with federal agencies is critical,” Svrcek said. “Understand their management plan, their restrictions, and engage on the front end on new projects to avoid surprises.”

Elsewhere in its territory, including the Sumter National Forest, the G&T has practiced targeted, less disruptive mechanical mowing in existing rights of way.  They also have conducted species studies and reconnaissance for possible habitat and been flexible with new development to avoid sensitive areas.

“For new construction, we practice silviculture to benefit the species,” said Tommy Jackson, supervisor of environmental services for Central. “We only remove the vegetation that will interfere with the operation of the transmission line. All other low-growing vegetation are mowed and allowed to grow.”

Teams also do fieldwork to isolate potential woodpecker habitat. “We can identify that pine growth early on and avoid it, period,” he said. “We intend to treat the threatened and endangered species the same.”

Central has worked with former forest service official and species expert Ralph Costa, who said he sees the co-op’s preparations for the new line as “a flagship on how a co-op deals with a species on the public land.”

Decades of habitat loss from forest overgrowth and hurricanes nearly wiped out red-cockaded woodpeckers, who get their name from the pinch of scarlet that males sport on their black cap.

While other woodpeckers drill nests into dead trees, the red-cockaded species is unique in its preference for live longleaf pines found in the coastal Southeast. The nesting process can take up to six years.

Today, artificial cavities installed in thousands of pines across the region, including in the Francis Marion National Forest, are enabling a growth spurt for the species.

USFWS is accepting public comment on its proposed downlisting of the red-cockaded woodpecker until Dec. 7. A final decision may come as early as the end of next year.

Cathy Cash is a staff writer at NRECA.

Situated on almost 20 acres of land in Virginia’s Rockingham County, Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative’s new headquarters has more amenities than its former site, including a drive-thru member service kiosk, a track for employees and solar panels.

And eventually, a unique arboretum with educational and environmental benefits will grace the grounds, thanks to a project spearheaded by Scott Sorrels, the co-op’s vegetation management supervisor.

“The arboretum will show how the cooperative is committed to caring for the environment,” said Sorrels, who’s also the Rockingham-based co-op’s arborist. “It will have a lasting impact on the valley as a showcase of renewable resources. We can’t wait to have people stop by to learn more.”

Initially, Sorrels envisioned the arboretum as strictly a lush, leafy enclave. But after researching a Virginia Tech program that promotes utility-friendly trees, he settled on the idea of the three-in-one arboretum, which will showcase renewable energy, pollinator habitat and small trees designed not to interfere with power lines. He pitched the plan to Greg Rogers, the co-op’s president and CEO.

Leadership approved the idea, “as long as it didn’t cost the members anything,” he said.

Sorrels is already making good on his promise of keeping it low- or no-cost. He has pulled together an array of public and private partners to help fund his vision. Recently, four rights-of-way contractors donated money and labor for tree plantings, the installation of a pollinator garden, and an acorn-planting project by the Virginia Department of Forestry to promote trees as a renewable resource.

When the project is complete, Sorrels envisions a landscape dotted with a variety of small renewable energy installations—the co-op’s solar panels already are on display—and a habitat to attract butterflies and other pollinators. Low-growing trees—a landscaper recently planted saplings—will adorn the area, and educational displays will educate the public on the co-op’s smart tree growth practices.

Sorrels also wants to educate the public on the co-op’s tree-trimming policies and its Right Tree, Right Place program, which encourages homeowners to plant low-growing trees to avoid interference with power lines.

“People are protective of their trees, and it’s difficult trying to educate them about keeping trees back from power lines,” said Sorrels. “It’s the No. 1 issue with power outages. But no matter how I shake it or bake it, people are never going to be happy with how I trimmed their tree.”

A small-scale demonstration of the Right Tree, Right Place program would feature small trees that would grow under a three-phase power line on the property.

“A grassy meadow under a power line has always been my goal,” he said. “I want the flowers and the grass, just not the overgrown trees and brush.”

Victoria A. Rocha is a staff writer at NRECA.

Last updated: Nov. 7, 11:30 a.m.

Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential race sets the stage for the former vice president to implement sweeping environmental policy changes. But his planned agenda will likely be muted by what now looks to be a divided Congress, with a Republican-led Senate and a diminished Democratic majority in the House.

In the near term, Biden is expected to push for a broad economic stimulus plan shortly after he takes office in January, presenting opportunities for NRECA to secure more pandemic relief for co-ops and their consumer-members.

“Vice President Biden has been clear that the two most important things facing our country are health care, especially related to the pandemic, and the economy. We agree,” said NRECA CEO Jim Matheson. “We are focused on supporting our members in the development of the next COVID relief package, including RUS loan refinancing, shortfalls caused by nonpayment of bills and protecting those consumer-members who are least able to pay their bills.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he wants to move another economic stimulus package before the end of the year.

Matheson said NRECA will work with bipartisan champions in Congress to pass the Flexible Financing for Rural America Act, which could save co-ops more than $10 billion by allowing them to reprice loans from the Rural Utilities Service at current low interest rates. The bill would waive any prepayment penalties normally associated with refinancing.

“Our priorities remain the same: to protect the interests of America’s electric cooperatives and to ensure government doesn’t get in the way of affordable, reliable power,” he said.

Over the longer term, electric co-ops will work to shape a $2 trillion plan Biden campaigned on that would eliminate carbon dioxide emissions from the electric power sector by 2035 and replace fossil fuels with zero-emission sources such as wind, solar, nuclear, hydropower and biomass. The divided Congress could affect how aggressively the incoming administration pursues these goals.

 “The vice president has put forward principles, but the details really matter,” said Louis Finkel, NRECA’s senior vice president for government affairs. “And as those details emerge, we will evaluate them based on the tenets of affordability, reliability and resiliency.”

Biden has also touted the need to pass a comprehensive infrastructure spending bill to rebuild the nation’s aging highways and bridges and invest in public transportation and electric vehicle charging stations. He is pushing for rural broadband deployment as part of that plan.

 “Our long-standing approach—to work in a bipartisan fashion with lawmakers—is going to continue to be important,” Matheson said. “Regardless of who is in control of the Congress, we feel good about the champions that we’ve worked with on both sides of the aisle. No piece of legislation we’ve ever championed has been partisan, and we will continue to work with Republicans and Democrats alike.”

Erin Kelly is a staff writer at NRECA.

The Senate has approved legislation that would help co-ops develop technology to capture carbon dioxide emissions from coal and natural gas-fired power plants and turn them into useful products.

Senators on July 23 passed the bipartisan USE IT Act as part of a sweeping national defense bill. The bill would speed federal approval for carbon capture, utilization and sequestration projects and simplify permitting for CO₂ pipelines.

Senate and House negotiators must now craft a final bill. The House-passed version of the National Defense Authorization Act did not include the USE IT Act, but senators say they plan to press for it as part of a final compromise.

“The best way to make American energy as clean as we can, as fast as we can, is through innovation, not government regulation,” said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “The bipartisan USE IT Act … will do just that without raising costs for Americans.”

He said the bill holds “the key to significant carbon emissions reductions.” Barrasso is the lead sponsor of the bill, along with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., who said the bill will help slow climate change.

Basin Electric Power Cooperative CEO Paul Sukut told the Senate committee last year that the bill would spur new strategies to remove CO₂ for reuse or storage.

Companies are researching ways to turn carbon dioxide into products such as carbon composites that can be used to make everything from wind turbine blades to bicycles. Work has also been done on “carbon upcycling” that mixes CO₂ with industrial waste such as coal ash to create nanoparticles that can be used as additives in concrete.

Basin Electric, which is based in Bismarck, North Dakota, is a partner with Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association and NRECA in the Integrated Test Center at Dry Fork Station in Wyoming. The test center provides a place for researchers to “explore new and innovative solutions” to reduce CO₂ emissions.

“The USE IT Act is important legislation to advance carbon capture and sequestration technology,” Sukut said. “Basin Electric has long sought solutions for cost-effective carbon dioxide reduction while providing low-cost and reliable power for our membership. The USE IT Act would provide additional support for research—such as that being done by the Wyoming Integrated Test Center located at our Dry Fork Station near Gillette—as well as streamline permitting of the infrastructure needed to permanently store carbon dioxide underground.” 

Last year, NRECA and the Tennessee Valley Authority, which provides power to co-ops, became project partners with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Carbon Capture Center to research the latest carbon-capture technologies.

In Texas, the University of Texas at Austin is conducting a carbon capture study at the natural gas-fueled Mustang Station of Golden Spread Electric Cooperative in Denver City.

The defense bill passed by the Senate also includes the bipartisan Nuclear Energy Leadership Act, which would direct the Department of Energy to increase support for research, development and demonstration of advanced reactors.

“For too long, the United States has lagged woefully behind on innovative nuclear energy technologies, which comes at great cost to our economy, our global leadership, and the environment,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

“Nuclear energy can … provide safe, clean, and affordable power to homes, schools, and businesses that traditionally rely on more costly energy sources,” said Murkowski, the lead sponsor of the bill along with Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.

A $15 million federal grant to advance carbon capture and storage technology research will be used for preliminary work on a storage facility near Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s Dry Fork Station in Wyoming. 

Basin Electric is hosting the project, which is a joint venture with the University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources (SER).

The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory grant is a major step toward advancing commercial-scale carbon capture and storage technology. It will help fund a geological storage project located near Basin Electric’s 385-megawatt lignite coal-based plant north of Gillette, Wyoming.

The project could store as much as 50 million tons of CO₂ underground.

“We have successfully demonstrated the feasibility of safely, permanently and economically storing CO₂ in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin,” said Scott Quillinan, SER’s director of research. “We’re moving forward with final testing to confirm our findings and the pursuit of necessary state and federal permits to move to the final stage.”

Construction and permitting for the project are expected to be completed between 2025 and 2030. Dry Fork Station is a lignite-fueled plant in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin.

The region, which accounts for 40% of the coal used domestically, is also home to CO₂ pipelines servicing oil and gas fields, including sites with potential for enhanced oil recovery methods using carbon dioxide.

The three-year, $19.1 million project is in the third phase under the Energy Department’s Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise (CarbonSAFE) initiative, which seeks to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions from the use of fossil fuels. No CO₂ will be injected during this stage.

“CarbonSAFE has exciting potential to find permanent storage for CO₂ through this geologic testing,” said Paul Sukut, Basin Electric CEO and general manager, citing the technology’s potential to preserve and enhance coal-fired facilities. “This work is an important step in keeping our baseload (energy) viable in a carbon-constrained environment.”

The grant will support commercial-scale surface and subsurface testing, data assessment and modeling, and documentation work needed to pursue the necessary permits. The work is among the efforts Basin Electric is supporting to help ensure that coal remains a valued energy asset.

“Basin Electric has always been passionate about coal because of its ability to remain reliable whether or not the sun is shining or the wind is blowing,” Sukut said. The regional co-op generates and transmits electricity to 141 member systems in nine states.

Dry Fork Station, commissioned in 2011, is among the most modern coal-based generation facilities in the nation with several decades of remaining use. It is also home to Wyoming’s Integrated Test Center, where academic and commercial research into new uses for carbon dioxide is underway.

The federal government is offering tax credits to support CO₂ storage and oil exploration, improving the project’s commercial viability by controlling costs, SER’s Quillinan said.

In addition to the $15.2 million in federal funding, Basin Electric is contributing $1.5 million, and the University of Wyoming is contributing $2.4 million toward the project.

Other partners include: Energy and Environmental Research Center; Advanced Resources International Inc.; Carbon GeoCycle Inc.; Denbury Resources Inc.; Los Alamos National Laboratory; and Schlumberger.

Derrill Holly is a staff writer at NRECA.

ARLINGTON, Va. – National Rural Electric Cooperative Association CEO Jim Matheson today issued the following statement in support of the Trump administration’s final rule that clarifies which water bodies will be regulated as Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act:

“The new rule is a sensible regulation that provides regulatory clarity, protects the environment and recognizes the important role of states in managing the nation’s water resources. The 2015 WOTUS rule would have increased regulatory delay and costs for electric co-ops to maintain and build critical infrastructure. The new rule will facilitate this important work as co-ops strive to meet growing energy needs.”

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the national trade association representing more than 900 local electric cooperatives. From growing suburbs to remote farming communities, electric co-ops serve as engines of economic development for 42 million Americans across 56 percent of the nation’s landscape. As local businesses built by the consumers they serve, electric cooperatives have meaningful ties to rural America and invest $12 billion annually in their communities.

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ARLINGTON, Va. – The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association today expressed support for efforts to modernize the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

“Regulatory hurdles under NEPA have triggered reliability problems and forced electric co-ops and their communities to endure costly project delays,” said NRECA CEO Jim Matheson. “We support the spirit of NEPA, and these sensible modernizations are long overdue. The updated policy will ensure that environmental reviews and decisions involving multiple agencies are synchronized and efficient.”

“These reforms will provide electric co-ops much-needed clarity and certainty as they continue to diversify their energy portfolios and increase the resiliency of their systems. Both necessitate the modernization or construction of new electric transmission and distribution facilities,” Matheson said.

An example of the excessive delay caused by the existing NEPA process:

Copper Valley (AK) Electric Association: In 2007, the Copper Valley Electric Association elected to add more hydroelectric power to its portfolio. The project was expected to eliminate the use of 700,000 gallons of diesel fuel used for electricity generation each year. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a preliminary permit for the project in 2008, with a three-year deadline for submittal of a formal license application. Despite the co-op’s submission of a timely and complete license application in 2011, FERC did not meet project review milestones. The project did not receive final approvals until late 2013, a delay that cost the co-op millions of dollars—including the cost to purchase nearly a million gallons of diesel fuel. More than $700,000 was passed on to the co-op’s members due to these delays.

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the national trade association representing more than 900 local electric cooperatives. From growing suburbs to remote farming communities, electric co-ops serve as engines of economic development for 42 million Americans across 56 percent of the nation’s landscape. As local businesses built by the consumers they serve, electric cooperatives have meaningful ties to rural America and invest $12 billion annually in their communities.

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Updated: Dec. 20, 2019

The $738 billion defense bill passed by Congress on Tuesday includes a provision allowing electric cooperatives that provide power to military bases or nearby communities to qualify for grants to improve their plants, transmission lines and other infrastructure.

The Senate voted 86-8 to approve the National Defense Authorization Act, which empowers the Pentagon to spend money in fiscal year 2020. The House passed the bill 377-48 on Dec. 11. President Trump has signed it into law.

The co-op provision contained within the sweeping bill amends the definition of “community infrastructure” to permit co-ops to participate in the Defense Community Infrastructure Pilot Program. Previously, only states and local governments could qualify for grants from the program, which is designed to boost the resiliency of military installations and surrounding communities by improving utilities, roads, schools and other important infrastructure.

Rep. Xochitl Torres Small, D-N.M., who championed the co-op provision, said co-ops “are a vital partner to the military installations they serve” and need access to the Defense Department grants to help ensure they stay that way.

“We will hinder the readiness and resiliency of those installations if we do not provide co-ops with the same resources to maintain and upgrade their electrical infrastructure,” the congresswoman said at a House hearing earlier this year.

Co-ops serve more than 90 military bases and other DOD facilities in 38 states, according to NRECA research. They also own, operate and maintain the electric distribution grid at 24 military installations—bases and other facilities—through their utility privatization contracts. Nearly a third of the Army and Air Force utility privatization contracts for electricity are held by co-ops.

The final defense bill fails to include another NRECA priority: the USE IT Act. That legislation would have made it easier for co-ops to get federal approval for carbon capture, utilization and sequestration projects to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere_. The original Senate version of the bill included the USE IT Act, but it was removed during negotiations between the Senate and House that produced the final compromise.

Basin Electric Power Cooperative CEO Paul Sukut told a Senate panel in February that the USE IT Act would help co-ops develop technology to capture CO₂ emissions from coal-fired power plants and turn them into useful products. The bill’s sponsors plan to continue to push for the legislation’s passage in this session of Congress.

The defense bill also eliminates the current Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Commission—an action that NRECA supports.

It largely codifies an executive order issued by Trump in March calling for a government-wide effort to prepare for and mitigate the national security threat from EMPs and geomagnetic disturbances, known as GMDs. It also calls for the government to work with electric utilities and other industries to address potential threats.

EMPs are caused by the detonation of a nuclear device miles above the Earth and can affect electronics within its impact area. GMDs can be caused by solar flares hitting the Earth, primarily affecting the electric and telecommunication sectors if the flares’ currents travel along the utility wires.

Erin Kelly is a staff writer at NRECA.

North Carolina’s electric cooperatives are investing $1 million to expand electric vehicle charging stations throughout the state—a move that will create one of the biggest co-op-owned networks in the country.

The cooperatives’ investment is being provided through North Carolina Electric Membership Corp., the state’s generation and transmission cooperative. The funding will be used to install 21 charging stations by the end of this year, said Diane Huis, senior vice president of innovation and business development for North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives. The co-ops already have an existing network of public charging stations at 30 locations throughout the state, including popular tourist destinations at the beach and in the mountains.

“Our co-ops are willing to be out front, whether it’s on EVs or other innovative efforts like microgrids,” Huis said. “They also have a good understanding of beneficial electrification, so they know that if the EV charging is done in a smart fashion it can really help improve utilization of the grid. And they see this as an opportunity to grow load in a way that is beneficial not only for the co-ops but also for their consumer-members.”

The 21 new charging stations will be made up of 10 DC Fast Chargers and 11 Level 2 chargers. The fast chargers can bring a depleted EV battery to 80% capacity in about 30 minutes. The Level 2 chargers take several hours to do the same, which is why they are located near places where drivers tend to stay awhile—such as restaurants and state parks, Huis said.

ChargePoint, an EV infrastructure company based in Campbell, California, will supply the equipment and manage and install the chargers, which will be owned by the co-ops. ChargePoint’s network will provide the co-ops with data about how many people are coming to the stations and how long they’re staying, Huis said.

The first DC Fast Charger will be installed in the next few weeks near Jordan Lake State Recreation Area, a popular destination for day trips that is served by Sanford-based Central Electric Membership Corp. The next fast charger will be installed in the town of Avon on Hatteras Island in the Outer Banks. This charger will complement two Level Two chargers previously installed on Hatteras Island by Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative, Huis said.

By expanding the state’s EV charging network, Huis said, North Carolina’s electric co-ops hope to bring more EVs and their benefits—including improved environmental health, economic development and quality of life—to rural communities.

“We see this as a way to encourage EV adoption while strengthening the areas we serve,” she said.

Erin Kelly is a staff writer at NRECA.

ARLINGTON, Va. – National Rural Electric Cooperative Association CEO Jim Matheson today issued the following statement in support of the Trump administration’s final rule to repeal the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule:

“The 2015 rule would have increased costs and regulatory hurdles for electric co-ops to build and maintain critical infrastructure without providing meaningful environmental benefits. We support repeal of the rule and its eventual replacement with sensible regulation that provides clarity and recognizes the important role of states in managing our water resources.

“Today’s announcement will help electric co-ops carry out important maintenance activities while also building new energy infrastructure as needed.

“Two courts have remanded the 2015 WOTUS rule back to the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on both substantive and procedural grounds.  Repealing the rule eliminates the current patchwork of standards governing jurisdictional waters resulting from stays of the 2015 rule in more than half the states as the agencies act to correct those flaws.”

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the national trade association representing more than 900 local electric cooperatives. From growing suburbs to remote farming communities, electric co-ops serve as engines of economic development for 42 million Americans across 56 percent of the nation’s landscape. As local businesses built by the consumers they serve, electric cooperatives have meaningful ties to rural America and invest $12 billion annually in their communities.

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The Senate environment committee has approved a $287 billion, five-year transportation bill that authorizes $1 billion in federal grants to create electric vehicle charging stations along major U.S. highways.

The bipartisan bill also includes a provision that would make it easier for electric cooperatives to deploy projects that capture carbon dioxide emissions and turn them into useful products.

America’s Transportation Infrastructure Act of 2019 was passed unanimously Tuesday by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. The bill still must be approved by the full Senate, where it could be taken up as early as this fall. It has strong support from both Republicans and Democrats and from President Trump, who tweeted: “Do I hear the beautiful word, BIPARTISAN? Get it done. I am with you!”

 The House is working on its own version of the legislation.

Both the EV and carbon capture provisions are part of the first-ever climate change section included in a federal highway bill. The bill represents significant compromises between conservatives and liberals on ways to reduce CO₂ emissions, NRECA lobbyists said.

To cut vehicle emissions, the legislation would offer states and local governments the chance to compete for a total of $1 billion in grants over five years to build charging and fueling stations near highways for electric vehicles and vehicles fueled by hydrogen or natural gas.

Supporters of public charging stations say they will encourage more EV use by helping drivers overcome “range anxiety” when they want to travel long distances but worry about finding enough places to charge their batteries.

To be eligible for the grants, states and local governments must contract with private entities, including co-ops, to acquire and install the charging stations. NRECA hopes that some of the money could be used to upgrade co-ops’ distribution equipment to meet the increased demand for electricity, said NRECA lobbyist Billie Kaumaya.

The transportation bill also includes the USE IT Act, which would make it easier for co-ops to get federal permits for carbon capture, utilization and sequestration projects. This provision also was included in the National Defense Authorization Act recently passed by the Senate.

Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., who serves as chairman of the environment committee, said the USE IT Act would support the kind of research that Basin Electric Power Cooperative is doing to try to reduce carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants.

Basin Electric, based in Bismarck, North Dakota, is a partner with NRECA and Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association in the Integrated Test Center at Dry Fork Station in Wyoming.

The center is looking at ways to take carbon emissions from power plant flue gas streams and recycle them into products ranging from fuel and building materials to animal feed and plastics.

Erin Kelly is a staff writer at NRECA.

A big-eyed, water-loving frog about the size of a business card is helping keep expenses down at Bonneville Power Administration.

The Oregon spotted frog, a threatened species according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, is making its home in the marshy areas beneath BPA’s high-voltage lines.

This gives the federal power provider to millions in the Northwest, including the members of 54 electric cooperatives, more than enough reasons to sustain its low-cost rights-of-way maintenance practices.

“Conserving frogs saves money,” said Jonnel Deacon, a physical scientist with BPA in Portland, Oregon.

“These frogs prefer low-growing grasses rather than trees, not unlike what BPA grows under its lines to facilitate vegetation management,” Deacon said. “Our goals line up very well with Fish & Wildlife’s goals: Maintain vegetation and maintain the frog’s habitat.”

BPA first learned of the plight of this little brown amphibian a couple of years ago when it routinely examined a species list from the agency in preparation for work on a project in Washington state. A site survey with FWS last year turned up several spotted frog egg masses.

“We were actually in conversations with Fish & Wildlife before the frog was listed,” said Deacon. “They had monitoring data on the frog and had a good idea it would be under the power lines.”

The frog’s population has endured significant wetland habitat loss due to agriculture, construction and bullfrog predation, he said. Invasive plants like reed canary grass also threaten the frog, which depends on shallow pools for food sources and reproduction.

BPA’s transmission corridors offer the frog a perfect respite: long stretches of unbroken grassland with an abundance of puddles.

“BPA didn’t create this habitat, but what we are doing is maintaining the habitat,” said Deacon.

That means limiting construction or other disruptive activities under these lines and removing invasive species by spot herbicide applications. Utility vehicles are prohibited from driving off road following a rainfall, and workers’ boots and gear must be disinfected to limit contaminants entering the habitat.

BPA also cultivates low-growing shrubs and flowering plants that are beneficial for at-risk pollinators. These techniques can save BPA on vegetation management, said Deacon.

“We promote the low-growing grasses, and that means BPA can spend less money and keep our rates down,” he said.

Read More:

Bats Gain New Summer Roosts in Converted Utility Poles

Decision on Federal Protection for Monarch Butterfly Pushed to December 2020

Electric cooperatives welcomed a final rule issued Wednesday by the Environmental Protection Agency that regulates carbon dioxide emissions from power plants without forcing the premature closure of coal-fired facilities.

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler signed the Affordable Clean Energy rule, which effectively repeals and replaces the 2015 Clean Power Plan. The CPP would have forced some utilities to switch from coal to lower-emitting fuels as a primary means of achieving deep cuts in CO₂ emissions. That rule was stayed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2016 and never took effect.

The ACE rule should largely prevent generation and transmission co-ops from being forced to prematurely shut down coal-fired plants, said Ted Cromwell, NRECA’s senior director of environmental issues. It also gives states more flexibility to work with individual co-ops to determine where action still needs to be taken in a cost-effective way, he said.

“The CPP was a broad overreach that we estimated could have resulted in $5 billion in increased costs for Basin and its members,” said Paul Sukut, CEO and general manager of Basin Electric Power Cooperative in Bismarck, North Dakota. “The ACE rule is more consistent with the EPA’s authority under the Clean Air Act and recognizes the role of states to work with utilities as they implement the rule.”

Basin Electric operates four coal-fired power facilities and powers other stations with wind and natural gas.

Patrick O’Loughlin, president and CEO of Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives, said Ohio’s co-ops support the final ACE rule, which he called “a return to a technically and legally reasonable approach to emissions reduction standards.”

“The ACE rule balances the need to broadly regulate emissions versus the specific emissions reductions that are possible at each facility by granting states the authority to create and administer rules for controlling coal-fired plant emissions,” he said. 

“Further, the ACE rule will continue to lessen greenhouse gas emissions beyond the 28% by which emissions have already been reduced since 2005. ACE will require coal plants to run more efficiently by submitting and executing plans to improve plant power generation effectiveness. Finally, the ACE rule minimizes rate increases to co-op consumer-members.”

Leadership at Great River Energy, based in Maple Grove, Minnesota, also praised the final ACE rule, which will affect its two coal-fired power plants in central North Dakota.

“Great River Energy believes the ACE rule appropriately focuses on actions that can be taken at coal-fired power plants to improve efficiency and provides states with a key role in developing specific requirements for individual sources, both consistent with EPA’s authority under the Clean Air Act,” the co-op said in a statement.

“We also support the flexibility given to the states as they develop their implementation plans. Flexibility is critical in ensuring the lowest costs for complying with the rule and helping to ensure we can respond to market conditions, technology development and industry changes.”

The new rule does not change Great River Energy’s goal of achieving 50% renewable power by 2030, the co-op said.

Cromwell credited co-ops with helping convince the EPA to replace the Clean Power Plan with the more achievable rule.  NRECA and its member cooperatives have been advocating that issue for years.  

“NRECA appreciates the multiyear member advocacy efforts that led us to this point,” he said.

Co-ops have reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 12% since 2005 while increasing generation by more than 12 million megawatt-hours, according to figures by the EPA and the Energy Information Administration.

While co-ops continue to diversify their electric generation through greater use of natural gas and renewables, coal remains the largest source of fuel at more than 40%.

“Electric cooperatives have invested billions of dollars in diverse energy sources and emission-reduction technology to meet the electricity needs of their local communities while protecting the environment,” said NRECA CEO Jim Matheson.

While the new regulation will have a major impact on many co-ops, it won’t have much effect on those that have already moved away from coal, co-op leaders said.

“Our power supply mix has shifted away from coal and towards natural gas over the last number of years and will continue to do so as we start getting power from the new Vogtle nuclear units in 2021 and 2022,” said Ray Grinberg, CEO of Tri-County Electric Membership Corp. in Gray, Georgia.

Similarly, Holy Cross Energy in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, recently sold off the 60 megawatts of power it had been receiving from the Comanche 3 coal-fired plant near Pueblo.

“To the extent that the ACE rule fosters heat rate improvements on existing plants, it will have a positive effect on greenhouse emissions from coal plants in our region, in addition to the steps we have taken to replace our coal power supply altogether with increasingly cheaper wind and solar resources,” said Bryan Hannegan, the co-op’s president and CEO.

The new ACE rule will undoubtedly face court challenges in the coming months, Cromwell said.

Erin Kelly is a staff writer at NRECA.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Environmental Protection Agency’s Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule provides flexibility and certainty while addressing carbon emissions from existing power sources, NRECA CEO Jim Matheson said today.

“This final rule represents a more flexible path forward that will minimize the cost to consumers and preserve the reliability of the electric grid as electric co-ops work to promote a healthy environment and vibrant rural communities,” Matheson said. “Electric cooperatives have invested billions of dollars in diverse energy sources and emission-reduction technology to meet the electricity needs of their local communities while protecting the environment. The final ACE rule gives electric cooperatives the ability to adopt evolving technology and respond to market and consumer demands while continuing to serve as engines of economic development for one in eight Americans.”

Nearly 60 percent of the electricity supplied by electric co-ops comes from low- or no-emission energy sources. Electric cooperatives have reduced emissions from their electric generation sources significantly since 2009 and are investing in research to develop proven carbon capture, storage and reuse technology that can extend the operation of fossil fuel power plants. In comments that were filed on the rule, NRECA encouraged EPA to adhere to its proposal to regulate “within the fence line” of a facility by allowing states to make assessments based on federal guidelines at each power plant regarding additional steps that may be required to reduce emissions. EPA’s final rule follows this suggestion.

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the national trade association representing more than 900 local electric cooperatives. From growing suburbs to remote farming communities, electric co-ops serve as engines of economic development for 42 million Americans across 56 percent of the nation’s landscape. As local businesses built by the consumers they serve, electric cooperatives have meaningful ties to rural America and invest $12 billion annually in their communities.

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An overhaul of the 2015 Waters of the United States rule “strikes an appropriate balance” between protecting water resources and providing clear rules for regulators and electric cooperatives, according to NRECA.

The association submitted final comments April 15 on the rule proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“Cooperative members value and deserve a clean, healthy environment and want a significant environmental bang for the regulatory compliance buck,” said Dorothy Kellogg, NRECA senior principal for environmental policy.

“The proposed rule does not ‘roll back’ or weaken environmental protections. Rather, it protects water resources, while respecting the states’ traditional authority over land and water use.”

The proposed rule would remove most ditches and “ephemeral streams” from the federal definition and retain the exemption for waste treatment systems and their component parts from the 2015 rule. It also better reflects several Supreme Court decisions regarding federal jurisdiction over wetlands as well as surface waters, Kellogg noted.

The proposed rule further reflects the NRECA position that federal regulatory authority should be limited to those water features that exert the strongest influence on downstream navigable waters, she said.

“NRECA is pleased that the agencies propose to narrow the scope of federally jurisdictional waters to align more closely with the Clean Water Act’s shared federal-state responsibility for protecting our nation’s waters,” Kellogg said. “The proposal will bring the definition of federally jurisdictional waters better in line with congressional intent, the Constitution’s commerce clause, as well as case law.”

NRECA gave the agencies recommendations to further improve the rule including:

• Clarify the definition of “tributaries” based on scientific data.
• Roll remaining jurisdictional ditches and impoundments into other categories.
• Limit the “traditional navigable waters” category to waters that “are currently used, or were used in the past, or may be susceptible to use to transportinterstate commerce.”

EPA could finalize the rule by early 2020.

Cathy Cash is a staff writer at NRECA.

Basin Electric Power Cooperative CEO Paul Sukut told a Senate panel Wednesday he supports efforts to help co-ops develop technology to capture carbon dioxide emissions from coal-burning power plants and turn them into useful products.

Sukut spoke in support of bipartisan legislation by Sens. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., that would spur new strategies to remove CO₂ from the air and store it permanently underground or transform it into marketable commodities.

The bill, known as the USE IT Act, would direct the Environmental Protection Agency to support research on carbon capture, utilization and sequestration; improve the permitting process for projects; and establish guidance for developers and operators of CO₂ pipelines.

“There is no shortage of challenges as we seek solutions that balance the need for affordable and reliable energy with the challenge of reducing CO₂ emissions,” Sukut said in his testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which Barrasso chairs. “However, the cooperative model was established specifically in response to a challenge—to extend electric service at the time to those areas no one else would—and continues to serve us well as the electric industry evolves.”

Basin Electric, which is based in Bismarck, North Dakota, is a partner with NRECA and Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association in the Integrated Test Center at Dry Fork Station in Wyoming. The test center, which is overseen by the state, provides a place for researchers to “explore new and innovative solutions” to reduce CO₂ emissions, Sukut said.

Basin Electric, through the Dakota Gasification Company, has already shipped more than 35 million tons of CO₂ via pipeline to Canada for enhanced oil recovery since 2000, Sukut said.

Sukut said his co-op also has partnered with the Plains CO₂ Reduction Partnership in the Department of Energy’s CarbonSAFE program to explore geology in North Dakota and Wyoming with the goal of developing a large-scale injection test well to store CO₂.

“Our region is particularly blessed with the geology for CO₂ sequestration and enhanced oil recovery, but either of those options will require additional buildout of pipeline infrastructure to come to fruition,” said Sukut, who was one of three witnesses at the hearing. “For this reason, we support the Utilizing Significant Emissions with Innovative Technologies (USE IT) Act and its provisions to expedite guidance, permitting and construction of CO₂ infrastructure.”

Basin Electric, a generation and transmission co-op, uses coal, natural gas, oil, wind, recovered energy, nuclear power and purchased power to provide electricity to 141 rural electric co-ops that serve 3 million consumer-members in nine states.

By next year, 25 percent of the energy that Basin Electric delivers to its members will be from renewable sources, Sukut said. He added that wind and other renewables have significantly lowered the co-op’s CO₂ emissions per megawatt hour and he expects that trend to continue.

While working to diversify its energy portfolio, Basin Electric also wants certainty from federal regulators that coal-fueled power plants won’t be forced to close prematurely, Sukut said.

“Our number one priority as a utility, besides providing low-cost and reliable power, is to ensure that our generating facilities do not become stranded assets…which our members still have to pay for yet receive no benefit from,” he told the committee.

Sukut said Basin Electric has “a good story to tell with respect to CO₂ reduction” because of the changes it has undergone in recent years.

“We are well-positioned to serve our members at the end of the line now and well into the future,” he said.

Erin Kelly is a staff writer at NRECA.

NRECA advocates on many public policy issues on behalf of electric cooperatives. As the new Congress kicks off, here’s a look at several electric co-op policy priorities for 2019.

Energy Policy/Infrastructure

The potential for energy and infrastructure legislation presents a significant opportunity as electric cooperatives work to meet the growing needs of their communities. NRECA will work to ensure that any infrastructure package focuses on more than roads and bridges, including opportunities to modernize the electric grid and expand rural broadband access.

Environment

NRECA will promote and encourage bipartisan support for energy research and development programs—including on renewables and programs that focus on finding a viable use for carbon capture, utilization and storage.

Broadband

Expanded rural broadband access remains a priority for NRECA. As electric co-ops engage the new Congress, we will work to ensure that all rural broadband discussions include the electric co-op perspective.

Employee Benefits

NRECA provides benefits to 56,000 electric cooperative employees nationwide. We will continue working to protect electric cooperative employee retirement benefits by supporting legislation to substantially reduce the insurance premiums that co-ops pay to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

Tax Policy

The 2017 tax reform law included a provision that treated federal grants as income, threatening the tax-exempt status of some electric cooperatives. NRECA will seek to fix this unintended consequence of the tax law.

Grid Resilience

Protecting our nation’s vast power grid is a national priority and focus for electric cooperatives. Ensuring appropriate information sharing and preserving existing partnerships and structures are essential to these efforts.  We will advocate for resources and technologies that meet the unique cybersecurity and recovery needs of small and medium-sized utilities to help protect our systems.

Listen to our podcast episode on how NRECA works with Congress to advocate for co-op priorities: 

To the relief of electric cooperatives, the Environmental Protection Agency plans to replace its 2015 Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule, which significantly expanded what waters and wetlands should be federally regulated.

EPA on Dec. 11 proposed to limit “waters of the U.S.” to traditional navigable waters and tributaries, ditches, wetlands and other features that have direct and consistent flows into navigable waters.

The new rule would also retain and clarify previous exclusions for groundwater, roadside or farm ditches, prior converted cropland, storm water control features and waste treatment systems.

NRECA worked with industry coalitions to encourage EPA to replace the 2015 rule that would have increased costs and red tape for electric co-ops to meet infrastructure construction and maintenance requirements.

“We applaud the administration for recognizing the need to replace the WOTUS rule,” said NRECA CEO Jim Matheson.

“We look forward to working with regulators on a more workable and lawful regulation, one that allows electric co-ops to conduct maintenance and build new infrastructure without triggering additional and more onerous permitting requirements.”

The proposed rule also would reconfirm the shared federal and state responsibility for protecting water and clarifying which waters and wetlands would come under federal regulation.

The 2015 rule remains stayed in 28 states as several courts consider its legality.

“The 2015 rule was a significant overreach of the federal government’s authority to regulate water and land,” said Matheson.

EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will accept comments on the proposal for 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. The organizations have scheduled an informational webcast on the proposal for Jan. 10, 2019, and a listening session in Kansas City, Kansas, on Jan. 23, 2019.

Cathy Cash is a staff writer for NRECA.

ARLINGTON, Va. – National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) CEO Jim Matheson today issued the following statement on the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to replace the 2015 Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule:

“We applaud the administration for recognizing the need to replace the WOTUS rule. The 2015 rule was a significant overreach of the federal government’s authority to regulate water and land. We look forward to working with regulators on a more workable and lawful regulation, one that allows electric co-ops to conduct maintenance and build new infrastructure without triggering additional and more onerous permitting requirements. Such an approach enables electric co-ops to continue providing reliable and affordable electricity to more than 42 million Americans.”

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the national trade association representing more than 900 local electric cooperatives. From growing suburbs to remote farming communities, electric co-ops serve as engines of economic development for 42 million Americans across 56 percent of the nation’s landscape. As local businesses built by the consumers they serve, electric cooperatives have meaningful ties to rural America and invest $12 billion annually in their communities.

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Electric cooperatives want the Environmental Protection Agency to recognize their efforts to protect their members’ wallets, assure grid reliability and reduce carbon dioxide emissions as the agency works to replace the Obama-era Clean Power Plan over the coming months.

The proposed Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule, with some recommended improvements, could accomplish this goal, said NRECA CEO Jim Matheson.

“The proposed rule provides crucial flexibility so electric co-ops can respond to market conditions, technologies and industry changes at the same time they continue to contribute to the vitality and prosperity of the communities they serve,” Matheson told the EPA at an Oct. 1 public hearing in Chicago.

Matheson spoke on behalf of NRECA’s 930 member co-ops. Also offering testimony were Tyler Hamman, senior legislative representative for Basin Electric Power Cooperative, and Andy Berger, senior manager for environmental policy at Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association Inc.

Matheson told the panel that the proposed ACE rule improves on the CPP because it moves the industry in a lower-carbon direction. It’s also designed to allow power producers flexibility to recoup the massive financial commitments they’ve made in power plants.

“The billions of dollars co-ops have invested in power plant development represent an investment in certainty of being able to provide power to consumers on a long-term basis,” he said. “The ACE proposal does include that consideration. It could provide electric co-ops with the certainty and flexibility they need to cost-effectively meet their local energy needs.”

The EPA unveiled the proposed ACE rule on Aug. 21. The new regulation would, among other things, allow states to determine the “Best System of Emission Reduction” for each unit and give them three years to devise implementation plans. It also would make it easier for plants to make efficiency improvements without having to go through a prolonged and costly permitting process.

As the EPA prepares to write the final rule, the agency is expected to consider comments from the recent hearing and those sent during the public comment period, which ends Oct. 31. The 2015 Clean Power Plan was stayed by the U.S. Supreme Court and has never taken effect.

Hamman and Berger delivered several recommendations for EPA to consider:

• Ensure new operational performance standards are achievable by individual power plants, that they protect grid reliability and that they will minimize undue economic impact for consumers.
• Affirm that states have the authority to provide additional flexibility to utilities in meeting the new standards such as considering the remaining useful life of the unit when determining if any additional action is warranted.
• Allow states to consider things like operational variability, compliance measurement inaccuracy issues and unit historical emissions.
• Rectify compliance measurement inaccuracy problems to give plant owners greater regulatory certainty.

Headquartered in Bismarck, North Dakota, Basin Electric is a wholesale electricity provider to 141 co-ops in nine states. Tri-State is based in Westminster, Colorado, and serves 43 member distribution systems across Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico and Wyoming.

Cathy Cash is a staff writer for NRECA.

Read More:
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Clean Power Plan Replacement: How It Affects Co-ops

The Environmental Protection Agency unveiled its proposal to replace the Clean Power Plan with a more flexible rule governing carbon dioxide emissions that is expected to reduce compliance costs for coal-based generation while sustaining reliability.

That’s good news for electric cooperatives.

NRECA CEO Jim Matheson welcomed the proposal as a means to provide electric cooperatives the certainty and flexibility they need to meet their consumer-members’ local energy needs. The proposed rule appears to provide electric co-ops with a more achievable plan, he said.

“It is imperative that EPA recognizes the investment that cooperative members have made in power plants and that there is a prudent path forward for 42 million consumers to benefit from those investments,” Matheson said.

“Co-ops are responding to their members’ needs and market forces affecting the entire electric power sector. The electric cooperative fuel mix for providing electricity is changing, with increased investments in natural gas and renewables,” he said.

The Affordable Clean Energy rule, as proposed by EPA on Aug. 21, would replace the Clean Power Plan, which was never implemented due to a Supreme Court stay of the regulation sought by electric cooperatives and others. NRECA argued that the CPP significantly exceeded EPA’s authority under the Clean Air Act and would have mandated significant fuel switching, resulting in stranded assets for many G&Ts.

The new rule would provide states with a definition of the “Best System of Emission Reduction” and give them three years to devise implementation plans that apply these criteria to individual generation plants. BSER guidelines would be focused on so-called “inside the fence line” improvements, such as heat-rate enhancements to improve the efficiency of coal-based plants.

The ACE rule also proposes to modify the EPA’s New Source Review program to make it easier for plants to make efficiency improvements without having to go through a prolonged and costly permitting process.

Based in part on market forces, co-op reliance on coal-based generation declined from 54 percent to 41 percent between 2014 and 2016. During that same period, co-ops increased their use of renewable energy sources from 14 percent to 17 percent.

EPA will accept comments on the ACE rule for 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register. The agency says it plans to hold a public hearing on the matter and release a final rule early next year.

Cathy Cash is a staff writer at NRECA.

Co-ops want to improve the efficiency of their power plants, but there’s often a big stumbling block: uncertainty over clean air rules.

That uncertainty centers around “New Source Review,” or NSR, which is part of the Clean Air Act. There has not been a clear demarcation between a plant modification triggering NSR and routine maintenance, which is exempt from NSR. That creates confusion and uncertainty for co-ops, which want to see it corrected, so a senior NRECA leader went to Capitol Hill to explain the situation.

“It impedes our ability to make progress on running our power plants as efficiently as we can,” said Kirk Johnson, NRECA senior vice president for government relations.

“We have been seeking reforms to the NSR program for two decades now, and we think the time is now to act.”

Johnson testified May 16 at a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing, where he told lawmakers that co-ops see NSR as “a barrier to making commonsense efficiency improvements in our power plants.”

Johnson noted that coal-based plants are now required to cycle up and down to accommodate renewables, something they were not designed to do. The result, he said, is more wear and tear on those plants, and, in turn, a change in the type of work needed to keep them running.

“What was considered routine maintenance maybe 20 years ago may be different than what is routine today because of some of those changes in the power sector, and the rules of the road need to recognize that,” said Johnson.

He testified that utilities have performed what they thought qualified as routine maintenance, repair and replacement, “only to be cited for NSR violations years after the fact.”

Johnson praised draft legislation from Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., to simplify the program. Johnson said the bill would amend the definition of a “modification” under NSR so that the “trigger” is based on the maximum achievable hourly emission rate rather than on annual emissions.

“All we are asking, and all we’ve ever asked, is for clear rules of the road,” said Johnson. “We will follow them. We will make sure that we accomplish the objectives laid out in the Clean Air Act. But if we don’t have clear rules of the road, we become very risk averse and we leave opportunities on the shelf.”

Michael W. Kahn is a staff writer at NRECA.

As a replacement to the Clean Power Plan appears on the horizon, NRECA is making sure the Environmental Protection Agency understands how America’s electric cooperatives may be especially hurt by regulation aimed at coal-based generation.

“Co-ops’ small size, their consumers served and generation portfolios set them apart in the electric utility industry. These characteristics also present immense challenges for co-ops if forced to comply with theses mandates of the EPA,” said Rae Cronmiller, NRECA environmental counsel.

NRECA recommends that EPA replace the Clean Power Plan with a rule that allows states to determine standards of performance that are achievable considering individual unit economic considerations, remaining use life and other relevant factors.

EPA may propose a replacement rule this summer and finalize it by January 2019.

A lot of co-op coal-based electric generation would be unable to meet the EPA rule targeting carbon dioxide emissions and, as a result, enter early retirement.

In comments filed with EPA, NRECA explains the major obstacles and impediments co-ops faced under the original Clean Power Plan:

Co-ops rely on coal more than other utilities

Federal government mandates between 1978 and 1987 made natural gas uneconomic for electric generation at a time when cooperative electric generation demand rose significantly. Today, coal generates about 60 percent of total G&T megawatt-hour sales compared with around 30 percent MWh sales utility-wide.

Co-ops serve low-income rural America

Electric cooperatives serve more than 90 percent of the nation’s persistent poverty counties within low or sparsely populated geographic areas. Electric co-op revenue per mile of distribution line is only 20 percent of the overall utility average. Co-ops have no equity investors to share the financial burdens that the CPP would cause. Ultimately, the co-op member would bear 100 percent of these costs through increases in electric rates that many rural electric consumers can ill afford.

Co-op members would pay twice to meet CPP

Many of the co-op-owned coal-based power plants forced into retirement would leave outstanding debt obligations that must be serviced by rural electric consumers. While the original loans to construct these units may have been paid, many plants have required additional costly retrofits for emission controls to meet ongoing environmental obligations. This means in many cases under the CPP, co-op members would pay for the scuttled coal plants’ outstanding debt and then pay a second time for the new generation required.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association today issued the following statement regarding President Trump’s decision to leave the Paris accord.

NRECA CEO Jim Matheson

“Electric co-ops are committed to a healthy environment and vibrant rural communities. We can, and should, have both,” said NRECA CEO Jim Matheson. “Co-ops are taking aggressive steps to reduce our carbon footprint while protecting the diverse energy portfolio that’s needed to preserve the reliability and affordability of the co-op power supply. That’s why co-ops have invested billions of dollars in renewable technology and energy efficiency advances and millions of dollars in XPRIZE carbon capture research.

“American consumers, including co-op members, are asking for more from their electricity providers. As member-owned, not-for-profit organizations, electric cooperatives are driven by a desire to meet and exceed their members’ expectations. That’s why co-ops are implementing energy-efficiency programs to lower costs, deploying smart meters to give members better insight into their usage and bringing more renewable technology online every month.

“Co-ops remain focused on putting the needs of their members first. We look forward to continuing to work with the president and other stakeholders on solutions that protect our environment and the diversity of our electric generating portfolio while also bolstering the rural American economy.”

Since 2010, co-op renewable energy capacity has more than doubled from 4 gigawatts to 8.5 gigawatts, a 112 percent increase.  Co-ops purchase another 10 gigawatts of hydropower from the federal power marketing administrations.

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the national service organization that represents the nation’s more than 900 not-for-profit, consumer-owned electric cooperatives, which provide service to 42 million people in 47 states.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt recently visited Associated Electric Cooperative’s Thomas Hill Energy Center in Clifton Hill, Missouri, where he answered questions during an interview with NRECA staff writer Derrill Holly. An excerpted version follows. Read the full interview in the July issue of RE Magazine.

Q: What do you hope to accomplish with your “Back to Basics” regulatory agenda?

A: Getting the EPA back into core areas of regulation and making sure that it stays within its lane. The EPA has a very important role with respect to air quality issues across state lines, water quality issues that go across state lines, Superfund site remediation, obviously water infrastructure, ensuring safe drinking water across the country and partnering with states in that regard.

Many of those areas have been underserved and underemphasized for a number of years. And so this “Back to Basics” agenda—or this EPA originalism, as I’ve called it—is really making sure that the EPA focuses on the areas that are core, investing resources and time to achieve good outcomes.

Q: How can stakeholders, including electric cooperatives and their member-owners, expect to see this agenda reflected in energy policy?

A: What’s key with energy policy is fuel diversity. When you have utilities, whether it’s rural co-ops or investor-owned utilities, you want to make sure that they have options; that there is flexibility whether it’s using coal or natural gas or renewables, in the generation of electricity.

The EPA should not be in the business of picking winners and losers, of putting the thumb on the scale on behalf of any of those particular energy sources. It should simply pass regulations that provide fairness and equity and allow utilities to make decisions based upon stability, cost and security to the consumers that they serve.

Q: How can folks in rural America better make their concerns heard in Washington, D.C.?

A: This last election was all about that. The president and his cabinet, [including] placement of me at the EPA, indicate that their voices were heard. When you look across the country, the concern about where we were heading prior to November 8^th, about how the EPA was using its regulatory power in a way to pick winners and losers, and not stay within its lane and focusing on core priorities.

Even now as we’re making these decisions, and rolling back regulations, that doesn’t mean an absence of regulation. In Washington, D.C., at times, those on the environmental left think just because you’re rolling back regulations that somehow you have this vast array of our economy that has no regulation at all. That’s just craziness. We have states, as you know, that have regulatory bodies that have partnered with the EPA for decades to improve air quality to the tune of 65 percent since 1980. That partnership needs to be restored and focused upon in the years ahead.

Q: You had a lot of experience with the Clean Power Plan in Oklahoma. What is the role of states within the EPA and the federal agencies in determining their energy and environmental policies under this administration?

A: Under this administration, that partnership matters. When you go back and look at the inception of the Clean Air Act, the inception of the Clean Water Act, environmental laws that were passed in the 1970s, Congress was very intentional about making sure that states were primary or an active partner with the EPA [in implementing] regulations. It was only this past administration that displaced that. As opposed to working in partnership, they worked in opposition. They worked as adversaries.

President Bush I, President Clinton, and President Bush II—three administrations—issued five federal implementation plans under the Clean Air Act. President Obama issued 56. And those federal plans that President Obama pushed out on the states were coercive. They basically were a sign that says, “We know best, get out of the way, states; we’re going to force this upon you.” That’s not what the statutes say. That’s not what the Constitution provides. That’s not what actually produces a good outcome.

So the president and the EPA under our leadership now are focused upon restoring that confidence and that trust to say we can do better than that. We know that we care, and the states care, about the water they drink and the air that they breathe, and we’re going to partner together.

Read the July issue of RE Magazine for the full interview.

Derrill Holly is a staff writer for NRECA.

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association recently filed comments with the Environmental Protection Agency identifying regulations that should be repealed, replaced or modified.

“Electric cooperatives and our member-owners value, and deserve, a healthy environment and cooperatives are proud of their environmental compliance,” the comments read.  “Nonetheless, the economic challenges faced by so many cooperatives and their member-owners underscore the importance of ensuring that these regulations are cost-effective.”

NRECA made a total of 11 recommendations in the public comments, which can be found here.

Electric cooperatives hailed an order by President Trump directing the Environmental Protection Agency to review its Clean Power Plan, which would have forced the premature closure of co-op coal-based power plants.

“Affordable and reliable power is fundamental to a successful economy. We appreciate the Trump administration working to protect American families and businesses from the potentially devastating impacts of the Clean Power Plan,” said NRECA CEO Jim Matheson. Electric cooperatives had challenged the regulation in court.

“Today’s announcement is an important step toward protecting our cooperatives and millions of Americans from the costly impacts of the CPP as co-ops continue innovating and moving toward cleaner energy production,” Matheson said. “We look forward to working with the administration to advance our common goals and improve the lives of every rural American.”

Matheson attended a March 28 ceremony at EPA, where Trump signed the executive order establishing a process to repeal or revise the controversial rule that set the first-ever carbon dioxide emission limits on existing plants for states to follow.

“Perhaps no single regulation threatens our miners, energy workers and companies more than this crushing attack on American industry,” Trump said at the signing event.

The order also addresses other regulations and agency guidance documents that affect NRECA members and the energy industry.

A repeal or revision of the Clean Power Plan “is welcome news for electric cooperatives across the nation seeking flexibility and fairness, but it’s not yet the end of the journey,” said Matheson.

“Now that President Trump has issued his executive order, we look forward to the EPA undoing this rule and taking a closer look at other current regulations.”

The order is the first step in a lengthy process that will require a full rulemaking, including development of a draft proposal, opportunity for public input and response to that input.

As NRECA did in the development of comments on the Clean Power Plan and subsequent litigation, it will work closely with electric co-op members and the administration as EPA proceeds.

By targeting affordable and reliable coal generation, the Clean Power Plan “hit many of our electric cooperatives extremely hard by forcing them to prematurely shutter existing power plants,” Matheson said.

“Those co-ops would in essence be charged twice for their electricity—once to continue paying down the loans on the closed power plants and again for the cost of purchasing replacement power.”

In October 2015, NRECA and 39 generation and transmission cooperatives petitioned the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to review and reject the Clean Power Plan.

That effort laid the groundwork for a stay by the Supreme Court, which put the rule on hold in February 2016, directing the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider other factors in the litigation.

At the signing of the executive order, the Department of Justice was quick to ask the D.C. Circuit Court to allow rule reconsiderations by EPA on the Clean Power Plan and on the new source rule while suspending further actions by the court until EPA completes that process.

The states of North Dakota and West Virginia are lead petitioners in lawsuits against the rules.

“Pursuant to these developments, the Clean Power Plan is under close scrutiny by the EPA, and the prior positions taken by the agency with respect to the Rule do not necessarily reflect its ultimate conclusions,” Justice Department lawyers for both cases filed the motion in the D.C. Circuit March 28.

Cathy Cash is a staff writer at NRECA

Editor’s note: This story was updated March 29 to reflect the Department of Justice actions.

September 15, 2016 — The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) today applauded the Senate’s approval of critical coal ash management provisions as part of the Water Resources Development Act (S. 2848).

“These provisions inject some greatly needed certainty into the regulation of coal ash, much of which is recycled to provide tremendous economic and environmental benefits,” said NRECA CEO Jim Matheson. “By giving state agencies the authority to enforce federal coal ash regulations, the bill provides increased certainty surrounding the application of the regulations and also limits litigation, which is important to their safe management and continued beneficial use.”

The provisions were adapted from portions of a separate coal ash bill (S. 2446) authored by Sens. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.V.).

“We thank Sens. Hoeven and Manchin—as well as Chairman Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member Boxer (D-Calif.), and Sens. Blunt (R-Missouri) and Capito (R-W.V.)—for their leadership on this issue and for guiding this bipartisan legislative solution to passage,” Matheson said.

In April 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a rule to establish federal requirements for the management of coal combustion residuals, or “coal ash,” as a non-hazardous waste. NRECA supported EPA’s decision to regulate coal ash in this manner, but has sought legislation to codify the agency’s decision and give states clear enforcement authority. The provisions approved by the Senate today provide that clear enforcement authority.

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the national service organization that represents the nation’s more than 900 private, not-for-profit, consumer-owned electric cooperatives, which provide service to 42 million people in 47 states.

(ARLINGTON, Va.) – Energy and environmental stakeholders are uniting around “community storage” to help solve the electric industry’s energy storage challenge. The Community Storage Initiative today announced the support of key industry groups, including the nation’s utility trade associations, environmental groups, manufacturers and more than a dozen individual utilities.

Community storage refers to a spectrum of utility-sponsored programs that aggregate electric storage resources available throughout the community, such as water heaters and electric vehicles, to improve the efficiency of electric energy services for consumers. Community storage programs offer the industry practical steps to rapidly increase the amount of energy storage available, and also integrate more renewable resources.

Initiative members are already implementing community storage programs; through the Initiative, they will be working together to evolve those programs.

Like community solar, community storage enables consumers and utilities to share the system-wide benefits of energy storage – environmental benefits, lower costs and grid optimization – in communities large and small across the country. Such programs maximize the value of distributed energy resources, many of which are already available to participate in energy storage programs through simple retrofits and program design.

The Initiative’s charter sponsors include the following: National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), American Public Power Association (APPA), Edison Electric Institute (EEI), Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and Peak Load Management Alliance (PLMA). The Initiative will be chaired by Gary Connett, Director of Member Services at Great River Energy, a generation and transmission cooperative based in Maple Grove, Minn.

The Initiative’s supporters include a wide array of energy, environmental and business interests:

Trade associations: American Public Power Association, Edison Electric Institute, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and Peak Load Management Alliance.

Environmental and efficiency advocacy groups: Natural Resources Defense Council, Rocky Mountain Institute, Vermont Energy Investment Corporation.

Manufacturers: GARN, Ice Energy, Power Over Time, Steffes Corporation, Vaughn Thermal Corporation and Sunnovations Inc.

Individual utilities: Central Electric Cooperative of Pennsylvania, Dairyland Power Cooperative, Duke Energy, Federated Rural Electric, Great River Energy, Green Mountain Power, Horry Electric Cooperative, Inc., Itasca-Mantrap Electric Cooperative, Jackson EMC, Marquette Board of Light and Power, McLeod Cooperative Power Association, Minnesota Rural Electric Association, North Itasca Electric Cooperative Inc., Northwestern Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Oconto Electric Cooperative, Palmetto Electric Cooperative, South Central Electric Association, and Steele-Waseca Cooperative Electric, South Central Electric Association and Wellesley Municipal Light Plant.

A list of supporters and brief descriptions of their community storage efforts is available on the Initiative’s website.  Initiative members are conducting a range of innovative community storage programs, including grid-interactive water heating, electric vehicle charging, grid-interactive space heating, ice storage technology, and residential battery storage.

Research conducted by The Brattle Group and sponsored by the Initiative’s founding members recognized that the nation’s 50 million residential electric water heaters collectively represent a significant and vastly underutilized energy storage resource capable of leveraging substantial environmental and cost benefits. An article in November’s Public Utility Fortnightly introduced the community storage concept. Links to both the report and the article can be found on the Community Storage Initiative’s web site.

The American Public Power Association is the national service organization for the more than 2,000 not-for-profit, community-owned electric utilities in the U.S. Collectively, these utilities serve more than 48 million Americans in 49 states.

The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) is the association that represents all U.S. investor-owned electric companies. Our members provide electricity for 220 million Americans, operate in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and directly and indirectly support more than 1 million jobs. Follow us on Twitter at @Edison_Electric.

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 2 million members and online activists. Since 1970, NRDC’s lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world’s natural resources, public health, and the environment. Follow us on Twitter @NRDC.

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the national service organization that represents the nation’s more than 900 private, not-for-profit, consumer-owned electric cooperatives serving 42 million people in 47 states. Follow us on Twitter @NRECANews.

The Peak Load Management Alliance (PLMA) was founded in 1999 as the national voice of demand response practitioners.  It is a non-profit organization dedicated to the principles of demand side management, load shaping, and the integration of energy efficiency and demand response. Its membership represents a diverse collection of utilities, curtailment service providers, service and technology companies, industry consultants, and consumers.

Great River Energy, Maple Grove, Minn., is generation and transmission cooperative providing wholesale electric service to 28 Minnesota distribution cooperatives. Those member cooperatives distribute electricity to approximately 665,000 member-consumers. Great River Energy and its members offer a robust demand response program, and are able to control up to 350 megawatts of load. Great River Energy is the second largest electric power supplier in Minnesota and one of the largest generation and transmission cooperatives in the nation.

Contacts:

• Tracy Warren (NRECA); 703-517-3411;  tracy.warren@nreca.coop
• Pat Remick (NRDC); 202-289-2411;  premick@nrdc.org
• Therese LaCanne (GRE); 612-804-4532; tlacanne@GREnergy.com
• Ed Thomas (PLMA); 707-652-5333; ethomas@peaklma.org
• Brian Reil (EEI); 202-508-5514; breil@eei.org
• Tobias Sellier (APPA); 202-467-2927; tsellier@PublicPower.org

(ARLINGTON, Va.) – On Earth Day, America’s Electric Cooperatives celebrate the community of cooperatives around the world. From member-owned electric cooperatives in Bangladesh and Haiti to agricultural cooperatives in Ghana and Kenya, the cooperative business model puts the needs of members first, improving the quality of life and strengthening local economies.

“On Earth Day cooperatives are celebrating the global reach of a business model that can transform the lives of its members,” said NRECA Interim CEO Jeffrey Connor. “The family of member-owned cooperatives – agricultural co-ops, food co-ops, credit unions and electric co-ops – is making life better in thousands of communities around the world by emphasizing partnership and cooperation. That concern for community guides the work of electric cooperatives in everything we do.”

Fifty years ago, the newly developed U.S. Agency for International Development joined forces with NRECA International to bring electricity to developing countries worldwide. More than 110 million people around the globe have benefited from access to electricity.

Increased access to electricity in more than 42 countries has boosted agricultural productivity, created new jobs in micro and small enterprises and raised both incomes and quality of life.

America’s electric cooperatives believe the consumer-centric utility model, a model that aligns the goals of the utility with the interests of consumers, both promotes innovation and mitigates the risks that come with rapid technological change.

Consistent with this consumer-centric model, cooperatives are leading the industry in the development of community approaches to solar and energy storage. Co-ops own or purchase 6700 megawatts of renewable capacity. As of March of this year, 96 distribution co-ops in 29 states have developed or are planning community solar programs.

Electric cooperatives are an integral part of the $370 billion U.S. electric utility industry. They play a critical role in our nation’s economy and in local communities.

In addition to electric service, electric co-ops are deeply involved in promoting development and revitalization projects, small businesses, job creation, improvement of water and sewer systems and assistance in delivery of health care and educational services.

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the national service organization that represents the nation’s more than 900 private, not-for-profit, consumer-owned electric cooperatives, which provide service to 42 million people in 47 states.

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(ARLINGTON, VA.) — National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) CEO Jo Ann Emerson thanked Rep. David McKinley for his leadership on the Improving Coal Combustion Residuals Regulation Act of 2015, which passed the House today.

“We appreciate Congressman McKinley’s leadership in bringing this bill to the House floor. This bipartisan approach will solidify the non-hazardous designation and enable reliable state implementation and enforcement. The state permits authorized by this bill fully protect groundwater and the environment while minimizing needless litigation,” said Emerson. “It also offers a predictable business environment for the safe and effective reuse of materials that can help strengthen our national roadways and other infrastructure.”

Through state permits the legislation implements the standards for safe disposal of coal combustion residuals (CCR) finalized last year by the Environmental Protection Agency and codifies the designation of CCR as non-hazardous. It also prevents the EPA from revisiting the question of whether CCR is non-hazardous every three years, creating a certainty that encourages continued beneficial reuse of the material.

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the national service organization that represents the nation’s more than 900 private, not-for-profit, consumer-owned electric cooperatives, which provide service to 42 million people in 47 states.