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Agreements that lay the groundwork for eliminating a costly utility rate payment for Upper Peninsula families and job providers, while providing the region with long-term, cost-effective energy reliability and ensuring the U.P.’s energy independence were announced recently by Gov. Rick Snyder, Attorney General Bill Schuette, Wisconsin Energy Corp. (We Energies), Upper Peninsula Power Co. (UPPCO), Invenergy, and Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (Cliffs). The proposed [...]

Over the summer, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced it would fund $100 million in rural broadband experiments (RBEs). This came on the heels of many months of work by a committed team of electric co-ops and other partners, including Midwest Energy Cooperative, who worked to impact policy change and open funding so that non-traditional providers could compete to bring broadband to the rural [...]

Cloverland Electric Co-op is continuing its battle – including asking its members to write state, regional and national officials - to keep the monthly electric bills of nearly all U.P. residents from going up drastically by Dec. 1. The problem started when Marquette’s Presque Isle Power Plant (PIPP) lost its main customer, the Cliffs mining company, in 2013. The Plant’s owner, We Energies (Milwaukee, [...]

A new website is available to help communicate how electric co-ops are using renewable resources, and specifically solar energy. Take a look, and feel free to use its information to talk with co-op staff, members, elected officials, boards, and others interested parties about how the cooperatives are already responding to consumer needs in an era of rapid technological change.

Because of lower fuel costs, as well as reduced maintenance and environmental impacts when compared to standard cars, plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) sales are growing rapidly, reports the Cooperative Research Network (CRN). From December 2010 through September 2014, Americans bought over 255,000 PEVs. What does this mean for electric co-ops, and how will it affect their operations? Learn how from the full (only those with [...]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has flagged $15 million for bolstering distributed, onsite solar energy projects that integrate energy storage. As reported in the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corp. (CFC) newsletter, eligible projects include those that will help advance solar photovoltaic technology and energy storage through: Advanced operation in conjunction with smart loads and demand response; Incorporation of solar and load forecasting; [...]

Pam Tomkins Electric co-op safety supervisors recently completed part two of a six-part, three-year training series offered by the Michigan Electric Cooperative Association (MECA). Sixty participants from Alger Delta, Cherryland, Cloverland, Great Lakes Energy, HomeWorks Tri-County, Ontonagon and Thumb Electric co-ops are participating, which requires a commitment to the full three-year training period. “This second course in the series is designed to [...]

A capital credit retirement package worth over $7.1 million was approved by Great Lakes Energy’s Board of Directors in September. This includes $1 million in capital credits earned by members in 2013, and over $6.1 million from 1989. Co-op members receiving the refunds will see a credit on their December electric bill, and amounts over $1,000 will be sent as a check. “Including this [...]