America’s electric co-ops have marked a new milestone in their grassroots strength as we reach 1 million comments sent to the EPA in opposition to its proposed rule targeting existing power plants. Collected through http://action.coop and tellepa.com, the comments are coming from all 50 states. As of mid-October, 526 comments were from Michigan, and in surrounding states, 57,484 came through Ohio co-ops; 20,534 - [...]
Luke Pohl, of Westphalia, a local businessman and 31-year high school basketball coach, will fill an open seat on the HomeWorks Tri-County Electric board. Chosen from eight candidates, Pohl is filling the remaining year of a term formerly held by Carl Morton, who retired after 36 years of service. Pohl represents District 3, which serves Clinton County except Bingham, Duplain and Greenbush townships. Pohl [...]
Changes to Great Lakes Energy’s “Rate Book for Electric Service” were recently approved by its board, and take effect Jan. 1, 2015. In accordance with P.A. 167 of 2008, the changes affect some special charges, such as the Misc. Special Service Charge and Bad Check Handling Fee, line extension fees, load management eligibility, deposit interest, and establish a new rate that enables eligible members [...]
Cherryland Electric Co-op (CEC) is returning a record-setting $4.2 million in capital credits to it members, effective on their October 2014 billings. Margins earned are allocated to individual co-op members annually in proportion to the amount of kilowatt-hours consumed during that year. In addition, CEC’s financial situation allowed them to eliminate their Power Supply Cost Recovery (PSCR) for September and October. “We will continue [...]
The Ontonagon County Rural Electrification Association (OCREA) Board of Directors recently approved plans for a series of upgrades to the cooperative’s electrical distribution system. Wolverine Power Cooperative is assisting OCREA with the project, which involves the design and construction of a new substation, and associated distribution facilities. The project’s primary purpose is to provide increased service reliability to more than 700 of OCREA’s existing [...]
MultiSpeak®, a software standard used by utilities worldwide, has announced it is ready to test software applications for compliance with cybersecurity requirements. MultiSpeak is the first utility software standard to include cybersecurity as part of compliance testing. The program was developed and is maintained by a collaboration of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) and the 150-plus software vendors, consultants and utilities belonging [...]
Midwest Energy was honored at last week's Member Information Conference in St. Louis with a Service Excellence Award for working with NISC to introduce a new bill print earlier this year. “Our bills are a primary line of communication to our members, so the project goal was to improve the member experience by providing an enhanced layout with more options so they can better [...]
MSU researchers are working on a transparent luminescent solar concentrator that can be used on buildings, cell phones and other devices with clear surfaces. The solar harvesting system uses small organic modules developed by Prof. Richard Lunt to absorb specific wavelengths of sunlight. The infrared light is guided to the edge of the plastic, where it is converted to electricity by thin strips of [...]
“Looking out for you” recently took on more meaning with the option of prepaid metering now being offered to qualified Great Lakes Energy members. The program—researched and discussed for over a year, then piloted by a team of volunteer employees—opened to members June 30. It provides another option for those who may otherwise have their power disconnected for nonpayment. Provided their outstanding balance doesn’t exceed $800, [...]
American Transmission Company, the Upper Peninsula Power Company, and Wisconsin Public Service will host a “2014 U.P. Energy Summit” on Oct. 28. A variety of topics, of great importance to both the state and U.P., will be covered. Presentations and guest speakers include: Valerie Brader, legal counsel/senior policy advisor to Gov. Rick Snyder John Quackenbush, chairman, Michigan Public Service Commission Sally Talberg, commissioner, Michigan [...]
