MAY 14, 2012

f the one-third of Americans who are members of cooperatives, including electric cooperatives and credit unions, nearly 80 percent feel cooperatives can be counted on to meet their needs. Only 67 percent feel the same way about for-profit businesses, according to results from a survey by the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA) and the Consumer Federation of America (CFA). Read More »

MAY 7, 2012

The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a bill that revises the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act to exempt the use of derivatives by small finance companies, including CFC, from potentially burdensome new requirements. The House passed Rep. Vicky Hartzler’s (R-Mo.) Small Business Credit Availability Act (H.R. 3336) by a vote of 312–111.

“Rep. Hartzler has a long history with Missouri co-ops. We introduced her and her staff to CFC, and how electric cooperatives benefit from ownership in CFC,” Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives CEO Barry Hart said. “The bill’s passage is a fulfillment of the principle of cooperation among cooperatives—great things happen when co-ops work together.” Read More »

APRIL 30, 2012

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) restrictions on carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from new coal plants are unlikely to affect the credit quality of electric cooperatives, according to a report from Standard & Poor’s Research (S&P).

EPA recently released a proposed New Source Performance Standard for CO₂ emissions from new fossil fuel-fired plants. Plants that are already operating, those in need of modifications and those that start construction within the next year are exempt from the standard. Read More »

April 23, 2012

A global need for raw commodities and processed goods—coupled with rising energy prices and a related surge in oil and gas drilling activity—have positioned rural America for growth in 2012, according to analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

“Rural America appears poised for additional economic gains in the year ahead,” said the Kansas Fed’s Maria Akers and Jason Henderson. “Elevated commodity prices and profits are expected to provide a foundation for rural prosperity.” Read More »

APRIL 16, 2012

New wind capacity has driven an increase in non-hydroelectric renewable generation over the past decade, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data. In 2001, net U.S. non-hydro renewable generation was 70.8 million MWh (1.9 percent of all generation); by the end of 2011, it had grown to 195 million MWh (4.8 percent of all generation).

Maine has long led the nation with the highest percentage of in-state non-hydro renewable generation, with 20 percent in 2001 and 27 percent in 2011. South Dakota and Iowa were second and third in 2011 with 21 percent and 17 percent, respectively, up from 1 percent and less than 1 percent in 2001. Read More »

APRIL 9, 2012

The White House and governors of several Great Lakes states have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in an effort to streamline offshore wind resource development.

Great Lakes winds have the potential to support more than 700 GW of wind power capacity, according to U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) estimates, or about one-fifth of the total offshore wind potential in the United States. Read More »

APRIL 2, 2012

A loss of reactive power—leading to voltage instability or collapse—is the most likely outcome of a severe solar storm, according to an assessment from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC).

A NERC task force began sizing up solar storms and geomagnetic disturbances (GMD) after they were identified as possible high-impact risks in a 2010 report (see “Report Examines Low-Frequency, High-Impact Risks,” Solutions News Bulletin, June 18. 2010). Although past studies have indicated that such events could result in transformer damage, the NERC group sees voltage instability as a “far more likely result of a severe GMD storm.” Read More »

MARCH 26, 2012

In a letter to the country’s four power marketing administrations (PMAs), U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu urged the organizations to make infrastructure and operational changes in order to better utilize new technology. The proposal was met with skepticism from NRECA and some members of Congress.

“Taking greater advantage of energy efficiency, demand resources and clean energy—while at the same time reducing costs to consumers—requires transition to a more flexible and resilient electric grid and much greater coordination among system operators,” Chu said in the letter. Read More »

MARCH 19, 2012 

Following recent stress tests designed to gauge how U.S. banks will fare during any future economic turmoil, the Federal Reserve found 15 of 19 major commercial banks could ride out an “extremely adverse” economic scenario.

The test, first proposed in late 2010 and formally known as the Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review, measures how banks would operate in a hypothetical U.S. economy in which the unemployment rate peaks at 13 percent, gross domestic product contracts by 8 percent, equity prices drop 50 percent and housing prices fall 21 percent. Read More »

MARCH 12, 2012

The U.S. economy must overcome core structural problems before fully recovering, according to economist Glenn Hubbard, dean of New York’s Columbia Business School and former economic adviser to President George W. Bush. Hubbard discussed his views on the economy in a keynote address at CFC’s Annual Meeting last week.

The seeds of the last recession were sown over the past 20 years, Hubbard said, and, as such, the impact “was less like a lightning bolt, and more like a slow-moving train wreck.” Read More »