Electric Cooperatives Receive Over $215 Million for Smart Grid Investments
President Obama this week announced $3.4 billion in grant awards to utilities seeking to invest in the deployment of smart grid infrastructure. Of this total, $215,558,896 will go to more than 50 electric cooperatives and public power districts in 14 states. The Department of Energy awarded 100 grants in all.
“The impressive number of electric cooperatives and public power districts who applied for smart grid investment grants – almost 300 – indicates the tremendous momentum among cooperatives in the push to modernize the nation’s bulk power grid,” said Glenn English, CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. “We are extremely proud not only of the number of cooperatives who applied but also of the quality of those proposals,” English said.
Cooperatives lead the industry in the deployment of smart grid infrastructure. According to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), cooperatives’ advanced metering penetration increased from 3.8 percent in 2006 to 16.4 percent in 2008 – well above the industry as a whole. According to research conducted by NRECA, approximately half of cooperatives have installed at least some advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) on their systems, and some 30 percent of cooperatives have begun to integrate their AMI with other systems on their grid.
The DOE awarded grants to a range of cooperative entities, including distribution cooperatives, co-op subsidiaries, generation and transmission cooperatives (who applied jointly with their members), and public power districts.
English congratulated those cooperatives who received funds, commenting: “Cooperatives welcome the challenge of modernizing the nation’s grid.”
The Department of Energy grants are authorized by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, also known as the “Economic Stimulus package.” The $3.4 billion will be matched by utility sector funding for a total public-private investment worth over $8 billion. The DOE had originally planned for three rounds of grants; however, the overwhelming response to the first round made two more rounds unnecessary.
|
State |
Entity |
Federal funds |
|
AR |
Woodruff Electric |
2,357,520 |
|
AZ |
Southwest Transmission Cooperative, Inc (joint project) |
32,244,485 |
|
AZ |
Navajo Tribal Utility Association |
4,991,750 |
|
FL |
Talquin Electric Cooperative Inc. |
8,100,000 |
|
GA |
Cobb Electric Membership Corp. |
16,893,836 |
|
GA |
Tri-State Electric Membership Corp. |
1,138,060 |
|
GA |
Georgia System Operations Corporation, Inc. |
6,456,501 |
|
KS |
Midwest Energy Inc |
712,257 |
|
KY |
South Kentucky Rural Electric Cooperative Corp. |
9,538,234 |
|
MS |
South Mississippi Electric Power Association (joint project) |
30,563,967 |
|
NE |
Cuming County Public Power District |
1,874,994 |
|
NE |
Stanton County Public Power District |
397,000 |
|
NH |
New Hampshire Electric Cooperative |
15,815,225 |
|
OR |
Pacific Northwest Generating Cooperative (joint project) |
19,577,326 |
|
PA |
Wellsboro (owned by Tri-County Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc.) |
431,625 |
|
SD |
Sioux Valley Southwestern Electric Cooperative, Inc. |
4,016,368 |
|
TX |
Golden Spread Electric Cooperative (joint project) |
19,995,000 |
|
TX |
CoServ Electric |
17,205,844 |
|
VA |
Rappahannock Electric Cooperative |
15,694,097 |
|
VA |
Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative |
5,000,000 |
|
WY |
Powder River Energy Corporation |
2,554,807 |
|
Total |
215,558,896 |
|
Want to use this article? Click here for options!
© 2012 Penton Media Inc.
Acceptable Use Policy
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. T&D World will not edit postings. If T&D World editors deem any comment inappropriate, we will preempt or remove the posting.
General Rules: T&D World will not allow comments that are found to be degrading based on gender, race, class, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation or disability. Neither will epithets, abusive language or obscene comments be allowed.
blog comments powered by Disqus
