The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (“NRECA”) submitted June 23rd comments to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) in its docket addressing Proposed National Emission Standards for...more
On June 5, 2023, Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed into law HB1221, subjecting rural electric cooperatives to pole attachment regulation by the Florida Public Service Commission (“FPSC”) if they provide broadband service....more
On March 3, 2023, the Virginia State Corporation Commission (the “SCC”) issued an Order (the “March 3 Order”) to (i) establish two working groups to consider distributed energy resources (DER) interconnection issues, (ii)...more
Courts in South Carolina and South Dakota have recently recognized the validity of term provisions in wholesale power contracts between generation and transmission cooperatives and their member distribution cooperatives. ...more
On Friday, March 27, 2020, the President signed into law a massive stimulus package - the Coronavirus Aid Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act - in response to the economic crisis caused by COVID-19. The CARES Act...more
A recent Alabama Supreme Court decision has handed an important victory to electric cooperatives defending their patronage capital practices in the state. The court affirmed the trial court’s dismissal in Recherche LLC v....more
We didn’t get flop sweat Zuck, but it was still a hot seat indeed for Facebook’s founder and CEO on the Hill yesterday, who fielded a wide range of questions from Libra to political freedom of expression on his platform....more
The federal courts of appeals have generally recognized that electric cooperatives can retire patronage capital to their members through means other than annual cash payments. For example, the US Court of Appeals for the...more
Ms. Casey Shepard undertook a presentation at the Arkansas Environmental Federation (“AEF”) Convention titled: Sustainability Strategies at AECC (“Presentation”) ...more
Pennsylvania’s REA Energy Cooperative, Inc. obtained dismissal of a putative class action lawsuit last year, a decision that was recently confirmed by the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. The...more
The U.S. Department of Justice has asked the federal district court in the Volkswagen “clean diesel” emissions litigation to approve a long-awaited environmental mitigation trust agreement. The approval of the trust agreement...more
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or the “Commission”) recently restored its quorum with the swearing in of Commissioners Neil Chatterjee and Robert Powelson, but the casualties from the six-month, quorumless...more
A federal court's interpretation of an excess revenue statute could bring an end to many capital credit lawsuits brought by current and former members of rural electric cooperatives challenging the distribution of patronage...more
Cooperatives facing patronage capital lawsuits have recently enjoyed a series of favorable court opinions. Over the past few months, the Eleventh Circuit and state and federal courts in Florida have all dismissed claims for...more
Two recent dismissal orders – filed within days of each other – signal positive news to rural electric cooperatives defending actions brought by former or current members regarding the distribution of patronage capital and...more
On August 23, 2016, two Maryland electric cooperatives filed a Petition for Declaratory Order asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to find that the Maryland Public Service Commission’s (MPSC) recently...more