In August Governor Pat Quinn announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture had declared 98 of 102 Illinois counties as disaster areas. Approval means federal disaster assistance is now available to help farmers in these counties. A combination of extremely hot and dry weather has stunted crop development across the state, ­especially in corn, which [...]

Speaking to the leaders of the state’s electric cooperatives at the Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives’ Annual Meeting, Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon spoke about school consolidation and improving rural Internet access. Simon said she is proud to be a member of Egyptian Electric Cooperative and proud of her nephew who is a lineman for the co-op. [...]

Coal mining was once a ­thriving ­business in western Illinois’ Henry County. At its peak, up to 100 railroad cars of coal left Midland Coal Company’s Atkinson ­processing plant daily. But in 1964 the last coal mine shut down ending coal mining in the county. Today, the landscape left in ­mining’s wake has been restored ­creating [...]

At the Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives’ Annual Meeting held on August 2 in Springfield, State Senator Gary Forby, D-59th District, received the 2012 Illinois Electric Cooperatives’ Public Service Award. Although he was unable to attend it was announced that State Representative Michael Unes, R-91st District, received the ­second Public Service Award for this year. [...]

A proven energy-efficiency program and a jet engine complex are among the electric cooperative-backed economic development initiatives in line to receive about $13 million in loans and grants from the Agriculture Department. The money, which will underwrite job creation and retention projects in a dozen states, represents the latest round of funding under the Rural [...]

     The National 25×25 Alliance commends the Senate on its passage of a Farm Bill yesterday by a 64-35 margin that includes $800 million in mandatory funding for Energy Title programs. Not only did the final vote represent an important victory for rural renewable energy supporters, the overwhelming opposition to amendments that would have stripped [...]

  After a 20-hour bus ride home on June 22, 75 of Illinois’ brightest high school students were a little low on energy but full of good memories from this year’s Youth to Washington Tour. At the end of trip the students hugged and said their goodbyes at the Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives (AIEC) [...]

Calling it part of a “pathway to prosperity,” Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced his department will partner with electric cooperatives in a new initiative to improve energy efficiency in rural parts of the country. Vilsack said the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Loan Program will turn to co-ops as intermediaries to help homeowners and small [...]

In July Illinois electric cooperatives sent crews to assist sister co-ops after a massive storm hit utilities hard from Chicago to the East Coast. The storm that went through Chicago and headed towards Washington, D.C. hit Ohio very hard. Co-ops that sent help include MJM Electric Cooperative, Rock Energy, Jo-Carroll Energy, Corn Belt Energy, EnerStar [...]

Many of America’s farmers and ranchers will face ­economic challenges due to the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to regulate greenhouse gases, the American Farm Bureau Federation told a House subcommittee. Carl Shaffer, President of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, testified on behalf of AFBF before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power. “Costs [...]