Biz ‘Bites:’ College of Eastern Idaho nursing accredited

Idaho cows to propel California cars

The New Energy One (NEO) biogas plant in Filer will sell its electric power for the electric vehicle power market in California.

NEO is currently producing biogas from adjacent dairy manure farms and converting it to electrical energy. A business partner, 3Degrees of San Francisco, navigated NEO’s power through California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) program, including the required validation of NEO’s negative carbon-intensity score.

3Degress identified the best-use market for NEO’s environmentally friendly power. The arrangement that the two firms crafted involves the purchase of NEO’s power by 3Degrees. Then 3Degrees matches the electricity with electric vehicle chargers in order to generate credits under the LCFS program. The arrangement between the two firms was announced on Oct. 20.

The transaction agreement is one of the first of its kind and hints at a growing trend of biogas facilities transitioning to electricity to support the decarbonizing California transportation market. NEO is also planning to upgrade the plant over the next 12 months to produce renewable natural gas to sell on the California market.

College of Eastern Idaho nursing accredited

The associate registered nursing (RN) program at College of Eastern Idaho (CEI) has been granted initial accreditation by the Accreditation
Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN).

The effective date for initial accreditation of the associate RN program backdates to July 2, 2019. This means that anyone who graduated from CEI’s RN program in December 2019 or later may claim that they graduated from a fully accredited nursing program.

ACEN offered a note of thanks for maintaining high standards while providing outstanding support to CEI students and the community. ACEN commended CEI’s nursing faculty and leadership for the flexibility, courage and resiliency demonstrated during the global pandemic.

CEI President Rick Aman stated: “ACEN accreditation is to nursing as the Northwest Commission on Colleges & Universities (NWCCU) accreditation is to our college. It is the ‘gold standard’ in recognition for a program and all the expectation for that program. Recognition is vital to our students, partners, hospitals and anyone associated with the RN program at CEI.”