Green Power Switch News

Vol. 4, No. 3 — Fall 2004

Construction nears completion on new wind turbines

Wind energy will become a major source of power supply for Green Power Switch when construction is completed on 15 wind turbines at Buffalo Mountain near Oak Ridge in east Tennessee. The 27-megawatt wind facility is being built by Invenergy Wind LLC. TVA will purchase the turbines’ output and make the power available to meet the growing demand for Green Power Switch renewable energy.

“With the addition of this new wind generation, TVA and participating distributors will be able to quickly catch up with demand for gre en power in the Tennessee Valley,” says Jim Keiffer, Senior Vice President of Marketing at TVA. “In fact, after we meet our current green power obligations, we will have surplus available for new and current

subscribers who wish to join or increase the amount of green power they buy for homes or businesses.”

When the wind turbines are all operational, TVA will have a total green power generating capacity of approximately 88 million kilowatt-hours.

Blowin’ in the wind

Cliff Elder, a member of Mountain Electric Cooperative (MEC), is the first person in the Tennessee Valley to produce wind power for the Green Power Switch Generation Partners program.

Elder’s 20-kilowatt Jacobs wind turbine is located on Beech Mountain, North Carolina, which has average annual wind speeds of 16 to 18 miles per hour. The turbine’s performance will be monitored as part of a research project called the North Carolina Small Wind Initiative, a collaboration between the State and Appalachian State University. The Initiative will test a variety of residential-scale wind turbines on their reliability and cost-effectiveness.

“I can't say enough about Mountain Electric and TVA’s help with the project,” says Elder. “All I had to do was ask, and I received immediate assistance.”

MEC began offering GPS Generation Partners in August 2004. “Since Mountain Electric’s service area in Tennessee and North Carolina has one of the best areas for wind generation in the eastern U.S., I think we have a wonderful opportunity to take advantage of it,” says John Hartley, MEC’s Director of Customer Service and Economic Development. “It allows us to have a positive impact on our environment, and we are proud to offer GPS Generation Partners as a way to help advance small-scale wind energy in our region.”

The Generation Partners demonstration project is open to new participants through December 31, 2005. Participants receive a credit on their power bill of 15 cents per kilowatt-hour for green power produced from qualifying solar or wind energy generation systems.

Residential consumers may also be eligible for a one-time incentive payment of $500 from TVA for participating. For more information see www.gpsgenpartners.com.

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Comments or suggestions?

We’d like to know if you’re satisfied with our quarterly newsletter, and we’re interested in knowing what you’d like to read in future issues of Green Power Switch News. Please send your comments to greenpowerswitch
@tva.com. Thanks for your help and your interest!

—Gary Harris, Program Manager, Green Power Switch, P.O. Box 292409, OCP 2-400, Nashville, TN 37229-2409.