Electric Co-ops Squeeze Power from Unlikely Sources for Renewable Energy
Across the nation, electric cooperatives are a leading force in developing and utilizing cutting edge renewable energy technologies, especially biomass. This means a great deal, both in terms of individual consumer benefits and overall value for the small communities.
Biomass refers to organic matter such as farm by-products, wood wastes, aquatic plants, and landfill waste. Electricity can be generated from biomass.
“Electric cooperatives are in an especially good position to explore biomass technologies because they already serve local agricultural and forestry industries. By using locally available resources, they have become national leaders in energy production from biomass,” said Carol Whitman, Legislative Principal in Environmental Affairs at NRECA.
According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Power Online—an annual survey of electric cooperatives—105 co-ops in 22 states across the country are utilizing biomass in their power supply.
Both Dairyland Power Cooperative in La Crosse, Wis., and East Kentucky Power Cooperative in Winchester, Ky., have recently deployed biomass technologies to supply power to their member owners.
Five animal waste-to-energy projects are either in planning or under construction on dairy farms in Dairyland's service territory, which encompasses 62 counties in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. As many as 3,000 homes will be powered by this new form of renewable energy in which manure is the resource and methane gas, its byproduct as it decomposes, is used to generate electricity.
Another Dairyland project is a landfill gas-to-energy plant that they brought online last March near Eau Claire, Wis. Methane gas, created naturally as landfill waste decomposes, is again the fuel used to generate the power. This facility can power 2,600 homes in the cooperative system with renewable energy.
Dairyland is expanding its landfill gas resources with the output of two projects coming online in early 2006.
East Kentucky Power Cooperative was the first electric utility in Kentucky to take methane gas from a landfill and use it to produce electricity. The co-op constructed three landfill gas-to-energy plants, which began producing power in September 2003. These plants supply enough electricity for more than 10,000 homes. Another landfill gas plant just began commercial operation in Hardin County, Ky., supplying an estimated 2,500 homes with electricity.
Fourteen electric cooperatives sell the renewable energy produced from the East Kentucky landfill gas plants to retail customers through a program called EnviroWatts. With EnviroWatts, customers pay only $2.75 more per month for each 100-kilowatt block of green power. The customer has the option to enroll for all or just a portion of their electric bill.
The benefits of electricity generated from biomass are many, including odor and waste management on farms; supporting the local economy by creating jobs and increasing revenue for local businesses; and environmental stewardship.
Source: NRECA; Dairyland Power Cooperative; East Kentucky Power Cooperative; National Renewable Energy Laboratory
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