Missouri Town Set To Be 100-Percent Wind Powered

KansDem

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Sat May-17-08 10:48 AM
Original message

Missouri Town Set To Be 100-Percent Wind Powered

Missouri Town Set To Be 100-Percent Wind Powered

by NAW Staff on Tuesday 15 April 2008

Officials of Rock Port, Mo., say the town is set to become the first in America capable of meeting 100% of its electricity demand from wind power, which will be generated from the Loess Hills wind power facility.

"By generating enough clean, renewable electricity to meet all of Rock Port's energy needs while also generating additional revenue for their tax base, the Loess Hills facility is a shining example of the benefits of wind energy development," says Tom Carnahan, president of Wind Capital Group, developer of Loess Hills.

The Loess Hills facility, located on agricultural lands within the city limits of Rock Port, produces up to 16 million kWh of electricity annually, which exceeds the 13 million kWh Rock Port uses each year.

Electricity not used by homes and businesses in Rock Port will be purchased by the Missouri Joint Municipal Electric Utility Commission (MJMEUC) for use in other communities across Missouri. As part of this arrangement, MJMEUC will supply Rock Port's power needs when the wind turbines are not generating at capacity.

http://www.nawindpower.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.2095">North American Windpower

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GreenPartyVoter

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Sat May-17-08 11:29 AM
Response to Original message

1. I love reading stories like this!

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ellenfl

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Sat May-17-08 11:52 AM
Response to Reply #1

2. i love reading stories like this . . . from the bible belt!

just shows that not every southern state is in the 'grand oil party's' sway.

ellen fl

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crimsonblue

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Sat May-17-08 08:34 PM
Response to Reply #2

6. We have a HUGE wind farm going up in KS..

Between Lincoln and Ellsworth by !-70, there is a 150+ unit wind farm (news articles stated around 50, but I personally counted around 150 on a recent drive through) and once fully completed, will provide 250+ Megawatts of clean power. There is also an existing wind farm near Great Bend, that is kicking out 100-150 megawatts.

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ellenfl

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Sun May-18-08 01:47 PM
Response to Reply #6

11. awesome! i am hearing noises from fp&l . . .

but not until AFTER they tried to build a new coal plant. :eyes: we could easily do sun/water/wind power generation in florida. in the early 60s, my neighbor had a solar panel on his roof. we all could have, but i am sure that fp&l blocked that then.

ellen fl

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crimsonblue

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Sun May-18-08 09:22 PM
Response to Reply #11

12. the instate energy companies tried to scare farmers into opposing wind farms here...

They convinced farmers that the wind farms would be extremely loud and kill hundreds, if not thousands of birds a year. Pretty ridiculous, huh?

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depakid

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Sat May-17-08 12:57 PM
Response to Original message

3. There are similar small scale applications like this popping up in eastern Oregon as well

This one serves a bit larger population of 1,395, though, and it's an excellent example of relocalizing energy, to the extent that communities can.

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JohnWxy

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Sat May-17-08 03:18 PM
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4. I love it! LEt people start doing it for themslves. Screw the utility companies!

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MindMatter

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Sat May-17-08 08:53 PM
Response to Reply #4

7. That's probably nto a productive attitude

The utility companies are often quasi-government agencies, with the costs being essentially pass-through. With wind power, we still need the utility companies because we need to be able to handle peaks and valleys in the generation. On windy nights, the farm will produce excess energy. By feeding this into the grid, a coal plant may be able to scale back on its emissions during that time. On hot days when the wind isn't blowing hard, the "wind powered communities" will need to tap into the grid.

The utility company of the future will be less of a primary generator and more of a broker. But they will be an essential player nonetheless.

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Dead_Parrot

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Sat May-17-08 10:07 PM
Response to Reply #4

8. Hmmm.

Form the article:

Electricity not used by homes and businesses in Rock Port will be purchased by the Missouri Joint Municipal Electric Utility Commission (MJMEUC) for use in other communities across Missouri. As part of this arrangement, MJMEUC will supply Rock Port's power needs when the wind turbines are not generating at capacity.

Gosh, I wonder where MJMEUC will get that power?

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=129849&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=672416&highlight=

The Prairie State Energy Campus, a $2 billion-plus project, is a major coal-fueled electric generating station and coal mine planned for Washington County, Ill...

The Prairie State ownership group includes:
-- Indiana Municipal Power Agency (IMPA);
-- Kentucky Municipal Power Agency;
-- Missouri Joint Municipal Electric Utility Commission (MJMEUC)...

http://www.illinois.gov/PressReleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?RecNum=5455&SubjectID=28

October 25, 2006 – Governor Rod R. Blagojevich celebrated the beginning of construction today for the Prairie State Energy Campus, a 1,500-plus megawatt generating plant and coal mine...

Yeah. That screwed them good.

:eyes:

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Dogmudgeon

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Sat May-17-08 10:17 PM
Response to Reply #4

9. All grid energy is "corporate". All of it.

And most non-grid energy as well.

Individual non-grid energy is still very rare. It just gets more attention in the press. And it's worth remembering that domestic energy use accounts for maybe one-tenth of the total that we use.

Wind farms are Good Things, but not from an anti-corporate political-economic point of view. That's a different problem/issue entirely. I seriously question the prevailing idea that particular types of energy production are more "progressive" than others. If it's something people need, and will pay money for, the political power will flow upward.

--p!

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bluesmail

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Sat May-17-08 08:29 PM
Response to Original message

5. Where I live we don't even get a choice

in electricity OR garbage disposal, I decided out of necessity to downsize so I am taking my garbage to the dump and looking into alternatives to the electricity monopoly.

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poppysgal

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Sat May-17-08 10:36 PM
Response to Original message

10. I live in a county

near Rockport and there are wind farms going up and already operational in other surrounding counties. It is pretty awesome to see the towers right in the middle of fields with crops planted and the wind propellers turning.:bounce:

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