 |
||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
The
Power
users can 'go green' for a surcharge
By Maria Saporta Finally,
most Georgians will have an option to buy green
power -- renewable sources of energy. Both
Georgia Power Co. and Green Power EMC (a consortium
of 16 EMC providers in the state) are signing up
customers interested in buying environmentally
friendly energy for a slight surcharge. "We
hear from a segment of the population that there's a
real desire for green power and a willingness to pay
more for green power," says Allen Franklin,
chief executive officer of Both
Georgia Power and Green Power EMC will get their
renewable energy from landfills. Methane gas and
carbon dioxide are produced when organic wastes in
landfills decay, and instead of venting those gases,
they can be converted into electricity. "The
EMCs want to support the environment and offer
alternative energy sources to our customers,"
says Michael Whiteside, president of Green Power EMC
who is also president of the Coweta-Fayette EMC.
"This is just our first entry into the
marketplace. We are looking at other renewables. We
want to create a portfolio of hydro, solar and
wind." Green
Power EMC expects to have its first units of
renewable energy on line by Oct. 15, when a facility
in When
those three plants come on line, Whiteside said
Green Power EMC will become the largest provider of
green energy in the Southeast. Whiteside
anticipates the EMCs will be able to generate enough
green power to serve 30,000 households, or 3 percent
of its customers. Green power is sold in
"blocks" of 150 kilowatt hours, and the
cost will vary between $4 and $5, depending on the
individual EMC. Part of that cost will go toward a
technology development fund to explore other
renewable energy sources. Although
only 16 of the state's 42 EMCs are part of Green
Power EMC, the ones that are part of the consortium
serve the largest population areas, including most
of metro Georgia
Power also plans to have its renewable energy
program available soon. "We
are in the nitty-gritty in contract negotiations
with the contractors," said Jeff Petrea,
project manager of Georgia Power's green energy
program. "We hope to have renewable energy
procured by the end of October. But we are not going
to start taking money until we have those contracts
signed." Customers
already are signing up for Georgia Power's program,
even though it hasn't been promoted to the public.
Residential customers who sign up will agree to pay
$5.50 for one "block" of power, which
Georgia Power defines as 100 kilowatt hours. The
average residential customer uses about 1,000
kilowatt hours a month. Utilities
will charge the "green" block fee on top
of a regular monthly power bill and use the money to
buy green power. But there's no way to serve
customers directly with green energy. "It
will go on the power grid somewhere," Petrea
said. Georgia
Power estimates that about 1 percent of its
residential customers will sign up for the program. Georgia
Power also is hoping its business customers will
want to sign up. The largest customers would have to
buy 400 blocks of green power (40,000 kilowatt hours
at a cost of $2,200). "A
1 percent goal is modest," Bird said. "The
most successful programs have a penetration rate of
between 3 and 6 percent." But
at least So
Georgians who want to "go green" can sign
up at these two Web sites: Article is copyrighted by Atlanta Journal Constitution. |
||||||||||||||||
