EREN Network News

March 3, 1999

News and Events

• Santa Monica Chooses Green Power for Municipal Needs
• Solar Housing Development Coming to Arizona
• Solar Energy Project Launched in Medford, Massachusetts
• DOE Seeks to Improve Small Wind Turbine Performance
• DOE Helps Industry Squeeze More Ethanol Out of Corn
• Minnesota Utility Dedicates New Wind Power Plant

Site News

• DOE Philadelphia Regional Support Office

Energy Facts and Tips

• Inventory of Power Plants in the United States
• Prepare for Summer by Adding Insulation Now

About this Newsletter

News and Events

Santa Monica Chooses Green Power for Municipal Needs
The City Council of Santa Monica, California, voted unanimously on February 23rd to purchase all of the city's municipal power needs from renewable sources for the next year. The five-megawatt power purchase will make Santa Monica the first U.S. municipality to purchase all its power needs from renewable sources. Santa Monica will pay a five-percent premium -- roughly $140,000 more annually -- for its green power. See the press release on the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies' Web site.

Solar Housing Development Coming to Arizona
The effective use of solar energy for power, heating, and hot water will be the highlight of a new 14-acre housing development in Tucson, Arizona. As many as 99 homes in the development will feature photovoltaic solar energy panels plus solar hot water panels on their roofs. They will also be highly energy efficient and will use solar heating to minimize their energy use.

Tucson Electric Power Company is developing the project in partnership with Global Solar Energy, its sister company, and John Wesley Miller Companies, a Tucson-based building firm. See Tucson Electric's press release.

The development will help advance the President's Million Solar Roofs Initiative and the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH). PATH is a public/private initiative which seeks to expand the development and utilization of new technologies in U.S. housing. For more information, see the PATH Web site .

Solar Energy Project Launched in Medford, Massachusetts
Massachusetts Electric Company, the largest electricity delivery company in the state, has teamed up with the city of Medford, Massachusetts, to encourage businesses and residents there to install solar energy panels on their roofs. Photovoltaic systems installed through the Medford Solar Project will be partially funded by DOE's Utility Photovoltaic Group. The project is part of the President's Million Solar Roofs Initiative, which aims to install one million solar energy systems on U.S. buildings by the year 2010. Photovoltaic systems have already been installed at Medford City Hall and Medford High School. See the DOE press release.

For more information about the Million Solar Roofs Initiative, see the Web site.

DOE Seeks to Improve Small Wind Turbine Performance
DOE announced on February 18th that it will make $1.3 million available for partnerships to improve the performance of small wind turbines for electricity generation. DOE will provide cost sharing and technical support for projects to verify the field performance of small wind turbines, and evaluate their effectiveness in a range of distributed power applications in various regions of the United States. DOE expects to make awards to 5 to 10 applicants. See the DOE press release.

DOE Helps Industry Squeeze More Ethanol Out of Corn
DOE announced on February 24th that it had signed six partnership agreements to help the corn ethanol fuel industry make the most of each ear of corn. The partnerships, totaling $1 million, will investigate the use of the corn cobs, stalks, and leaves -- collectively referred to as corn stover -- to make ethanol. Currently, only the kernels are used. The processing of corn into such items as frozen and canned corn generates a large amount of corn stover that could be used to greatly expand the corn ethanol industry. For more information, see the press release on the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Web site.

Minnesota Utility Dedicates New Wind Power Plant
Great River Energy (GRE), a generation and distribution electric cooperative based in Elk River, Minnesota, dedicated a new wind plant on February 12th. The wind plant consists of three 660-kilowatt turbines located near Chandler, Minnesota. The utility is selling the wind power to customers in Minnesota and Wisconsin who voluntarily pay a premium for the electricity -- an approach known as "green pricing." The turbines can provide all the power needs for roughly 600 homes. For more information, see the press release on the American Wind Energy Association's Web site.

Site News

DOE Philadelphia Regional Support Office
DOE's Philadelphia Regional Support Office (PRSO) serves citizens of the mid-Atlantic region of the United States "by forming partnerships with states and local communities to increase the use of energy-efficient equipment and processes and to expand the uses of renewable energy sources for electricity generation." Browse this site for information about the PRSO and its regional programs, contacts at PRSO, and what's new.

For this and other recent additions see the EREN Web site.

Energy Facts and Tips

Inventory of Power Plants in the United States
Where does your electricity come from? The latest inventory of U.S. power plants from DOE's Energy Information Administration shows that coal provides 43 percent of the generating capacity in the United States. Renewable energy sources provide 11 percent of the capacity, although much of that comes from large hydroelectric dams. The report also looks ahead to the next 10 years, and finds that companies other than electric utilities will play an increasing role in the generation of electricity. See the report.

Prepare for Summer by Adding Insulation Now
For those who live in warm climates, a well-insulated house is the key to keeping comfortable during the coming summer. Although summer may seem far off, now is an excellent time to beat the summer rush by having insulation added to your home. For information on where to add insulation, and how much, visit EREN's Energy Savers Web site.

About this Newsletter

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