EREN Network News

January 26, 2000

News and Events

• DOE Announces New Geothermal Energy Initiative
• Austin and Portland Kick Off Green Power Programs
• Green Mountain Energy Supplies Pennsylvania Government
• DOE Publishes "Roadmap" for Photovoltaics Industry
• Insurance Industry Looks to Reducing Environmental Risks

Site News

• Wind Power in Iowa
• "EREN Network News Online" Now Searchable

• 1998 Inventory of U.S. Nonutility Electric Power Plants

About this Newsletter

News and Events

DOE Announces New Geothermal Energy Initiative
DOE announced Monday a new initiative to expand the production of heat and electricity from U.S. geothermal resources. The "GeoPowering the West" initiative aims to provide 10 percent of the electricity in the western United States from geothermal energy — a total of 20,000 megawatts of geothermal capacity — by 2020. The initiative also has the goal of heating or powering at least 7 million U.S. homes with geothermal energy by 2010.

To support the initiative, DOE announced the award of $4.8 million in research grants, most of which will go toward increasing the understanding of geothermal reservoirs. These underground reservoirs of steam and hot water serve as the energy source for geothermal power plants. The research will help to identify new geothermal reservoirs, characterize them once they are found, and manage their use once they are tapped to produce energy. For more information, see the DOE press release.

See also the new GeoPowering the West Web site on EREN.

Austin and Portland Kick Off Green Power Programs
Austin Energy of Austin, Texas, announced earlier this month the start of its new "GreenChoice" program, which will provide customers with electricity generated from wind, solar, and biomass energy sources. To support the program, Texas Wind Power Corporation will build 12 wind turbines in west Texas, with construction starting this spring and completing by fall. Six landfill-gas power plants will also be constructed within the next year.

By implementing the GreenChoice program, Austin Energy aims to provide 5 percent of its power from renewables by 2005. The company is committed to spending $7.8 million per year for the next ten years on the program, of which customers are expected to provide $1 million per year. For more information, see the Austin Energy press release.

In related news, Oregon's Portland General Electric (PGE) has started two green power programs: "Clean Wind Power" and "Salmon-Friendly Power." The Clean Wind Power program buys wind power from the Vansycle Ridge Wind Farm in northeastern Oregon while setting aside half the funds to build new wind power facilities. The Salmon- Friendly Power program buys power from an assortment of renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, and geothermal energy, and will add low-impact hydropower sources when they become available. Half the funds are set aside for salmon habitat restoration projects. For more information, see the PGE Web site.

Green Mountain Energy Supplies Pennsylvania Government
GreenMountain.com began supplying its cleaner "Green Mountain Energy" power to Pennsylvania's state government this month. The company is providing cleaner electricity to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections; the Capitol Complex buildings in Harrisburg; state office buildings in Pittsburgh, Scranton, and Reading; and the state's 14 universities.

A portion of the power will be supplied by the Green Mountain Wind Farm, now under construction in Garrett, Pennsylvania. Ground was broken on the 10.4-megawatt facility on December 1, 1999. Once completed, it will be the largest wind power facility in Pennsylvania and one of the largest in the eastern United States. See the GreenMountain.com press releases.

DOE Publishes "Roadmap" for Photovoltaics Industry
U.S. electricity needs will grow considerably by 2020, and manufacturers of photovoltaic solar cells expect their solar electric systems to meet 15 percent of those new electricity needs. To achieve that expectation will require bringing down costs, overcoming market barriers, increasing production and accelerating research and development. Working with DOE's National Center for Photovoltaics, the photovoltaic industry has produced a "roadmap" of goals and strategies to meet its vision for 2020. See the press release on DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Web site.

DOE has also published a five-year plan detailing the long- term strategies and goals for the photovoltaic industry. The report, "Photovoltaics: Energy for the New Millennium," establishes research and development goals and milestones for the next five years.

Insurance Industry Looks to Reducing Environmental Risks
The past 24 climate or weather-related catastrophes resulted in $150 billion in economic losses worldwide, according to the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP). That caused the world's insurance industries to pay out $65 billion in claims. To help avoid those losses, the UNEP has established an Insurance Industry Initiative, a voluntary initiative to help the industry integrate environmental considerations within their internal and external business operations. The UNEP Insurance Industry Initiative has expanded to 86 international insurance companies operating in more than 50 countries. For more information, see the UNEP press release.

Site News

Wind Power in Iowa
Sponsored by the American Wind Energy Association, this site features resource maps listing wind speed, local site characteristics, and turbine output estimates for 2,000 cities in Iowa. In addition, the site has numerous downloadable publications about wind power in Iowa, including facts and figures, wind power's effect on Iowa's economy, environmental factors, frequently asked questions, consumer issues, and basic facts about small wind turbines.

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

EREN Network News Online Now Searchable
A new search feature has been added to "EREN Network News Online," the Web-based archives for this newsletter. The search box will search only the newsletter, allowing you to easily retrieve old news. Whether you're trying to find out what's been happening with fuel cells, or you're trying to remember who is in the Pennsylvania Wind Energy coalition, this search feature will help you find it. The archives date back to the inception of the EREN Network News, just over one year ago.

Energy Facts and Tips

1998 Inventory of U.S. Nonutility Electric Power Plants
Last week's newsletter looked at the most recent inventory of utility power plants, published by DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA). This week we examine a new EIA report that presents the flip side: the nonutility power plants.

According to the new report, as of the end of 1998, nonutility power plants totaled more than 98,000 megawatts in capacity, or roughly 12.6 percent of all U.S. power plant capacity. Of the nonutility capacity, 55.1 percent is considered cogeneration — also called "combined heat and power" — in which the power plant's heat is used for industrial purposes. Renewable energy powers 18.4 percent of the nonutility capacity. In 1998, nonutility generators added 57 renewable energy facilities totaling 281 megawatts in capacity. But this was only 5.2 percent of the nonutility new capacity additions, which were dominated by natural gas facilities. See the new EIA report.

About this Newsletter

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