“First Wind’s Milford Wind power project has been a significant source in helping meet LA’s renewable energy goals for 2010. By supporting this scholarship, First Wind is also supporting some of LA’s best and brightest students.”
“We appreciate First Wind becoming a sponsor for scholarships and a school award at this year’s LADWP Science Bowl,” said Lorraine Paskett, LADWP’s Senior Assistant General Manager, Sustainability Programs and External Affairs. “First Wind’s Milford Wind power project has been a significant source in helping meet LA’s renewable energy goals for 2010. By supporting this scholarship, First Wind is also supporting some of LA’s best and brightest students.”
Recently, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and LADWP announced that the City has achieved its goal of receiving 20 percent of the City’s power from renewable energy sources in 2010. Wind power comprised nearly 50 percent of all LADWP’s renewable energy in 2010. The Milford Wind farm features an operating phase of 204 megawatts (MW), and a second 102 MW phase that is in construction. Once the second phase is completed this summer, the combined phases of the Milford Wind power project will have the capacity to generate enough energy to power the equivalent of more than 65,000 Los Angeles homes each year.
“We are proud to be a sponsor of this year’s LADWP Science Bowl, which reflects our commitment to supporting the study of science and the students in the communities that our projects serve,” said Carol Grant, Senior Vice President of External Affairs of First Wind. “Our Milford Wind power project has been generating power for the LA area for over a year, and we’re proud to support these talented students within the community.”
The 2011 LADWP Science Bowl competition will be held on Saturday, February 26 in downtown Los Angeles at LADWP’s John Ferraro Building. At this year’s competition, students will vie for a combined $25,000 in college scholarship funds for themselves and prizes for their respective high schools. First place team members will each receive a $1,000 scholarship as well as $2,500 for their school. As regional title holders, the winning team will represent Los Angeles at the U.S. Department of Energy National Science Bowl in Washington, D.C., April 28 through May 3, 2011.
The Science Bowl encourages students from all backgrounds to study and pursue careers in math, science and technology and showcases the talent, hard work and knowledge of some of LA’s best students. Winning teams from the LADWP Science Bowl Regional Competition have won four national titles and placed in the top five teams 10 times. Last year, the LADWP Regional Championship Team, North Hollywood High School, placed third at the National Science Bowl.
As part of its sponsorship of the Science Bowl, First Wind is providing $750 scholarships to each of the five members of the second place team of the competition. For the Science Bowl’s “hands-on” competition, First Wind is providing $400 gift cards to the five members of the first place team. Finally, First Wind is also providing a $2,000 donation to the school of the second-place team.
Last year, First Wind launched its First Wind Scholars program to high school students residing in each community where the company currently has a project in operation or in an advanced stage of development. The scholarship supports local high school students who display strong potential for a successful college experience, as well as interest in the environment, energy or the sciences. The sponsorship of the LADWP Science Bowl reflects an additional commitment First Wind has made to supporting students and the study of math, science and technology.
Located in Milford, Utah, the two phases of the project deliver renewable energy to the LA area via an 88-mile generator lead that was built from the Milford Wind project to the Intermountain Power Plant in Delta, which then connects the site to the electrical grid.
First Wind is an independent wind energy company exclusively focused on the development, financing, construction, ownership and operation of utility-scale wind projects in the United States. Based in Boston, First Wind has wind farm projects in the Northeast, the West and in Hawaii, with the capacity to generate up to 504 megawatts of power and projects under construction with the capacity to generate up to an additional 232 megawatts.
