The Mehoopany Wind Farm will be located approximately 20 miles northwest of Scranton, PA (between Mehoopany and Noxen, PA). The wind farm is expected to generate up to 144 MW of energy and is anticipated to utilize approximately 90 GE 1.6 MW wind turbines. BP Wind Energy will market the remaining capacity to other customers in the Northeast U.S. merchant market.
“Today’s announcement is testimony to the team at NRCO for their successful delivery of PPA negotiations on behalf of their member cooperatives ODEC and SMECO,” said John Graham, president and CEO, BP Wind Energy. “These agreements mark a milestone in the development of the Mehoopany Wind Farm and we look forward to making our first investment in a wind power project in the state of Pennsylvania.”
Amadou Fall, CEO of NRCO, commented, “We have been interested in the Mehoopany Project for some time. This year all the pieces fell into place and two of our member cooperatives, ODEC and SMECO, were able to take advantage of a great opportunity through NRCO to work with an industry leader like BP Wind Energy and obtain affordable, renewable energy in a desirable location.”
“We are pleased to add BP Wind Energy’s Mehoopany Wind Farm to our portfolio of purchased-power resources,” said Jack Reasor, president and CEO of Old Dominion Electric Cooperative. “As electric cooperatives, we are above all committed to our members’ best interests. Projects such as this BP Wind Energy initiative — which will provide clean, environmentally friendly power from a renewable resource — are in harmony with those interests, as well as with the cooperative business principle of concern for community.”
Austin J. Slater, Jr., SMECO president and CEO, said, “Our investment in renewable energy gives our customer-members something they have been looking for: clean energy at an affordable rate. As good stewards of the environment, we like the clean and renewable aspects of wind power. As good stewards of our cooperative organization, we like the affordable rates this wind farm project provides for our customer-members.”
The Mehoopany Wind Farm is 100 percent owned and will be operated by BP Wind Energy. Subject to receiving all the necessary permits to proceed, it is anticipated that initial site construction work will start in the fourth quarter of 2011. The wind farm is expected to move into full commercial operation in the fourth quarter of 2012.
BP Wind Energy is a principal owner and operator of wind power facilities with interests in 13 wind farms. BP Wind Energy has a gross installed capacity of nearly 1600 MW – enough electricity to power approximately 500,000 average American homes.
Cooperatives across the country formed the National Renewables Cooperative Organization (NRCO) to promote and facilitate the development of renewable energy resources for its members. NRCO’s main purposes are to facilitate the cost-effective, joint development of renewable resources nationwide for its cooperative owners, helping its owners meet the requirements of voluntary and mandatory Renewable Energy Standards (RES).
Membership in the NRCO is open to generation and transmission cooperatives (G&Ts) and distribution cooperatives that have the legal ability to buy power in the wholesale market. Members located in areas that may not have renewable resources can participate in projects across the United States through renewable projects originated and/or developed by NRCO.
Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC) is a generation-and-transmission cooperative that provides wholesale power to 11 member electric distribution cooperatives in Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. ODEC and its member systems are not-for-profit electric cooperative that are owned by the consumer-members they serve.
SMECO is a customer-owned electric distribution cooperative based in Hughesville, MD and serving 150,000 customers. SMECO serves southern Prince George’s County, Charles County, St. Mary’s County, and all but the northeast portion of Calvert County. SMECO contracts with wholesale power providers to meet the energy needs of its members.
