First Wind Opens Wind Energy Scholarship Program

Boston, MA – First Wind, an independent U.S.-based wind energy company, announced that applications will be open and available online today for its 2012 scholarship program. Entering its third full year, First Wind Scholars will award scholarships to qualified high school seniors in communities where the company currently has projects in operation or advanced stages of development.

Qualified students enrolling in full-time degree programs focused on sciences or technology are invited to apply. First Wind Scholars recipients will be awarded a one-time $3,000 scholarship for one year. The company also awards one scholarship of $5,000, renewable for up to four years, to the year’s single most qualified applicant.

"The First Wind Scholars program has become a symbol of our ongoing commitment to the communities that host our project sites across the Northeast, West, and Hawaii," said Carol Grant, Senior Vice President of External Affairs at First Wind. "Last year, we received double the applications from the year before, and this year we hope to see even more. We strongly encourage students to take advantage of this scholarship program."

In Massachusetts, the program is open to high school seniors attending John D. O’Bryant School of Math and Science in Boston, which is the home of First Wind’s Headquarters. In order to be eligible for the scholarship, students need a GPA of at least 2.75 and must plan to enroll in full-time undergraduate study with a major in the sciences and/or engineering or technology. Applications are open and available online as of today, with all submissions due by February 15, 2012. Applications are evaluated on a number of factors, including academic performance, work experience, school and community activities and a 300-word essay. The First Wind Scholars recipients will be announced in May 2012.

Since 2010, First Wind has issued twenty-four one-year $3,000 scholarships for college-bound high school students from project communities, who have an expressed interest in science, technology and/or the environment. Additionally, the company has granted two four-year $5,000 scholarships for select students from the applicant pools. The program and selection of recipients is administered by Scholarship Management Services, a leading designer and manager of scholarship and tuition reimbursement programs for corporations and other institutions.

First Wind is an independent wind energy company exclusively focused on the development, financing, construction, ownership and operation of utility-scale wind farm projects in the United States. Based in Boston, First Wind has wind energy projects in the Northeast, the West and in Hawaii, with the capacity to generate up to 735 megawatts of power and projects under construction with the capacity to generate up to an additional 141 megawatts.

www.firstwind.com