Coal-fired plant losing support
Jackson Electric Membership Corp., Diverse Power Inc., Excelsior EMC and GreyStone Power Corp. all announced their intentions to abandon participation in the project, said Midge Sweet, the campaign director for Georgians for Smart Energy.
The plant, which would be built near Sandersville about 70 miles from Augusta, would use coal to generate electricity for as many as 700,000 Georgians. The consortium planning the project, Power4Georgians, LLC, still has six partners who would undertake a larger stake in the new plant.
Georgians for Smart Energy contends the plant would emit unacceptable levels of pollution and have lobbied for investments in cleaner power sources.
Georgia's Environmental Protection Division, which is processing permits for the plant, estimates the plant's annual emissions would include 678 tons of soot particles, 1,896 tons of sulfur dioxide, 145 tons of sulfuric acid, 1,160 pounds of lead, 120 pounds of mercury.
Ms. Sweet said in a press release today that Georgians for Smart Energy will continue efforts to persuade the project's remaining partners, including two in the Atlanta area, Snapping Shoals EMC and Cobb EMC, to pull out of the consortium.
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WASHINGTON - Last year saw wind generation in the U.S. overtake hydroelectric generation for the first time, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Released Wednesday, the figures from the EIA’s “Electric Power Monthly” report show that yearly wind generation hit a little over 300 million megawatt hours (MWh) in 2019. This was roughly 26 million MWh more than hydroelectric production.
Wind now represents the “most-used renewable electricity generation source” in the U.S., the EIA said.
Overall, total renewable electricity generation — which includes sources such as solar photovoltaic, geothermal and landfill gas — at utility scale facilities hit more…
