TEXAS TOWN GOES 100% NEW ENERGY TO SAVE $$$

Texas city opts for 100% renewable energy – to save cash, not the planet; Georgetown, Texas decision not about going green: ‘I’m probably the furthest thing from an Al Gore clone you could find,’ says city official

Tom Dart, 29 March 2015 (The Guardian)

“…Georgetown, a community of about 50,000 people some 25 miles north of Austin…[will] become the first city in the Lone Star State to be powered by 100% renewable energy…[I]n Georgetown, the city utility company has a monopoly…When its staff examined their options last year, they discovered something that seemed remarkable, especially in Texas: renewable energy was cheaper than non-renewable. And so last month city officials finalised a deal with SunEdison, a giant multinational solar energy company. It means that by January 2017, all electricity within the city’s service area will come from wind and solar power…In 2014, the city signed a 20-year agreement with EDF for wind power from a forthcoming project near Amarillo. Taking the renewable elements up to 100%, SunEdison will build plants in west Texas that will provide Georgetown with 150 megawatts of solar power in a deal running from 2016 or 2017 to 2041. With consistent and reliable production the goal, the combination takes into account that wind farms generate most of their energy in the evenings, after the sun has set…[T]hey are getting the security of a fixed rate plan that will be similar to the current cost of about 9.6 cents per kilowatt-hour and will protect them against the impact of fluctuations in the price of fossil fuels…” click here for more

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