July
9, 2003
W. Va. Governor joins Exelon, FPL Energy to dedicate largest wind
farm in the East
THOMAS, W.Va. - West Virginia Governor Bob Wise today joined
FPL Energy, Exelon Corporation and about 150 guests in Tucker County
to dedicate the largest wind farm east of the Mississippi River
along the windy ridge of Backbone Mountain north of Thomas, West
Virginia.
Governor Wise was joined by FPL Energy's Senior Vice President
of Development Michael O'Sullivan, Exelon Generation Vice President
of Government Affairs Jan Freeman, and more than 150 local and regional
guests to celebrate the largest wind farm in the Eastern United
States and the organizations that helped bring the facility to West
Virginia.
"This is an example of West Virginia taking one more of its
natural resources and using it to better the community," Wise
said. "Taking advantage of wind and combining it with new technology
puts us in a unique position to further economic development in
the region and generate clean power."
O'Sullivan said, "The Mountaineer Wind Energy Center is much
more than just the largest wind farm east of the Mississippi River.
It's a demonstration of how, when people bring their skills, knowledge
and commitment together, something good can happen. A lot of people
worked on this project - people from the community, the state of
West Virginia, conservation groups and business and labor. The result
is a project of which we can all be proud."
"Our 20-year commitment to this project is part of our strategy
in building a diversified, reliable, low-emission generation portfolio,"
said Freeman. "This wind farm was a successful culmination
of teamwork and commitment to building environmentally sound generation
projects along the East Coast."
The Mountaineer Wind Energy Center is capable of generating enough
electricity to power 22,000 homes. Construction of the 44 wind turbines
at the wind farm, each about 228 feet tall to the center of the
blade hub, began in the summer of 2002 and was completed in December.
The 66-megawatt facility is owned and operated by FPL Energy and
the power it generates is sold to Exelon Corporation. The electricity
from the site is used in West Virginia and the region. FPL Energy
purchased the project from Atlantic Renewable Energy Corporation
of Richmond, VA.
FPL Energy is a leading unregulated wholesale generator of clean
energy, including natural gas, wind, solar, hydroelectric and nuclear.
It is the nation's leader in wind energy, with 30 wind facilities
in operation in 10 states. Wind power represents more than 20 percent
of the company's portfolio. It is a subsidiary of FPL Group (NYSE:FPL),
one of the nation's largest providers of electricity-related services
with annual revenues of more than $8 billion. FPL Group's principal
subsidiary is Florida Power & Light Company, one of the nation's
largest electric utilities, serving more than 4 million customer
accounts in Florida. Additional information is available on the
Internet at www.FPLEnergy.com,
www.FPLGroup.com and
www.FPL.com.
Exelon Corporation is one of the nation's largest electric utilities
with approximately 5 million customers and more than $15 billion
in annual revenues. The company has one of the industry's largest
portfolios of electricity generation capacity at 43,000 megawatts,
with a nationwide reach and strong positions in the Midwest and
Mid-Atlantic. Exelon has signed 20-year power purchase agreements
to market the output of four wind generation facilities on the East
Coast. Exelon distributes electricity to approximately 5 million
electric customers in Illinois and Pennsylvania and gas to more
than 450,000 customers in the Philadelphia area. Exelon is headquartered
in Chicago and trades on the NYSE under the ticker EXC.
|