February 14, 2005
West Virginia wind farm continues to have positive environmental and economic impact

JUNO BEACH, Fla. -- West Virginia's Mountaineer Wind Energy Center has completed its second successful year of pollution-free power production, helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and contributing more than $700,000 to the local and state economies.

The 66-megawatt Tucker County wind farm, owned and operated by FPL Energy, is capable of generating enough electricity to serve approximately 20,000 homes. The wind farm offsets generation emissions totaling about 162,000 tons of carbon dioxide; nearly 900 tons of sulfur dioxide and more than 400 tons of nitrogen oxide.

“Wind energy emits no pollutants into the air or water, has a minimal impact on the local infrastructure and contributes to the economic well-being of the region,” said Ron Scheirer, vice president of FPL Energy. “Although coal is the fuel used to generate the vast majority of West Virginia's electricity, wind power can play a larger role in diversifying the fuel supply and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

Although a wind farm may be built across many acres, the wind towers and gravel access roads use very little acreage, leaving the land surrounding the wind towers available for other uses by the landowners. The Mountaineer wind farm is constructed on land used for logging, mining and a hunting camp.

Running along the ridge of Backbone Mountain, the Mountaineer Wind Energy Center is comprised of 44 wind turbines. Exelon Generation purchases the power from the facility and markets the power across the Mid-Atlantic region through its partnership with Community Energy, Inc., the nation's leading wind energy marketer.

Nationwide, FPL Energy's wind fleet of more than 6,500 wind turbines generated more than 6.6 million megawatt hours of electricity in 2004. Together FPL Energy’s wind projects offset more than 4.4 million tons of carbon dioxide, nearly 12,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and 8,300 tons of nitrogen oxides and had a cumulative economic impact of nearly $70 million.

FPL Energy is a leading wholesale generator utilizing clean fuels such as natural gas, wind, solar, hydroelectric and nuclear to generate electricity. It is the nation's leader in wind energy, with 43 wind facilities in operation in 15 states. It is a subsidiary of FPL Group, one of the nation's largest providers of electricity-related services with annual revenues of more than $10 billion. FPL Group's principal subsidiary is Florida Power & Light Company, one of the nation's largest electric utilities, serving more than 4.2 million customer accounts in Florida. Additional information is available on the Internet at www.FPLEnergy.com, www.FPLGroup.com and www.FPL.com.