Local News: Alternative Energy in College Station

CS Leaders Blown Away With Alternative Energy
By Cassie Smith

From the Bryan-College Station Eagle

In College Station, being environmentally friendly is a breeze. Or maybe a generous gust of wind.

In January, the city began offering its electric utility customers the option of using wind energy to power their homes.

College Station Utilities has purchased enough electricity from the South Trent Mesa Wind Project to power 3,000 homes.

With about 400 customers signed up since the Wind Watts program began, officials were reluctant to say interest had fallen short of expectations.

City leaders said they remained excited about the program, and Mayor Ben White, City Manager Glenn Brown, Mayor Pro Tem Lynn McIlhaney and council members John Crompton, Larry Stewart and David Ruesink are all getting at least some of their electricity through the program. Council members James Massey and Dennis Maloney could not be reached for comment by late Friday.

Participants in the program can choose to get 10 percent,

50 percent or 100 percent of their power from wind generated at a turbine farm near Abilene. Prices range from $3.50 extra per month for the lowest level to

$30 a month extra for full wind power. An average residential customer uses about 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month, officials have said.

"It's about choices, and that's what we want to do, give choices and options," said White, who opted into the program at the 10 percent level.

A city spokesman said Saturday that he didn't know whether the program was losing money but that the city planned to eventually open the program to College Station Utilities business customers, which could generate more demand.

The city plans to triple the amount of electricity purchased from the wind farm by 2015.

David Massey, director of College Station Utilities, said that wind energy was the fastest-growing form of clean electricity and that the Wind Watts program showed the city's commitment to providing a high quality of life.

"This can really do nothing but be a benefit to the customers in the long run," Massey said.

Customers who don't participate in the program will continue to get their energy as usual and will see no change, Massey said.

Mayor White said "going green" is more than the latest trend and is fast becoming a way of life, and the city has a responsibility to do its part.

"Throughout the United States today, communities are embracing the need for conservation, whether it's in recycling of newspaper or conserving water or looking for new sources of electrical energy," he said.

City officials said the money charged to customers for the wind-power option would be used to offset the cost of the contract with the wind farm. A portion of the payments will be set aside for tree-planting programs.

City Council members said the program was an opportunity for residents to become more environmentally responsible.

"I think it's terribly important that individuals now step forward and say, 'Yes, we want to be a green community,'" said Crompton, who signed up to get all of his home's power through the wind farm.

Crompton said the wind energy project was the city's largest "green" project to date and that if residents doesn't embrace it, future environmental initiatives may not be justified.

The city has been promoting the Wind Watts program through a media campaign, but city officials said they could not offer a specific cost for the marketing blitz because many of the promotional venues -- such as residential newsletters and the city's government access channel -- carried little or no measurable cost.

In Short

To sign up or to get more information about College Station's wind energy program, visit the city's Web site, www.cstx.gov, and click the Wind Watts link.

Published Sunday, March 15, 2009