(TUCKER, April 11) — Georgia’s first renewable energy program, Green Power EMC, just welcomed another 8,500 customers via its newest member, Oconee EMC in Dudley.

The recent addition brings Green Power EMC membership to 35 electric cooperatives in Georgia, offering green energy to approximately 1.5 million households.

"We’re delighted Oconee EMC made the decision to join the renewable energy effort,” said Michael Whiteside, president/CEO with Green Power EMC. “The EMCs are extremely pleased to offer consumers environmentally-friendly sources of energy, and we’re happy that more EMCs are joining the program."

Green Power EMC is the state’s first renewable energy program and has generated over 100 million kWh of electricity from landfill gas, low-impact hydro and solar projects since October 2003. The Roberts Road landfill facility in Fayette County generates green energy from a one megawatt facility, along with energy from a four megawatt facility at the Taylor County landfill, and energy from a 2.3 megawatt capacity unit at the Tallassee Shoals low impact hydro facility near Athens.

In addition, Green Power EMC introduced Sun Power for Schools in the 2005-2006 school year, the first statewide school program to showcase the benefits of solar energy. Participating EMCs partner with a middle or high school to install a photovoltaic system to harness energy from the sun. To date, EMCs have installed solar panels at 12 middle or high schools. A monitoring device allows students to see the amount of energy produced each day, and the accumulated data is used in math and science classes and is available on the Internet to share with other schools.

Moreover, Green Power EMC has sought additional renewable resources to add to its generating capacity, announcing plans to purchase 20 megawatts of electricity from the first poultry litter-to-energy operation in Georgia. The electricity will be provided by Earth Resources Inc., which is constructing a chicken litter-to-electricity plant near Carnesville, Ga., about 70 miles northeast of Atlanta.

Additionally, Green Power EMC launched a test to evaluate the potential of wind generation in Georgia and recently announced it would move to the next phase in the assessment project which could take from one to two years to complete. Wind data was gathered from a meteorological tower temporarily installed near the upper reservoir of Oglethorpe Power Corporation’s Rocky Mountain Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Plant in Floyd County, Ga. The next step for wind power is to get input from the local community and explore regulatory, environmental and project design issues.

Collectively, the 42 customer-owned EMCs provide electricity and related services to four million people, nearly half of Georgia's population, across 73 percent of the state's land area. Georgia's 42 electric membership cooperatives now serve more customers than any other state network of EMCs in the nation.

For more information on Green Power EMC, visit www.greenpoweremc.com.