Month: February 2012

Georgia Power tees up next phase of solar plantDave Williams
Staff Writer – Atlanta Business Chronicle

Georgia Power Co. will begin construction soon on a project that will double the generating capacity of the utility’s solar plant in Dalton, Ga., the company announced Thursday. The first phase of the plant went on line last March and is operating with a capacity of 350 kilowatts. Construction of the second phase, due to be completed in about two months, will bring the plant up to 700 kilowatts, on its way to a full capacity of 1 megawatt of electricity. One megawatt of solar photovoltaic panels produces enough energy to power about 135 homes.

The plant is being constructed by United Renewable Energy LLC of Alpharetta, Ga., under a 25-year wholesale power purchasing agreement Dalton Utilities signed with Georgia Power in January of last year.

Dalton Utilities serves 77,000 customers in five Northwest Georgia counties.

Georgia Power is a unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co . (NYSE: SO).
(more…)

PSC member touts alternative fuels
Charles Oliver
charlesoliver@daltoncitizen.com

Tim Echols, a member of Georgia’s Public Service Commission (PSC), lauded several Dalton companies Monday for their push to use more solar power.

The PSC regulates state utilities, and Echols told the Kiwanis Club of Dalton that the state could face an electricity shortage over the next few years because utilities will be closing down some coal-fired plants because they will be too expensive to run under new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules.

(more…)