« After Abandoning Coal Plant Project, Cobb EMC Looks to Solar »

By JONATHAN SHAPIRO

April 17, 2012

Earlier this year, Cobb EMC halted development of a controversial coal plant in central Georgia. The electric provider is now partnering with a group of developers who hope to build the largest solar plant in the state.  

Cobb EMC has signed a 25 year power purchase agreement with a group of solar plant developers led by the Atlanta-based Jacoby Group.

Slated for completion later this year, the plant will produce enough wattage to power 10,000 homes each year.

Earlier this year, Cobb EMC abandoned plans to help build a new coal plant near Macon, despite having poured $13 million into its development. Critics had complained the utility was wasting money on old, dirty technology.

Cobb EMC President Chip Nelson says the decision to halt its involvement with the coal plant simply came down to dollars and cents.

“We just do not need the capacity, and there were rulings from the EPA that greatly diminishes the chances of that plant being built.”

Nelson says solar, coupled with natural gas and biomass, currently makes more financial sense for the cooperative’s 170,000 members.

http://www.pba.org/post/after-abandoning-coal-plant-project-cobb-emc-looks-solar