Green Mountain Power Celebrates 10 Years of Wind At Searsburg

Green Mountain Power this week celebrated the tenth
anniversary of installing the first turbine in its Searsburg wind
generating station, a plant that has contributed clean, emission-free
energy to the New England grid since it began operation.
   "People across the country have begun to recognize the serious
implications of global climate change, and we believe that it is
important to realize the very real benefits that wind generation
offers," said Chris Dutton, Green Mountain Power president and chief
executive officer. "We estimate that approximately 78,000 tons of
carbon dioxide emissions have been avoided due to the power generated
at our Searsburg facility."
   The 11 turbines at GMP's Searsburg plant have generated 110,000
megawatthours since they began operation in 1997, which is the
equivalent of approximately 14,000 homes being powered by wind for a
full year. Every kilowatthour generated by wind avoids a kilowatthour
generated by another source, which on the New England grid is
generally natural gas or oil fired during the peak periods when wind
generation is at its height.
   GMP Searsburg is still the largest wind plant in New England.
Research conducted at GMP Searsburg in early years of operation
provided valuable lessons to the industry about cold climate
operations and helped advance the state-of-the-art turbines being
built today in cold climates throughout the country.
   "We are proud to have played an important leadership role in the
development of cold climate wind technology," said Mr. Dutton.
"Although new wind plant development has been slow in New England, we
are hopeful that an expansion of GMP Searsburg will be possible in the
near future. We believe that wind can and should be an important part
of Vermont's power supply mix."