You now have the opportunity to participate in Green Power Choice, the latest innovative program designed to protect the environment. Green Power Choice allows interested members to join their local electric cooperative in actively caring for the environment while supporting the environmental benefits of using renewable energy – in this case, methane gas – as a fuel source.
About Green Power Choice
Consuming 400 kilowatt hours (kWhs) of electricity generated from methane gas for one year prevents 3.6 tons of emissions. That’s the environmental equivalent of planting 1.2 acres of trees or not driving 9,600 miles in the family car. Helping the environment today is vital to protecting our environment for tomorrow.
“Green Power” is a term for electricity that is partially or entirely generated from environmentally preferable renewable energy sources (Such as solar, wind, biomass, hydro – and, in our case – methane gas)
Your electric cooperative views an investment in green power as an investment in the future of our communities.
As part of our Green Power Choice program, methane gas at Springhill Regional Landfill is collected and used to produce electricity, which is blended into our overall generation mix.
Our members have the opportunity to support the Green Power Choice program and renewable energy by purchasing green power in 100-kilowatt hour increments.
The use of renewable energy not only improves the availability of future fossil fuel supply, but it also further diversifies our generation mix. (Greater generation diversity provides a more reliable power supply and a small hedge against increasing coal and natural gas prices)
Take this important step with us to ensure a safe, clean environment for future generations.
Landfill Gas-To-Energy
Clean, Green Renewable Energy
Through a partnership among your local electric cooperative, Alabama Electric Cooperative, Inc. and Waste Management, methane gas from Springhill Regional Landfill is extracted and burned to generate 4.8 megawatts of green energy.
The electricity produced is then added to generation resources already being used to generate power for cooperative customers within their local service territory.
How Does It Work?
Every day, approximately 5 pounds of solid waste is generated for every person in the United States. Landfill gas, consisting mostly of methane, is created through the natural decomposition of this waste material and can be used as an alternative fuel resource for electricity generation.
The process begins with the disposal of organic-rich solid waste material into sanitary landfills.
As the waste decomposes, methane gas is produced and recovered by a series of wells drilled into the landfill.
The wells are interconnected by a common collection system that transports the gas to a compression facility.
There, the gas is compressed, dried and filtered before being sent through turbines or engines to produce electricity.
The result – clean, green energy – is enough to power 4,000 homes per year.
Pricing
Members may participate in the Green Power Choice program for as little as $2 per month in addition to your normal energy bill.
Green Power may be purchased in 100-kilowatt-hour blocks (The equivalent of about 8% of a typical household’s monthly energy usage)
You may purchase as many blocks as you wish
The minimum participation period is 1 year
Buying 2 blocks of green power per month for a year equals recycling 480 pounds of aluminum or recycling 1,766 pounds of newspaper.
Frequently Asked Questions
“Green power” is a marketing term for electricity that is partially or entirely generated from environmentally preferable renewable energy sources.(Such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, biogas and low-impact hydro)
The green power currently available to our members is generated at a landfill gas-to-energy facility at Springhill Regional Landfill near Campbellton, Florida
The process begins with the disposal of organic-rich solid waste into sanitary landfills.
As the waste decomposes, methane gas is produced.
The gas is recovered by a series of wells drilled into the landfill and interconnected by a common collection system that transports the gas to a compression facility.
There, the gas is compressed, dried and filtered before being sent through turbines or engines to produce electricity.
The Green Power Choice program offers consumers the option of voluntarily purchasing blocks of power through their local electric cooperative.
It allows interested members to join their local electric cooperatives in actively caring for the environment while supporting the environmental benefits of using renewable energy – such as methane gas – as a fuel source.
Green power may be purchased in 100-kilowatt-hour blocks for just $2 per month. The minimum participation period is 1 year.
To enroll, call your local cooperative or fill out the form inside the “Green Power” brochure.
You will need to register your name and account number and choose the level at which you would like to participate.
Power generated at the Springhill Regional Landfill enters the transmission grid along with power from all other sources utilized by your local electric cooperative.
Members participating in Green Power Choice receive the same blend of electrons that every other member on the system receives, but they become owners of the environmental benefits associated with the blocks they have purchased.
Even though renewable resources like methane gas are free, the technology required to extract it and use it for power generation is more expensive than traditional power generation methods.
Member support of Green Power Choice helps to further develop renewable resources to be used as energy sources.
The Green Power Choice program allows you to join your electric cooperatives in protecting the environment, but it also puts some of the 5 pounds of solid waste generated daily by every person in the United States to good use.
By using green power sources to generate electricity, electric utilities preserve fossil fuels such as natural gas, coal and oil.
The Springhill Regional Landfill near Campbellton, Florida, serves residential, municipal, industrial and commercial customers in Jackson County and surrounding communities.
A total of 75 people are employed at the facility, which is owned and operated by Waste Management, the industry’s leading provider of comprehensive waste management services.
Located on company-owned property, the landfill currently has a single 182-acre “footprint” where waste is being deposited, referred to as Springhill South.
A separate 39-acre portion of the landfill, called Springhill North, has reached its permitted capacity and has been closed.
A final cover system has been installed on this footprint. Both areas have an independent network of groundwater monitoring wells and methane probes. They also have stand-alone landfill gas collection systems.
