Georgia Power to acquire 250 MW of wind; utility underscores strategy of portfolio diversity

Another Southern Co. utility now has wind energy in its portfolio.

Georgia Power last week announced it has entered into an agreement with EDP Renewables North America that for the first time will add wind energy to the utility’s energy portfolio.

Through the contracts, Georgia Power will source 250 MW of cost-effective wind energy from EDP’s wind farms in southwest Oklahoma. The wind energy purchased through the contracts will provide enough electricity to power more than 50,000 Georgia homes, the investor-owned utility said. Georgia Power will begin receiving the wind power on January 1, 2016.

“We are continuously assessing energy options, such as wind, to include in our generation mix in order to provide our customers with clean, safe, reliable, sustainable and low-cost energy,” President and CEO Paul Bowers told AWEA’s Wind Energy Weekly. “We are committed to maintaining a diverse fuel portfolio and energy options that provide the best overall economic value to our customers.”

The utility certainly achieved economic value with the recent wind power contract. The agreement is expected to deliver cost savings to Georgia Power customers over the life of the contract, the company said. The contract, in fact, continues to a trend of utilities in the South purchasing wind energy (and often highlighting wind’s cost savings). Among the utilities in the South now purchasing wind are Alabama Power and the Tennessee Valley Authority. Both Alabama Power and Georgia Power are subsidiaries of the Southern Co., an investor-owned utility company that proudly states it has “rates below the national average.”

Source: Power of Wind