GSE Statewide Coalition Calls on EMC Members to Speak Out

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                      

Contact:
Midge Sweet 404-667-4476
May 19, 2009                                                             
Katherine Cummings  478-232-8822

Thursday at Public Hearings in Stockbridge

ATLANTA -- May 19, 2009 -- Georgians for Smart Energy today praised four Georgia electric membership corporations (EMCs) for their decision to pull out of the Power4Georgians consortium, which is attempting to build an unneeded coal-fired electric power plant in Washington County.
Jackson Electric Membership Corp., Diverse Power Inc., Excelsior EMC and GreyStone Power Corp. all announced this week that they were pulling out of the Power4Georgians consortium.
“Four EMCs pulling out of Power4Georgians’ in one week is proof that smart business people have learned the truth: Sinking more money into outdated, dirty energy sources such as coal just doesn’t make economic sense today,” said Midge Sweet, campaign director, Georgians for Smart
Energy.
 
Georgians for Smart Energy is a statewide coalition of energy and environmental groups that works to encour age energy efficiency and investments in clean, renewable energy.
 
“Clean energy is available, reliable and plentiful, and that’s where we need to be investing, today and for the future,” Sweet said. “Investing in clean energy will create new jobs and economic activity for all Georgians – and those jobs will last for a very long time.”
 
Sweet said Georgians for Smart Energy and its partner organizations would continue their outreach to the members of the EMCs that remain part of Power4Georgians, including two in the Atlanta area, Snapping Shoals EMC and Cobb EMC. GSE will encourage members of those EMCs to ask EMC board members to pull out of the consortium.
 
“The EMCs that remain a part of this plan should start looking very hard at whether they are investing their members’ money wisely,” said Katherine Cummings, chair of the Fall-line Alliance for a Clean Environment (FACE) based in Sandersville, Ga. “Our Washington County EMC
and the others that remain ought to be looking instead at energy efficiency measures and investing in renewable sources of energy.”
 
GSE also encourages members of Central Georgia EMC, Cobb EMC and Snapping Shoals EMC to register their support for energy efficiency programs at a hearing already scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday, May 21 at the Merle Manders Conference Center at 111 Davis Road in Stockbridge.
These hearings are required under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA), which is requires EMCs to document and gather information on how they intend to implement energy efficiency programs and greater use of renewable energy sources.
 
GSE represents its partner organizations that include Sierra Club--Georgia Chapter, Cobb Alliance for Smart Energy, Center for a Sustainable Coast, Coosa River Basin Initiative, Eco-Action, Environment Georgia, Fall-line Alliance for a Clean Environment, Altamaha Riverkeeper, Friends of the Chattahoochee, Georgia Conservancy, Georgia Conservation Voters, Georgia Forest Watch, Georgia Rivers Network, Georgia Students for Sustainability, Georgia Interfaith Power & Light,
GreenLaw, Mothers & Others for Clean Air, Ogeechee-Canoochee Riverkeeper, Satilla Riverkeeper, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Southern Energy Network, and Southern Environmental Law Center. 

Georgians for Smart Energy is campaigning statewide to encourage energy efficiency and investments in clean, renewable energy — and to discourage the construction of and further investment in ou tdated energy sources, such as coal-fired power plants. The GSE campaign
includes a diverse group of grassroots organizations, from local organizations to Georgia chapters of national groups, which share our belief that all Georgians will prosper if we invest in clean, renewable energy — such as biomass from our farms and forests, wind power, and solar power — instead of continuing to rely on outdated, dirty energy sources.

Stay tuned for more details. In the meantime, check out a recent study b Georgia Tech that shows by saving electricity, we don't need more dirty coal plants!
PDF Georgia Tech energy study

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