A group of 15 Scranton-area business leaders have raised $1.1 million to purchase a 550 kW wind power project that is expected to bring 100 high-paying jobs to the region over the next three years.
Electric City Wind Power, made up mostly of leaders of the natural gas industry, made the purchase from Mass Megawatts in Worcester, Mass. The partners are scouting locations for a new wind turbine manufacturing plant, that will make more compact 65-foot tall turbines in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties.
“(The agreement and partnership) signify a turning point in wind power development here in the Commonwealth,” says Christopher T. Powell, a senior partner in Powell Law of Scranton, who represented Electric City Wind Power in negotiations with Mass Megawatts.
The smaller turbines are as powerful as more common versions that reach up to 400-feet high and generate power for homes, farms and small businesses without emitting carbon. Moreover, the smaller turbines have received favorable reaction from municipalities, many of which have enacted ordinances to keep much larger turbines out of their backyards.
Northeast Pa. is considered a wind power-rich area. With more than 60,000 acres of land under leased for natural gas extraction, including thousands of acres rated at Category 3 Wind Classification or better, it was a natural evolution to enter the wind energy business. Electric City Wind Power is in negotiations with more than a dozen potential purchasers, including resorts, universities, industries and municipalities in the six-county Pocono Mountains Region.
“(There’s) a ready-made market for the installation of a tremendous load of wind-generated electricity over the coming years,” says Powell.
Source: John Powell, Powell Law
Writer: Joe Petrucci
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