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Wilmington green energy contracts signed

March 28, 2011

Wilmington — Wilmington electric customers will soon be receiving the benefit of two new green energy contracts recently signed by Reading Municipal Light Department General Manager Vinnie Cameron. RMLD provides services with Wilmington.

The first contract, with the Swift River Company, goes into effect this month and will provide power from three small hydroelectric plants in western Massachusetts. The second, which will come from a biomass project in New Hampshire through Concord Power and Steam, will go online at the end of next year.

RMLD has been working for several years to develop more renewable energy options for its customers.   These new power supply contracts will increase this portion of the RMLD power supply portfolio from the current 3.5 percent to 9 percent.

“The RMLD strives to acquire the most reliable and environmentally responsible power supply resources at prices that will keep its overall costs stable,” said Cameron. 

Cameron went on to praise RMLD’s energy services division as the key factor in obtaining these contracts saying, “RMLD staff worked diligently to bring these contracts to fruition. They will complement the already excellent energy efficiency and conservation program developed by the same department over the course of the past two years.”

Speaking on behalf of the RMLD Board of Commissioners, Chairman Mary Ellen O’Neill, an advocate of renewable and green energy for RMLD customers, said, “The Board is very happy to see these new contracts. It is another step toward fulfilling part of our mission to develop an environmentally responsive power supply portfolio.”

Attorney Arthur Carakatsane of Lynnfield, Chairman of the RMLD’s Citizen Advisory Board, also expressed his support, noting, “The Citizens’ Advisory Board is very pleased with the completion of these two contracts. We are very grateful for the continuing efforts of Mr. Cameron and his staff to locate sources of renewable energy at rates that make sense for the ratepayers of our four towns.”

The hydroelectric power from the Swift River Company will provide three megawatts of electricity, enough to power 2,500 homes. The plants are located in Pepperell, Russell and Turner Falls, Massachusetts. Concord Power and Steam, based in New Hampshire, is expanding its power plant to provide wood burning and co-generation capabilities. Once completed, the project will provide five megawatts of power to RMLD. Both the hydroelectric and the biomass project meet the Massachusetts state standards for Tier 1 renewable energy projects.