Utility Co-op Connection: Virginia co-op's biomass project creating jobs, along with renewable energy

摘要

Abiomass generation project currently under construction by the Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC) in Halifax County will not only increase the use of renewable energy to provide electricity, but it is expected to create several hundred jobs in a portion of the state grappling with high unemployment. NOVEC Energy Production, Halifax County Biomass is expected to generate up to 6.5 percent of the cooperative's electrical output by 2014, enough to meet the needs of about 16,000 residentialcustomers. "Investment in infrastructure is an investment in American workers," says Jonathan Adelstein, administrator of the Rural Utilities Program of USDA Rural Development, which helped finance the plant. "This project shows how financing utility projects pays off, both now and in the future."