Renewable Energy

We support the development of renewable energy technologies that provide reliable and affordable energy. However, the truth is, at this time, many renewable resources (wind, solar, biomass, etc.) are just not sufficient to meet the energy needs of our state. Renewable energy accounts for less than five percent of the energy available in Georgia.

• Because many renewable energy technologies are still being developed and refined, they are substantially more expensive than coal on a per-kilowatt hour basis. Wind and sun may be free, but generating power from them is not.
• Wind technology requires substantial land use or use of offshore waters. Wind turbines also require wind to produce energy – if there is no wind, there is no energy production. In addition, in Georgia, there is just not enough sustainable wind for it to be a viable source of energy.
• Solar technology requires a substantial capital investment that makes energy generated from it more expensive overall and solar panels require special disposal when their useful life has expired. Unlike the southwestern part of our country, the solar intensity and availability in Georgia is not very conducive to solar energy systems.
• Electricity produced with biomass still involves combustion. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, most of today's biomass power plants are direct-fired systems that are similar to most fossil-fuel fired power plants.
• Other renewable energy technologies have drawbacks of their own, are currently more expensive, and are not sufficient to meet Georgia’s power demand.

Current Initiatives

• Georgia's EMCs are exploring all sources of energy, including solar, wind, landfill methane gas, natural gas and poultry-litter-to-energy, to ensure a reliable and affordable energy supply.
• All of the P4G EMCs participate in Georgia's Green Power EMC and make green energy available to its members. Green Power EMC has two landfill gas-to-electricity projects that generate a combined five megawatts of power. When Georgia's first poultry litter-to-electricity plant comes online in 2009, it will have capability of generating about 23 megawatts of electricity, thereby becoming our greatest source of green power. Biomass produced by similar poultry plant projects appears to be replicable around the state of Georgia and will give us more potential to add to our green power resources.

Planned Initiatives

• Photovoltaic Rebate Program - Photovoltaic, or PV for short, is a solar power technology that uses arrays of photovoltaic cells to convert light from the sun directly into electricity. Typical PV systems in Georgia can offset up to one-third of the average member’s annual electricity usage. The PV Rebate program is designed to encourage the installation of PV systems by helping to offset a portion of the installed cost of the system. EMC members receive a rebate for installing a qualifying solar PV systems at their home or business. Program details may vary participating EMC.
• Carbon Offset Program – Power4Gerogians has developed a carbon offset program entitled "Keeping Forests in Forests SM". Members can log onto a web site, calculate the carbon footprint of their homes and automobiles, and then offset their footprint by purchasing carbon credits from the EMC. The carbon credit purchase goes towards the planting and maintenance of pine forests here in Georgia. Program details may vary participating EMC.