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Politics & Government

Washington, DC, Government Looks to Wind for Part of its Electricity

A third of the power used by the government in neighboring DC could come from wind sources.

The Washington, DC, government is seeking to purchase one-third of its electricity from a wind farm, according to a recent Washington Business Journal article

Sam Brooks, associate director of the District’s Department of General Services (DGS) told the Journal that the DC Government buys nearly all of its annual 400 million kilowatt-hours (kwh) from Washington Gas Energy Services, and budgeted $52 million for electricity this fiscal year.

DGS contracted DC-based Customer First Renewables, LLC to help facilitate the process for requesting proposals for energy through wind or solar energy. According to Brooks, “It’s cheaper to buy wind than it is to buy traditional electricity now, if you do it on a utility scale.”

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Brooks also shared that DGS wishes to “diversify the District’s energy portfolio,” which would provide some protection “against volatility in the electricity market and decarbonize the supply by shifting 150 million kwh to, most likely, wind.”

DGS realizes that their plan will likely require the building of a new wind farm in Pennsylvania or Virginia, but wants to close the deal as soon as possible to take advantage of the Federal Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit, which is set to expire on Dec. 31, 2013.

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Brooks is quoted as calling the credit “worth about a third of the project’s value.” 

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