FPL Energy's Wind Farms Continue to Have Positive Environmental and Economic ImpactMonday February 14, 2:49 pm ET
JUNO BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 14, 2005--FPL Energy's wind farms continue to help meet the growing need for pollution-free electricity while providing new economic opportunities for local communities and states across the United States.
In 2004, FPL Energy's 43 wind farms produced more than 6.6 million megawatt hours of electricity for local utilities, municipalities, power marketers and rural electric cooperatives across the country, or enough power to serve more than 500,000 average homes.
FPL Energy estimates that it would have taken the equivalent of 3.8 million tons of coal, or 32,579 train cars of coal, 10.5 million barrels of oil or more than 45.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas, or enough to fill the Louisiana Superdome 360,844 times, to generate the same amount of electricity as its wind farms.
While the relatively young wind industry generates less than one percent of the electricity used in the United States today, it helps reduce air pollution.
Because FPL Energy's wind farms were making pollution-free electricity, more than 4.4 million tons of carbon dioxide, nearly 12,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and more than 8,300 tons of nitrogen oxide were avoided from fossil fuel plants.
FPL Energy's wind farms also had a positive economic impact in 2004. The company's 43 wind farms located in 15 states had an economic impact of nearly $70 million comprised of payment of taxes, salaries, lease payments and locally purchased goods and services. The company estimates the economic impact of its wind farms increasing to more than $80 million in 2005 with the addition of several new projects.
"Wind energy emits no pollutants into the air or water, has a minimal impact on the local infrastructure and contributes to the economic well-being of local communities," said Mike Leighton, senior vice president and chief operating officer of FPL Energy. "Although fossil fuels and nuclear power are the mainstays of power generation in the United States, wind power can play a larger role in diversifying the fuel supply, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and minimizing our reliance on foreign oil imports."
Although wind farms may be built across many acres, the wind towers and gravel access roads use very little acreage, leaving the land surrounding the wind towers available for other uses by the landowners. FPL Energy wind farms are generally built in crop and grazing land where landowners, who receive lease payments for their land, can graze or plant right up to the turbine foundations with very little impact to their ranching or farming activities.
FPL Energy is a leading wholesale generator utilizing clean fuels such as natural gas, wind, solar, hydroelectric and nuclear to generate electricity. It is the nation's leader in wind energy, with 43 wind facilities in operation in 15 states. It is a subsidiary of FPL Group (NYSE:FPL - News), one of the nation's largest providers of electricity-related services with annual revenues of more than $10 billion. FPL Group's principal subsidiary is Florida Power & Light Company, one of the nation's largest electric utilities, serving more than 4.2 million customer accounts in Florida. Additional information is available on the Internet at http://www.FPLEnergy.com, http://www.FPLGroup.com and http://www.FPL.com.
Note to Editors: High-resolution logos and executive head shots are available for download at http://www.fpl.com/news/contents/logos.shtml .
Contact: FPL Energy, LLC, Juno Beach
Corporate Communications Dept.
Steve Stengel, 888-867-3050
Source: FPL Energy, LLC
