A Texas barbecue and a live band will greet more than 250 residents of Scurry and Borden counties who will gather at a community center in the West Texas town of Fluvanna at 11 a.m. The dedication of the 160-megawatt Green Mountain Energy Wind Farm at Brazos provides an opportunity for the companies involved in the wind farm’s construction and operation to say “Thank You” to the surrounding community. Owned by Shell WindEnergy and Padoma Wind Power, the wind farm consists of 160 one-megawatt Mitsubishi wind generators. Each turbine is approximately 230 feet tall, weighs 370,000 pounds and produces zero emissions. The project generates enough energy to power 30,000 average Texas homes per year. The Green Mountain Energy Wind Farm at Brazos prevents the release of an estimated 360,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) each year. To put this into perspective, it would be like taking all the cars and SUVs in Houston off the road for about a week to avoid the same amount of CO2. “The Green Mountain Energy Wind Farm at Brazos is the poster child for the success of the deregulated market in Texas,” said Paul Thomas, CEO of Green Mountain Energy Company. “More and more customers signing up for a wind energy product has created demand that has resulted in the construction of this wind farm. As the market continues to grow and mature, we will hopefully see more demand to create more wind farms.” “As the largest purchaser of wind power in Texas and the Southwest, TXU Energy is pleased to help make this transaction a reality,” said Carl Bracy, TXU Energy senior vice president. “Through projects and partnerships like this, wind energy will continue to grow as part of the Texas energy mix.” Wind power complements TXU’s Environmental Principle of supporting renewable energy: “TXU will encourage research on and development of more efficient, environmentally-benign sources of energy and, wherever warranted by market opportunities, offer our customers the benefits of energy produced from renewable resources” said Bracy. This project represents Texas’ strong commitment to renewable energy,” said Walter Hornaday, president of Cielo Wind Power. “Cielo Wind Power plans to seek a commitment from the Texas Public Utility Commission to expand the capacity of West Texas transmission circuits so that more clean wind farms can deliver energy to Texas urban areas like Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston, Austin and San Antonio.” Jan Paulin, president and CEO of Padoma Wind Power said: “We’re excited to see this project delivering clean, renewable power to consumers in Texas. From the beginning, this project has been a model for future wind farm development.” David Jones, chairman of Shell WindEnergy Inc. said: “This project makes a strong business case for the feasibility of a sustainable energy future. The support of the local community, which we greatly appreciate, is a key component in realizing that future.” ###30### Founded in 1997 to “change the way power is made”, Green Mountain Energy Company ( www.greenmountain.com) sells cleaner electricity generated from sources such as wind, solar, water, geothermal, biomass and natural gas to residential, business, institutional and governmental customers. About 600,000 customers in California, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Texas have chosen Green Mountain Energy® electricity, which is dramatically less-polluting than typical system power in those states. The company is based in Austin, Texas. TXU Energy is a subsidiary of TXU, a major energy company with operations in North America and Australia. TXU manages a diverse energy portfolio with a strategic mix of over $31 billion of assets. TXU’s distinctive business model for competitive markets integrates generation, portfolio management, and retail into one single business. The regulated electric and natural gas distribution and transmission businesses complement the competitive operations, using asset management skills developed over more than one hundred years, to provide reliable energy delivery to consumers and earnings and cash flow for stakeholders. In its primary market of Texas, TXU’s portfolio includes approximately 18,500 megawatts of generation and additional contracted capacity with a fuel mix of coal/lignite, natural gas/oil, nuclear power and wind. TXU serves five million customers in North America and Australia, including 2.6 million competitive electric customers in Texas where it is the leading energy retailer. Visit www.txucorp.com for more information about TXU. Padoma Wind Power, a La Jolla, CA-based company, is a wind energy consulting and development company that utilizes a broad scope of capabilities to optimize all of the processes necessary for taking a project from its inception to commercial operation. The principals of Padoma, with combined experience in wind development exceeding 65 years, are regarded by many in the industry as some of the most knowledgeable, respected, and sought-after wind experts in America. On the web, visit www.padoma.com Cielo Wind Power develops, maintains and assists with the construction of utility-grade wind power projects. With field offices in McCamey, White Deer and Fluvanna, Texas, Austin-based Cielo Wind Power is the largest wind developer in the Southwest and is dedicated solely to cost-effective and environmentally responsible wind project development. Cielo Wind Power is a privately held company. For more information about Cielo, please visit www.cielowind.com. Shell WindEnergy currently owns interests in six wind parks in the United States; Rock River I in Wyoming (50 megawatts), White Deer (80 megawatts) and Brazos (160 megawatts) in Texas, and Cabazon (41 megawatts) and Whitewater Hill (61 megawatts) in California, and Colorado Green (162 megawatts) in Colorado. Shell WindEnergy also owns interests in the 100MW La Muela wind park in Spain and in multiple on-and offshore projects under development in both the United States and Europe. Shell WindEnergy focuses on developing and operating wind farms and selling ‘green’ electricity. Shell WindEnergy is part of Shell Renewables, one of the five core businesses of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies. Shell Renewables was established in 1997 to pursue commercial opportunities in solar photovoltaic and wind energy.
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