Dane County, MGE increase methane power

Tuesday, January 13, 2009


From an article in The Capital Times:

Dane County plans to substantially increase the amount of electrical power generated by methane created at its landfill.

A 10-year contract signed Monday by county and Madison Gas & Electric officials will provide more non-fossil-fuel energy for the power grid while removing the pollutant methane produced by the dump.

MGE will now purchase 26,000 megawatt hours of electricity generated at the Dane County landfill for about $3 million per year. That is enough electricity to power about 4,000 Dane County homes annually.

The utility has been buying electricity from the landfill since 1997, when the county installed two generators. Another generator was added in 2004, and another will be installed this year to produce the extra power.

County Executive Kathleen Falk and MGE Chief Executive Gary Wolter announced the agreement.

The additional income will help the county to cover services otherwise paid for by property taxes, Falk said.

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