Sky Energy helps region plug into wind power

For Immediate Release

Contact: Brian Weninger
SKY Energy® Inc.
(864) 275-2564
brian.weninger@sky-energy.com

PRESS RELEASE

Greenville News, The (SC)

October 20, 2007

Sky Energy helps region plug into wind power
Author: Jenny Munro Edition: Final
Section: BUSINESS
Page: 1B
Estimated printed pages: 4 Article Text: By Jenny Munro BUSINESS WRITER.

Greenville-based Sky Energy Inc. would like to see the wind on everyone's mind.

Although wind energy supplies less than 1 percent of the energy needs of the United States, the company wants to help push that percentage much higher.

Some experts estimate that wind eventually could generate up to 20 percent of the energy used in the United States, said Brian Weninger, chairman of the company. Currently, it's growing about 25 percent a year, according to the Wind Energy Association.

Sky Energy, started in 2002, sells renewable wind energy credits to businesses and individuals who want to support renewable wind energy and the research needed to increase its share of the energy mix in this country, he said.

The Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce is one of those organizations.

"If the Chamber can lead a little bit, that's good," said Ben Haskew, Chamber president, adding the organization wants to be a leader in emerging technologies.

But the issue is a business decision, also.

The Upstate appears to be in attainment of air quality standards. If, however, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency tightens existing standards, 40 of the state's 46 counties could be in non-attainment. That would drastically slow economic growth.

"What we're saying by buying the credits is that air quality is an important issue," Haskew said.

What is a credit?

It may be easier to explain what it's not.

Purchasers aren't buying wind-generated electricity for their own use. They buy their electricity on the normal grid and pay for it like everyone else.

The wind energy credit, certified by the Center for Resource Solutions' Green-e Renewable Energy program, buys a credit for wind-generated energy produced somewhere and used by someone in the United States. The cost to the purchaser of the credit is in addition to the regular electric bill.

Although South Carolina has no wind farms to generate electricity from wind, it is in the midst of a study of coastal winds. Later, offshore test sites are planned, said Nicholas Rigas, director of the South Carolina Institute for Energy Studies at Clemson University.

"With this project, we want to assess the winds at that location" to determine if they are strong enough and consistent enough to power a wind turbine, he said. South Carolina has "tremendous offshore wind potential."

Weninger said, "I think it would be very beneficial. It would be helpful to have something offshore or in the coastal area" because it makes wind energy seem more real to South Carolina residents.

Although the credit market does not generate power, it may increase the amount of electricity generated by a clean source of energy -- wind energy has no human-caused emissions -- because it increases demand for clean energy, Rigas said.

Currently, the number of credits that can be bought and sold is limited because it is based on the kilowatt hours of wind-generated electricity available.

Support of clean energy and its potential is what Barry Jones, owner of KLG Jones, is espousing with his purchase of renewable wind-energy credits.

His company is a consulting engineering firm that is "very much involved in energy consulting," he said.

"We see the results of the way design, the building and the way buildings are maintained affects energy use," he said.

He said he wants to help move the country toward cleaner energy sources. Although movement in that direction began in the 1970s following an energy crisis. But when government funding dried up and petroleum prices dropped, work on alternative energy ceased.

"We have all these technologies that probably need some kind of subsidy for a time" if they are to become successful, Jones said, adding the idea isn't new. Government subsidizes the petroleum and coal industries among others.

He said alternative energy will probably stick this time because "energy is not going to get any cheaper." Of course, prices will fluctuate, but demand will grow as emerging economies need energy for growth.

Sky Energy buys its credits from the utilities that produce the wind electricity. The Greenville company then sells them at a slight premium -- making a profit, he said.

Although the company negotiates price with commercial users, an individual can buy credits to offset anywhere from 60 percent to 100 percent of the electricity used by a normal family, he said. The cost ranges from $19.95 a month for 10,000 kilowatt hours to $11.95 for 6,000 kilowatt hours.

On average, the cost of the credits tends to increase total power costs for businesses by 3 percent to 5 percent, he said, and for residential customers between 15 percent and 25 percent, depending on how their electricity is generated.

Jones said he doesn't mind paying a little extra.

Steve Weninger, who is working with his son to make Sky Energy successful, said a credit is good for only 18 months.

Among Sky Energy's customers are individual homeowners, print shops, an electric motor company, an aircraft manufacturer, non-profit organizations and universities, he said. They're spread out across the country in South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Colorado, California and Illinois.

Buying credits "enables the customer to help fund renewable energy," he said.

One kilowatt hour of Wind-e Renewable Energy credits offsets 1.4 pounds of greenhouse gases, primarily carbon, Brian Weninger said.

Typical households consume about 10,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually, he said. To generate that, a fossil fuel plant would generate about 14,000 pounds of pollution during that same year. Over the past three years, Sky Energy has sold enough credits to offset 42.6 million pounds of air pollution -- the equivalent of powering about 3,000 households, he said.

"Climate change has been an inspiration for this," the younger Weninger said. "Everyone benefits from cleaner energy."