by Brianna Crandall — October 27, 2010—Using funds provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the U.S. General Services Administration Rocky Mountain Region awarded a $2.7 million dollar design-build contract for the installation of a 1.0 megawatt wind turbine at the Pembina Border Station, a U.S. land port of entry in Pembina, North Dakota. GSA awarded this project, comprising one wind turbine, to Colstrip Electric Inc., a woman-owned, small business in Colstrip, Montana.
The LPOE operates on a 24/7 schedule. The facility consumes approximately 1,635,000 kilowatt hours of electrical power annually, about the same as powering 142 average size homes, costing approximately $84,250, including consumption and demand charges. The design work is under way, with the groundbreaking planned for May 2011 and project completion targeted for fall 2013.
The project is expected to reduce electrical power consumption at the facility to zero. It conforms to the directives in the Energy Policy Act 2005, which sets the goal of generating 25 percent of energy from renewable sources by 2025 by investing in new sources of clean, renewable energy.
Colstrip Electric Inc. has worked in the renewable energy industry since 2005, when it completed Montana’s first utility-scale wind farm, says GSA. The company has completed nearly 1,000 megawatts of wind power across the country and continues to be a leading electrical contractor in the renewable industry.
