by Brianna Crandall — November 24, 2014—The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) recently announced that it is on track to meet the Obama Administration’s 2020 renewable energy goal after awarding a competitive power supply contract to a commercial wind developer for the purchase of 140 megawatts (MW) of clean wind energy—said to be the largest wind energy purchase from a single source in federal contracting history.
The energy will come from the Walnut Ridge Wind Farm, which is currently in development in northwest Illinois, and will add more than 500,000 megawatt-hours (MWhs) of electricity to the power grid annually. The ten-year contract was awarded to MG2 Tribal Energy — a joint venture between the Mesa Grande Band of Mission Indians, a federally-recognized Native American tribe, and Geronimo Energy, a commercial wind developer.
GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini noted that the project will “add to the power grid in a sustainable way and ensure that we become less dependent on fossil fuels,” and Mesa Grande Band Chairman and MG2 President Mark Romero commented that the project is “entirely consistent with our historic concern for Mother Earth and the continued availability of clean water, land, and air for future generations. Few other economic development opportunities enable us to remain so true to our cultural and spiritual values.”
The contract is expected to eliminate an estimated 499,973 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year.
