TEMPLE UNIVERSITY AMBLER, WIND ENERGY CUSTOMERS TO BE HONORED DURING "PECO WIND" LAUNCH
WHERE: Philadelphia Art Museum front steps, 26th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia — Eakins Oval
WHEN: Wednesday, May 26, 10 a.m.
Temple University Ambler has a history of practicing what it preaches. Since it’s inception, the Ambler campus — home to programs in community and regional planning, horticulture, and landscape architecture — has promoted a diversity of environmental programs, from recycling to green roof technology.
On Wednesday, May 26, PECO Energy and Community Energy, Inc. will recognize Temple University Ambler alongside other area educational institutions, businesses, and community organizations for their support of wind power. The event will take place at 10 a.m. on the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum.
Temple University Ambler purchases 200,000 kilowatt hours of wind energy each year from provider Community Energy Inc. (CEI). CEI generates wind power through gigantic turbines — some more than 220 feet tall — at “wind farms” in Somerset and Mill Run, Pennsylvania.
In
addition to recognizing the leading Philadelphia-area wind energy
customers, PECO and CEI will publicly launch the availability of “PECO
WIND” energy to more than one million residential and commercial
customers. This is the state’s first utility “wind power” offer.
A
115-foot long fiberglass wind turbine blade will provide a backdrop for
the May 26 event, which will showcase wind energy as a clean, diverse,
local source of electricity generation. Participants will include Denis
O’Brien, President of PECO; Brent Alderfer, president of CEI;
representatives from the United States Department of Energy; environmental
organizations such as the Clean Air Council, and Citizens for
Pennsylvania’s Future; and higher education institutions. Temple
University Ambler participants will include Dean Dr. Sophia Wisniewska and
Dr. Jeffrey Featherstone, Director of the Center for Sustainable Communities at Temple University
Ambler and Chair of the Department of Community and Regional Planning.
“When
wind energy customers see those big blades turning, they can take pride in
knowing they brought this state a new source of home-grown energy with no
fuel, no smoke, and no price spikes,” said Brent Alderfer, president of
CEI, which brought the first commercial wind plant in Pennsylvania on line
in 1999. “Temple’s purchase of pollution-free wind energy has
continued the University’s long-standing commitment to leadership on
conservation and sustainability issues.”
For more information on the May 26 PECO WIND launch, call 610-254-9780. For more information on wind power usage at Temple University Ambler, call 215-283-1290.
CONTACT: James Duffy, (215) 283-1290, duffyj@temple.edu, release available by e-mail
