National Renewables Cooperative Welcomes New Class A Member

CARMEL, Ind., Aug. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Renewables Cooperative Organization (NRCO) is pleased to announce the addition of Prairie Power, Inc. (PPI) to its membership.  PPI is the 25th electric power supply cooperative to join NRCO since its formation in 2008.  

NRCO was established in 2008 in the spirit of cooperative partnership to facilitate cost-effective, joint development of renewable resources for cooperatives like PPI.  NRCO functions as a clearinghouse for renewable development opportunities by aggregating its members' renewable energy needs. One important advantage of NRCO is that member cooperatives located in geographic areas where there are limited affordable renewable resources can instead meet their renewable goals by jointly participating in new projects developed, facilitated and negotiated by NRCO.

NRCO's current membership spans from the Rocky Mountains to the East Coast, and from the Dakotas to Florida.  Headquartered in Jacksonville, Illinois, PPI is located in the middle of NRCO's geographic footprint, making it a natural addition to the partnership.   PPI owns and operates 22 MW of coal-fired base load generation, 150 MW of oil and gas-fired peaking units, and has an 8.2 percent joint ownership interest in the 1,600 MW Prairie State advanced clean-coal technology plant under development in Southern Illinois.  Joining NRCO will allow PPI to diversify its portfolio of power supply resources through participation in the joint development of renewable energy assets.  

"Prairie Power, Inc. is pleased to join NRCO," said Jay Bartlett, President and CEO of PPI. "We are dedicated to providing environmentally responsible energy at the best possible value, and we are certain that our membership in NRCO will enhance our ability to meet that objective."

Amadou Fall, CEO of NRCO, added, "Prairie Power joining NRCO further strengthens our core mission of helping the Cooperative Program to broadly pool their ownership and/or contracting interests in renewable resources and thus have access to the most affordable renewable energy resources.  We are pleased that Prairie Power has joined NRCO as its 25th Class A member."

About NRCO:

Cooperatives across the country formed the National Renewables Cooperative Organization (NRCO) to promote and facilitate the development of renewable energy resources for its members.  NRCO's main purposes are to facilitate the cost-effective, joint development of renewable resources nationwide for its cooperative owners, thereby helping its owners meet the requirements of voluntary and mandatory Renewable Energy Standards (RES).

Membership in the NRCO is open to generation and transmission cooperatives (G&T's) and distribution cooperatives that have the legal ability to buy power in the wholesale market.  Members located in areas that may not have renewable resources can participate in projects across the United States through renewable projects originated and/or developed by NRCO.  www.nrco.coop

About PPI:

Prairie Power, Inc. is a member-owned, not-for-profit, electric generation and transmission cooperative located in Jacksonville, Illinois. PPI produces, purchases and delivers over 1.5 million megawatt-hours of electricity annually to its 10 member-owned electric distribution cooperatives. PPI's distribution cooperatives provide retail electric service to over 78,131 residential, agricultural, commercial, and industrial consumer-members throughout central Illinois.

www.ppi.coop

SOURCE National Renewables Cooperative Organization