Direct Energy and Matney-Frantz Enter Partnership for Community Wind
Direct Energy, one of the largest utility providers in Texas, is committed to a sustainable future. In late July, leaders of the utility met with MFE's marketing and public relations director, and discussed partnering with the engineering firm to bring community wind to Texas school districts.
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In late July Matney-Frantz Engineering (MFE) marketing and public relations manager, Tom Parish, met with Direct Energy (DE) representatives to discuss a potential partnership. Founded in Toronto in 1986, DE was among the first utilities to provide carbon-neutral options to its consumers, and has since expanded into the green power market. Over the past three decades DE has also grown in the United States and become the predominant provider in the state of Texas, where it now offers the Pure Texas Wind Plan, a consumer option that promises 99% pollution-free energy for conscientious customers willing and able to pay an extra five dollars per month.
Direct Energy hopes to expand on its offering of green options in Texas through collaboration with Matney-Frantz Engineering (MFE). MFE came into contact with DE in Ballinger, Texas where the Independent School District is working with MFE on a CREBs (Clean Renewable Energy Bonds) project, using federal bonds to install and run a private wind turbine. The school district will use the wind-generated energy to offset its electricity costs with DE. This type of project, where autonomous communities (e.g. school districts or townships) take on the ownership of carbon-neutral electricity production for themselves, is viewed by both MFE and DE as vital to a successful future, offsetting costs and reducing the emission of environmentally disruptive gases.
The collaboration will begin on a case-by-case basis and expand on DE’s mission to incline consumers toward smarter and cleaner choices. MFE’s hope is to facilitate DE and its clients in the development of more projects like Ballinger Independent School District’s CREBs’ Wind Energy Projects. These types of projects, where a small community takes ownership of a renewable resource generator (i.e. a community sized wind turbine), serve a dual purpose: they reduce carbon footprints while boosting the client’s economic independence.
To learn more about DE programs already in place go tohttp://www.directenergy.com/EN/Texas/Pages/RegionalHomepage.aspx and read the Pure Texas Wind Plan and the Prevention Plus Plan.
