The Lake Livingston project will be developed in cooperation with the Trinity River Authority of Texas and the City of Houston and will produce enough electricity to power 12,000 homes. ETEC expects to begin operation of Lake Livingston hydroelectric plant in 2013.
Besides the hydro power plant, ETEC will construct a 50 MW biomass plant in Woodville, Texas. The plant will use wood by-products as feedstock. The biomass plant may be online by early 2014.
“ETEC is proud to be developing two significant power plants that will be fueled with clean renewable energy, enabling us to better serve our members throughout East Texas,” ETEC General Manager Edd Hargett said.
“The Lake Livingston project, as well as the Woodville plant, exemplify ETEC’s commitment to providing reliable and affordable electricity to its members for years to come,” ETEC Chief Financial Officer Ryan Thomas said. “These new plants, along with other improvements, will allow ETEC to generate 75 percent of the power it distributes by 2018.”
“These funds provided through the U.S. Treasury will help electric co-ops obtain lower cost financing for clean energy development projects,” Glenn English cheif executive officer of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, said.
“As with past bond issues, ETEC will seek partners to market and issue this bonding authority which has been formally approved by the Internal Revenue Service, under the auspices of Section 54C of the Internal Revenue Code,” said Thomas.
