ASHEVILLE, N.C., Nov. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Winds blowing through the mountains of North Carolina will move more than leaves next year when the first rural wind power education program east of the Mississippi River is established in Madison County. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020923/CHM008LOGO-c ) A regional partnership will install small wind turbines at three schools in Madison County and develop a K-12 alternative-energy curriculum as part of an effort to introduce wind power to rural communities and initiate community discussions around the benefits and challenges of alternative-energy resources. A fourth installation will be established at the Madison County Cooperative Extension Office. The partnership includes the Appalachian Regional Commission, Mountain Valleys Resource Conservation and Development, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Progress Energy Carolinas, French Broad EMC, the Madison County School System, the Madison County Cooperative Extension Service, Appalachian State University, Sundance Power and Southwest Wind Power. The schools participating in this initiative are Hot Springs Elementary, Madison Middle School and Madison High School. Each school will have a 2- or 3- kilowatt (kw) wind turbine installed on its property. The first turbine will be installed at Madison High in May 2009 with the other installations following shortly thereafter. "We wanted to build an alternative-energy knowledge base among our future leaders and start the conversation at all levels of the community," said Russell Blevins, NRCS project coordinator with Mountain Valleys Resource Conservation and Development. "These demonstration turbines will provide students and teachers a physical example of how wind power works and allow exciting, hands-on educational opportunities." The Appalachian Regional Commission is the project's major sponsor. Mountain Valleys RC&D is the project manager. Each of the project partners is supporting the project financially or through in-kind donations. "Progress Energy is pursuing renewable energy as part of a balanced strategy for meeting the region's growing energy needs reliably, affordably and in an environmentally responsible fashion," said Robert Sipes, vice president of Progress Energy Carolinas' western N.C. region. "Supporting innovative projects like this is part of our commitment to work with our communities to secure the region's energy future. This project has the added benefit of getting our children thinking about energy, because we will be relying on their knowledge and innovation to expand the role of renewable energy in the years ahead." "French Broad EMC has long supported renewable energy generation by its membership and is excited to add wind generation to its portfolio," said Jeff Loven, general manager of French Broad Electric. "Educating our youth is a key component in developing renewable energy technologies and ensuring our future energy needs are met in a responsible and affordable manner." The Madison County Wind for Schools project is modeled after the U.S. Department of Energy's Wind for Schools initiative. http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020923/CHM008LOGO-c http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Progress Energy CONTACT: Mountain Valleys RC&D, Russ Blevins +1-828-649-3313 x5; or Progress Energy, 24-Hour Media Line +1-877-641-6397 Web site: http://www.progress-energy.com/

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