Category Archives: Biomass

Georgia Power at Wiregrass Solar groundbreaking, 21 Feb 2011

It was good to see Georgia Power assisting at the groundbreaking of the Wiregrass Solar LLC plant, instead of just studying and demonstrating. The speaker equated solar, biomass, and nuclear. Hm, what’s that over their heads? Why, biomass doesn’t seem to be as popular as solar! I didn’t catch the speaker’s name, but he also recognized Robbie Hastings, detail manager in Valdosta. Here’s the video:


Wiregrass Solar LLC groundbreaking, 21 Feb 2011,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Video by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

Georgia Power had several pages in the business section of the Valdosta Daily Times (VDT) the previous Sunday, written up on Monday as Harnessing the sun’s rays: Georgia Power kicks off 18-month solar power study, by Karah-Leigh Hancock, about what Gapower is doing instead of actually deploying solar: Continue reading →

“Olive branch or smokescreen?” –Patrick Davis

Patrick Davis wonders from Macon:
Is this Brad Lofton-led ‘solar’ groundbreaking event by the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority an olive branch or a smokescreen.for the community Or an example of ‘compassionate consevratism’?
The solar plant has been part of the plan from the beginning, which of course doesn’t quite answer Patrick Davis’ question. VLCIA knows it can increase the size of the solar plant, and they seem to think that could be a good idea. They could also choose to forget the biomass plant, but they refuse to do that. Much more about Wiregrass Solar Power LLC.

Also please note that this blog is On the LAKE Front, where LAKE is an acronym for the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, which is about citizen dialog for transparent process for all of Lowndes County and the general area, not just Valdosta.

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Sonny Murphy talks at Solar Groundbreaking

The biggest dignitary among the bunch at the Wiregrass Solar groundbreaking was Therrell “Sonny” Murphy, Chairman of the Board, Sterling Planet, the parent company of Wiregrass Solar LLC. Nice fellow; I talked to him at length before most people showed up. To his credit, he didn’t shy away from directly talking about the proposed neighboring biomass plant (Sterling Planet owns Wiregrass Power LLC, too). He also mentioned geothermal and “efficiency itself”, which shows he has a broader grasp of the potential energy sources than some participants.


Wiregrass Solar LLC groundbreaking, 21 Feb 2011,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Video by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

I congratulate Chairman Murpny and Sterling Planet on the solar groundbreaking. I offered to introduce him to the biomass protesters. He said he didn’t want to get into a debate. Hm, that reminds me of something.

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Mayor Fretti at Wiregrass Solar LLC groundbreaking

Valdosta Mayor John Fretti remarked at the Wiregrass Solar groundbreaking 21 Feb 2011:
“…solar is an important component of our electricity needs and our power energy needs, and that it will continue to be. We need to take into consideration all renewable energy resources such as solar, and wind, and bio, and bring those together to eventually make them more efficient and effective to supply our grid with energy sources.”
He also talked about eventual lower rates to the customers. And he bragged about how big it is:
“I think currently the largest array… in Georgia”
Um, no, Dalton, Georgia already has a 365kW solar array installed and in use, although that information never seems to get through the VLCIA filter.


Wiregrass Solar LLC groundbreaking, 21 Feb 2011,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Video by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

Still, it’s a start, and I congratulate VLCIA on doing it.

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VLCIA Speeches at Wiregrass Solar LLC groundbreaking

I’m in favor of solar plants, and it was good to see the participants helping out at the groundbreaking for the Wiregrass Solar LLC plant at the Valdosta Mud Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant yesterday. But wait! What’s that behind them? Seems like even solar supporters aren’t all in favor of the proposed neighboring biomass plant.

In this post are videos of the speeches by VLCIA personnel; speeches by other dignitaries will follow. Brad Lofton, Executive Director of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA), said they’ll have a commissioning reception in a few months (currently scheduled for Wednesday 16th April 2011) to which they’ll invite “the entire City Council and the County Commission.” Interestingly, there was nobody from the County Commission at this groundbreaking ceremony. They’ve said they’re in favor of biomass; are they not in favor of solar? Lofton says they’ll also invite

“…the governor of Georgia who has about half a million dollars invested in this project.”


Wiregrass Solar LLC groundbreaking, 21 Feb 2011,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Video by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

Lofton also said:

“We’ll go around and if anybody has any comments, I’d like you to make them.”
Hm, they never seemed to get around to me.

Brad Lofton explained that the property for the solar plant is owned by the City of Valdosta and leased to VLCIA and then subleased Continue reading →

“Hooray for solar! No biomass!”

The VDT nailed it:
Executives and city officials broke ground together at the site to the mixed cheers from the crowd of protesters: “Hooray for solar! No biomass!”
More perceptive text by David Rodock and pictues by Paul Levy online and in the paper paper.

Videos of the protesters here. Videos of the groundbreaking ceremony (with protesters) to come.

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Protesters, police, and press at Wiregrass Solar LLC groundbreaking

All these protesters were in favor of the groundbreaking today for the Wiregrass Solar LLC plant, but they wanted to object to the related biomass plant proposed for next door. Here you can see Valdosta police saying they’re going have to issue a summons to some protesters because they didn’t have a permit, Valdosta Mayor Fretti saying the permit process is simple, and Dr. Michael Noll president of Wiregrass Activists for Clean Energy (WACE) explaining that they only heard of the event recently, and besides he’d be happy to pick up a shovel and help with the groundbreaking for the solar plant:


Wiregrass Solar LLC groundbreaking, 21 Feb 2011,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Video by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Enter the police chief. Continue reading →

How much has VLCIA paid for Sterling Energy travel?

VLCIA says it paid for hotel rooms in December for Bob McCann and Gil Waldman of Sterling Energy. Why? How much more has VLCIA spent on travel for Sterling? And how can this public-private keep Sterling documents related to the biomass plant confidential?

According to the VDT, “Biomass plant said good for Valdosta and Georgia,” by Johnna Pinholster, 4 Nov 2010, “Gilbert Waldman is vice president and general manager of Sterling Energy Assets” and “Sterling Energy brought in Robert McCann, Jr. from Golder Associates Inc.” It’s curious that VLCIA paid for a room for the general manager of Sterling Energy, which I thought VLCIA said was the principle investor in the project. Seems like more we, we, we to me. This is yet more evidence that VLCIA and Sterling Energy do indeed have a public-private partnership. In which case, why can Sterling and VLCIA claim Sterling’s wood fuel sourcing study is proprietary?

The VDT also said:

On Tuesday, Waldman, an environmental consultant, members of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority board, and Brad Lofton, executive director of the authority, sat down to discuss the plant, how it works and how clean it will be.
Did VLCIA also pay for rooms for Waldman and McCann for that Tuesday 2 Nov 2010 meeting? How much money has VLCIA spent bringing them down here?

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VLCIA Payments for 6 Dec 2010 biomass “Forum”

VLCIA spent more than $17,000 on speakers and catering for their 6 Dec 2010 “Forum”, according to VLCIA’s response to an open records request. Yet local speakers against the biomass plant who would have charged nothing were not invited to be on the panel. VLCIA insists on referring to it as an “information exchange”, even though their hand-picked moderator said “we’re not going to get into debate.”

Here is a summary of the expenses: Continue reading →

Where is the Wiregrass Solar plant?

Update 21 Feb 2011: Col. Ricketts confirms the groundbreaking is at 11:30 AM today on Water Plant Road; follow the signs from there to the construction site.
The groundbreaking for the Wiregrass Solar plant is Monday 21 February, rumor has it at 11:30AM, but where? My understanding is that the site is at the back of the City of Valdosta’s Mud Creek Wastewater Treatment property, which is

View Larger Map
on Water Plant Road off of GA 94 (New Statenville Highway) east of Inner Perimeter Road.

However, VLCIA’s land proposed for the Wiregrass Power LLC biomass plant is around the corner off of Inner Perimeter Road east of Deloach Road: It’s conceivable that VLCIA might hold the ceremony on its own property. See their map below: Continue reading →