2009.12.29 – Review of the Top 10 Stories of 2009; #7: Going Green
excerpt from: The Mountaineer, Written by Kim Gardner
For Haywood County, 2009 was a green year.
The year started with the county commissioners approving the county’s first sustainability plan. The plan, available online at the county’s Web site, outlines ways Haywood County can be a sustainable community. ….
In Canton, the county’s first solar farm was constructed. FLS Energy, based in [Asheville], began constructing its 3-acre solar field in Canton in September. It is located at an old landfill no longer in use by Evergreen Packaging.
Constructed in phases, the field will ultimately produce 550 kilowatts to sell to Progress Energy, said Michael Shore, president of FLS Energy.
“The project has been a great success,” Shore said in mid-December. “It is being developed in six phases. Phases 1 to 3 are already delivering electricity to the grid. Phase 4 and 5 should be online before the end of the year.”
The $5 million project does not just provide clean energy. It has created jobs and infused money into local economies, Shore said in September. The steel is made in Western North Carolina, and the panels are made in the Southeast United States.
“We are very committed to buying locally and at least in the U.S.,” Shore said in September.
The project has created 45 jobs in the area, and Shore said the company is still hiring. ….
