BP opens major wind farm in Pennsylvania

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SCRANTON, Pa., Jan. 9 (UPI) -- British energy company BP announced it started operations at a Pennsylvania wind farm that can produce 141 megawatts of electricity.

BP Wind Energy and utility company Sempra U.S. Gas and Power announced the launch of commercial operations at the Mehoopany wind farm, about 20 miles northwest of Scranton, Pa. Situated on at 9,000-acre site, the facility consists of 88 wind turbine generators that can churn out a combined 141 MW of electricity.

BP said the electricity generated from the project is sold to Old Dominion Electric Cooperative and Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative Inc. under the terms of a long-term power purchase agreement.

Last week, both sides launched commercial operations at the 470 megawatt Flat Ridge 2 facility, spread over four counties in Kansas.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said wind energy last year outpaced natural gas and coal in terms of new power generation in the country. U.S. lawmakers, in negotiating economic measures early this year, preserved tax incentives for wind energy generation.