Amherst Colleges Join Green Power Initiative

AMHERST, NH - Three local colleges are joining forces to provide clean and green energy for their campuses. According to the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Amherst, Hampshire and Smith colleges, Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, and Williams College in Williamstown have agreed to purchase 46,000 megawatts from a solar-power facility being built in Farmington, Maine.

That’s enough electricity to power about 5,000 New England homes each year.

“Across the U.S., in the absence of federal leadership, much of the action on climate change and reducing emissions is coming locally, from communities and institutions joining together,” Hampshire President Jonathan Lash said in a statement. “Five independent, private colleges partnering for a major green-energy purchase sends a signal that we’re taking responsibility for the effects of our actions.”

The clean-energy company behemoth NextEra Energy is building the solar power facility generating all of that electricity. The facility will be on 600 acres of farmland in Farmington, and is expected to open in 2019.
The colleges say purchasing the power will help them reduce carbon emissions.

To check out the full article, visit the Daily Hampshire Gazette.