Participants in the dedication of First Electric’s one-megawatt solar array included the cooperative’s board of directors and chief executive officer. BACK ROW (Left to right): Harry Hamlin, attorney for the board; Don Crabbe, President/Chief Executive Officer; Tracy Hudspeth, Drasco; Larry Wood, Vice Chairman, Lonoke; David Luebke, Scott; Tom Hasty, Jr., Almyra; FRONT ROW (Left to right): Rick Love, Jacksonville; Karissa Rushing, Benton; Jimmie Crockett, Rose Bud; Robert Maertens, Secretary-Treasurer, Benton; and Robert Hill, Chairman, Perryville.
MySaline readers have been asking for months about construction on Congo Road, a couple of blocks north of its intersection with Salem Road. We have told readers informally that First Electric Cooperative Corporation, Inc. (FECC) was building there. On Wednesday, May 31st, 2017, FECC dedicated a one-megawatt solar field there.
“Our members will all share in the benefits from the renewable energy produced by the solar field,” said Don Crabbe, CEO/president of FECC.
FECC board of directors officially commissioned into production the five-acre solar field located at 8271 Congo Road in Benton. The solar field is projected to generate 47,651,737 kilowatt-hours of non-emitting energy over a 25-year span. In one year, the solar field may reduce as much carbon dioxide as 35,000 trees. At peak production times, the solar field may produce enough renewable energy to power 100 to 125 homes.
In addition to providing renewable solar energy to its members, FECC plans to use the solar field as an educational opportunity for field trips for local school groups and organizations.
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First Electric serves more than 92,000 active accounts throughout 18 counties in central and southeast Arkansas. Headquartered in Jacksonville, the cooperative also operates full-service offices in Benton, Heber Springs, Perryville and Stuttgart. For more information, call 800-489-7405 or visit www.firstelectric.coop or www.facebook.com/FirstElectric.