McMinnville Electric System Grant Announcement September 09, 2004

MCMINNVILLE, TN -- McMinnville Electric System (MES) to become the first municipal electric system to generate electricity using a clean burning fuel made primarily from soybeans (BioDiesel) in the United States.

The McMinnville BioDiesel Project is a collaborative effort between MES, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Stowers Caterpillar, EmeraChem, the American Public Power Association (APPA), the National BioDiesel Board (NBB), the Tennessee Soybean Growers Association and the University of Tennessee.

"BioDiesel is a renewable resource that can be substituted for fossil fuel in diesel engines. This reduces many of the negative impacts of petroleum-based fuels, typically lowering hydrocarbon and particulate emissions as well as reducing the toxicity of the exhaust," according to Rodney Boyd, General Manager/CEO of MES.

The economic benefits of BioDiesel are so important to the citizens of Tennessee that U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis (TN-4) spearheaded the effort to have almost a million dollars appropriated for this study. "It is very important that we think long term about our country's energy needs and the societal cost of energy. Not only does BioDiesel have the potential to reduce harmful pollutants in our state, it has the greater potential to put Tennessee farmers back to work."

BioDiesel fuel represents the fastest growing renewable fuel in America. It is the only alternative fuel to have successfully completed the Health Effects Testing Requirement of the federal Clean Air Act Amendments. BioDiesel is a clean, safe, alternative to diesel fuel that can be produced from soybean grown right here in Tennessee. "Because it is grown on American soil, BioDiesel can significantly reduce our country's dependence on foreign oil," stated MES Board of Public Utilities Chairman Jeff Golden. "With today's soaring fuel prices and instability in the Middle East, BioDiesel is has the potential to help us diversify our supplies, reduce our dependents of foreign sources of oil and keep our dollars at home."

"Dr. Jeff McKinley and Donald Hillis, members of the MES Board of Public Utilities Research and Development Committee, have been instrumental in getting this Project from vision to reality", states Boyd. Sam Martin, Vice-Chairman of the MES Board of Public Utilities and Board member Sally Brock are optimistic about the Project as well. "This Project is yet another way we can bring value to the citizens of McMinnville and at the same time keep our electric rates as low as possible," states Martin.

MES was founded in 1939 and provides power to 5974 residential customers and 1709 commercial and industrial customers in and around McMinnville, Tennessee.