A Springfield-based wind energy company with ties to Columbia has received an award from a national trade group and the federal Department of Energy.
Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. was named the 2006 Wind Co-op of the year by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and energy department officials.
The company has agreed to purchase all the energy generated by three wind farms in northwest Missouri and distribute it elsewhere.
Columbia signed an agreement last year to buy energy from wind turbines operated by AECI at Bluegrass Ridge, a wind farm in King City.
The company was chosen for the award over five other co-ops because of the company’s commitment to buy and distribute the electricity, according to a news release from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. DNR nominated AECI for the award.
Bluegrass Ridge, the state’s first utility-scale wind farm, will begin producing electricity this spring.
