[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 52 (Thursday, March 29, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S2236]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  EAST BAY MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT

 Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I wish today to recognize the 
significant contributions that the East Bay Municipal Utility District 
in Oakland, CA, is making with respect to renewable energy production. 
East Bay Municipal Utility District is a regional water and wastewater 
treatment agency serving the needs of the citizens of Alameda and 
Contra Costa Counties in the San Francisco Bay area. I am proud to note 
that with 1.3 million customers in the east bay region, this agency is 
leading the way in developing sustainable energy and water conservation 
practices that benefit the region.
  On April 3, the East Bay Municipal Utility District's board of 
directors will formally dedicate a project that will create clean 
energy for the region and help ensure that waste materials that would 
otherwise be sent to landfills are reused. This new project is the 
Power Generation Station Renewable Energy Expansion Project and it 
builds on the successful Resource Recovery Program that is already 
serving as a model for other wastewater treatment plants across the 
Nation.
  The Power Generation Station Renewable Energy Expansion Project will 
utilize biogas, methane, produced from anaerobic digesters to power 
electrical generators and a new 4.6-megawatt clean-burn turbine. The 
source materials used by the anaerobic digesters will be waste that is 
currently being sent to garbage dumps. As a result of this new project, 
EBMUD's total production capacity at its wastewater treatment plant 
will be 10.6 megawatts, enough capacity to meet the electrical power 
demands of 13,000 homes.
  The innovative Power Generation Station Renewable Energy Expansion 
Project will allow the East Bay Municipal Utility District to be the 
first agency of its kind in the Nation to generate all its own energy 
entirely from the production of biogas generated from waste materials. 
Excess energy, above and beyond that needed to meet the electrical 
power demands of running the wastewater treatment plant, will be sold 
back to the electrical grid, thereby helping to keep customer rates low 
by reducing EBMUD's power bill and increasing revenues from the sale of 
electricity. Increasing the generation of green energy supports 
California's goal of increasing clean energy while reducing greenhouse 
gas emissions. This project is particularly important because EBMUD is 
currently generating so much biogas from waste material that it is 
forced to flare the excess biogas.
  At a time when all of us must find ways to reduce energy consumption 
and help generate renewable energy, I commend the board of directors 
and the employees of the East Bay Municipal Utility District for the 
foresight they have shown in developing and growing the Resource 
Recovery Program and in the construction of this important sustainable 
energy project. This project serves as a reminder to each of us that we 
can find ways to develop high-quality public services and reduce 
operating costs through innovative thinking and the use of technology. 
I congratulate East Bay Municipal Utility District for leading the way 
on developing clean energy.

                          ____________________