Lamar Light Plant Announces Scholarship Topic

Lamar Wind Turbines

Applications are being accepted for the 2016/2017 scholarship program at Lamar Light and Power. Superintendent Houssin Hourieh informed board members this past week about the annual program which combines a $500 donation from the Light Plant with a $500 donation from Arkansas River Power Authority for seniors from Wiley, Lamar and McClave high schools.  Hourieh added that an additional $500 is available from the Light Plant the following year with a follow-up application for winners.  One winner is selected from each school.  The three schools fall within the service area of Lamar Light and Power.

This year’s topic, he said, will need some research of the part of the participants. Its theme is:

“The cost of electrical power from renewable resources like wind and solar has been steadily decreasing. Some people believe the United States could eventually get all its electrical power from renewable sources, others think there are challenges and limitations that would never allow this to happen.  Discuss how much you think electrical power in the United States could realistically come from renewable resources in the next ten years, the obstacles and limitations to renewable energy, and how local utilities like Lamar Light and Power would be affected.” 

Board member, Michael Horning suggested that as less than 10 applications are received each year, additional efforts could be made to bring the scholarship program directly to the students instead of past methods. This has consisted to the scholarship program being sent to guidance/career counselors at the schools or posted on bulletin boards.  Several board members volunteer to evaluate the applications each year and determine the winners, based on submissions being kept anonymous. 

On that note, the light plant’s systems operating report updated the wind turbine generation for 2015 which showed that Lamar’s three turbines have generated 9,805.76 MegaWatt Hours ( MWH’s) of electricity. This is about 559.4 MWH’s less than what was generated in 2014.  The report said the prime reasons for the decrease were less wind and the downtime required to upgrade equipment and software on all of the wind turbines.  Since they were put into operation in 2003, 2010 was the best production year followed by 2008, and the third best year was 2012.

By Russ Baldwin