Georgia Magazine - May 2018 - 15

Facebook chooses Walton EMC to
power data center

Short takes CONTINUED
Preschoolers at Lamar County Primary
School in Barnesville had "My Lineman,
My Daddy, My Hero" read to them on
March 23, then met real-life linemen from
Southern Rivers and saw their equipment
and bucket truck.

and finding strong partners that can
help us achieve that ambitious goal is
a key part of our selection process,"
said Rachel Peterson, vice president
of data center strategy at Facebook.
"We are excited to work with Walton
EMC to bring hundreds of megawatts
of renewable energy to the electrical
grid in Georgia."
The Newton data center is Facebook's ninth such state-of-the-art
facility in the country and will comprise three buildings totaling 970,000
square feet. Planned to be operational in 2020, the facility will help bring
Facebook apps and services to more
than 2 billion people worldwide.
-Beth McMillan

Seven Georgia co-ops receive national
communications awards

he Arlington, Va.-based National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
(NRECA) recently announced 2018's 30th anniversary Spotlight On Excellence Award winners, including seven co-ops from Georgia.
This initiative of the Council of Rural Electric Communicators is
NRECA's highest communication honor. The awards will be presented at the
CONNECT '18 conference May 8-10 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Georgia winners were:
* Carroll EMC, Carrollton: Best Graphic Design, Gold
* Cobb EMC, Marietta: Most Innovative Use of Digital Communication,
Silver
* Georgia EMC, Tucker: Best Digital Storytelling, Gold
* Georgia Transmission Corp., Tucker: Best Individual Ad, Gold
* GreyStone Power Corp., Douglasville: Best Event, Gold
* Southern Rivers Energy, Barnesville: Best Internal News Publication, Gold
* Tri-County EMC, Gray: Best Use of Social Media, Gold
May 2018

More online at www.georgiamagazine.org

* Puppy love: March 23 was National
Puppy Day, and Flint Energies in Reynolds could not resist celebrating. The
co-op donated nearly 800 pounds of dog
(and cat) food to TriCounty Animal Rescue,
Friends of Perry Animal Shelter and Peach
County Animal Rescue.
* Co-ops and agriculture: Carrollton-based
Carroll EMC invites
students involved with
agriculture to come
to the co-op every year for FFA Day. This
year's event was on Feb. 21, and sessions
addressed the use of drones in agriculture, Carroll EMC scholarship opportunities and the importance of beekeeping to
the agriculture industry. The co-op also
conducted a high-voltage safety demonstration for the students.
* Walk this way: Associates from the
Tucker-based Family of Companies-
Georgia EMC, Oglethorpe Power Corp.,
Georgia System Operations Corp. and
Georgia Transmission Corp.-participated
in the Atlanta Community Food Bank's
Hunger Walk/Run for the ninth year on
Feb. 25. The team raised $1,800 through
participant registrations and company
and individual donations. The event raised
more than $578,000 total for the food bank.
15

JENNIE LACEY

At a March 7 news conference at the State
Capitol, it was announced that Monroebased Walton EMC will power Facebook's
new data center with renewable energy.

COURTESY SOUTHERN RIVERS ENERGY

HEATHER TEILHET

uring a March 7 news conference
at the State Capitol in Atlanta,
Gov. Nathan Deal announced
that Facebook will partner with Monroe-based Walton Electric Membership Corp. (EMC), which will provide
100 percent renewable energy to
power a new data center coming
to Newton County.
The electric co-op will install
hundreds of acres of solar panels as
part of an innovative power-supply
agreement, which will result in the
largest single power load served by
an EMC in Georgia.
"We are happy that we could
guarantee the renewable-energy solution that Facebook was searching
for," Walton EMC CEO Ronnie Lee
said. "And we are pleased to be partnering with them on a power-supply
arrangement that can serve as a positive economic and environmental
template for future industrial developments throughout the nation."
Facebook will create at least 100
full-time jobs and invest $750 million
over the next five years.
"We are committed to powering our data centers with 100 percent clean and renewable energy,

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - May 2018