Renewable Energy Workshop Tuesday at Chopticon H.S.

HUGHESVILLE, Md. (Sept. 29, 2008)—A workshop scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 30, will give residents the opportunity to learn about the new initiatives in Maryland supporting renewable energy sources, including wind and solar energy. The Renewable Energy Workshop is being held in the Chopticon High School Auditorium starting at 6:30 pm and is sponsored by the Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission.

The workshop offers a panel of experts addressing new legislation, potential funding sources, and practical how-to information. The workshop, which is free to the public, will be moderated by Delegate Sally Jameson and Senator Mac Middleton. State officials, geothermal experts, and representatives from SMECO and Solar Tech, Inc. will be on-hand to speak with the public.

SolarTech, Inc. consults and installs solar electric systems, small wind turbine systems, and solar hot water systems.

"These systems are the future," said Shannon Schmidt, a representative of the company. "Wind energy has a lot of potential in various areas of the Southern Maryland region."

Herb Reigel of SMECO will discuss interconnecting distributed generation to the local electric power system.

"SMECO is committed to and supports renewable energies," said Reigel. "We work with customers now on interconnecting their systems to ensure safe and reliable connectivity to the grid. As a cooperative owned by its members, SMECO strives to gauge customer interest in new initiatives and it is our responsibility to offer competitively priced energy and offer conservation efforts to help our members."

Chopticon H.S. is located at 25390 Colton Point Road, Morganza, Md. 20660.