Oregon Public Broadcasting

Several big east coast energy companies are moving into the business of making electricity out of logging leftovers.

Thursday, a Maryland-based joint venture announced plans to build a $250 million bioenergy plant in Shelton, on Washington's Olympic Peninsula.

Tom Banse reports it could be the first of as many as five such electric plants built by the venture across the Northwest.

ADAGE is the name of the joint venture between electric power company Duke Energy and global nuclear services giant Areva.

They created their joint venture to build wood waste-to-energy power plants around the country.

ADAGE president Reed Wills announced the first Northwest outpost will be in the struggling timber town of Shelton, Washington.

Reed Wills: "With the saw timber that is extracted from the forest there is a lot of waste material.  Right now, that material is burned in the open. It releases particulate pollution and carbon emissions.  What we want to do is bring that into a controlled environment."

Wills says the proposed power plant would generate electricity for about 40,000 homes.

ADAGE is hoping to get green energy tax breaks and federal stimulus money. 

Government definitions of renewable energy usually include electricity generated from burning wood chips and tree trimmings.  That's because the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere is reabsorbed when a forest regrows.

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ADAGE LLC