HOUSTON, Miss. (WTVA) -- Waste Management held their ribbon cutting for a landfill facility in Houston today that will make the 6th facility of it's kind in Mississippi, and what they are doing is converting what you throw out into electricity for Mississippi.
"In a landfill there is a natural process generating methane gas," says Rene Faucheux with Waste Management. "What we do is through a series of wells we capture that gas bring in to the new facility here where that power is used to generate huge engines that create electricity that are transfered to the Natchez Trace power grid."
Partnering with Waste Management is TVA who buys their electricity and although this type of electricity won't soon be their main type they say it is becoming more common.
"TVA is focused on a balanced portfolio of energy generation," says Kim Green with TVA. "Coal will always be part of our portfolio, but we will get less of our energy through coal powered plants in the future and see more out of natural gas and renewable projects such as this waste management project."
Speaking of future the Governor was at the grand opening on Wednesday and says the technology amazes him, and reminds him of one of his favorite movies.
"They developed an automobile that I am sure ran off electricity of some type and all you needed for fuel was garbage," says Governor Phil Bryant. "Well here we are back to the future."
TVA says customers won't see a decrease in electric bills the Governor says people should feel good about what this technology can do for Mississippi.
"What we are trying to do is not have those costs up," says Governor Bryant. "It is simply supply and demand. The more energy you have that you can supply electricity with the lower the costs will be. So whether it is biofuels, natural gas, clean coal gasification process we are able to provide those lower costs electric bills to not only homeowners but businesses who come here to create jobs because of the low cost and sustainability."
