Wednesday, January 26, 2022

My dad's name has been scrubbed from a Delaware solar farm after I informed energy companies of his dark history [UPDATED]

A day after I sent a letter to three companies developing a solar energy farm in Delaware named after my father, the late Henry J. Heimlich MD (best known for his namesake anti-choking maneuver), his name has been stripped from the project.

I learned of the project via this January 20, Cape Gazette item, Delaware Electric Cooperative solar projects to provide clean power:
Seven new utility-scale solar projects will begin providing clean energy to Delaware Electric Cooperative members over the next three years. The nonprofit utility has announced it will purchase power produced at solar facilities to be built across Kent and Sussex counties.

...Construction will also begin this year on the 4.5-megawatt Heimlich Solar Facility that will power about 900 Sussex County homes, farms and businesses. The project is a partnership between Delaware Electric Cooperative and Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, which is owned by DEC and 10 other nonprofit electric cooperatives.

The 35-acre facility is being built along Mile Stretch Road just west of Greenwood. Once completed, the facility will feature nearly 16,000 individual solar panels. The project is being managed by EDF Renewables Distributed Solutions, a developer of solar and battery storage projects in North America. The site, which is expected to begin producing power in late 2022, is named after Delaware native Henry Heimlich, who invented the Heimlich Maneuver.
Here's my January 24 inquiry to executives at the companies (click here to download a copy) and the email reply I received last night.



blogger inquiry

Christine Karlovic <Christine.Karlovic@edf-re.com>
To: "peter.heimlich@gmail.com" <peter.heimlich@gmail.com>
Cc: Sandi Briner <Sandi.Briner@edf-re.com>
Tue, Jan 25, 2022 at 7:41 PM

Dear Mr. Heimlich: 

 

Thank you for bringing to our attention the history relating to your late father and the naming of the solar project.  We have discussed the matter and will be changing the name of the project in the next couple of weeks to something more suitable.  

 

We thank you again for bringing your concern to our attention. 

 

Sincerely, 

 

Christine Karlovic 

EDFLogo

Christine Karlovic

Director, Communications

T: 1.917.371.5778


1/29/22 UPDATE

Via the Wayback Machine, a screenshot from San Diego-based EDF Renewables website about the project (with "Deleware" typo):



Same page today (with same typo):