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2008 Award Winners
Download the 2008 Green Power Leadership Awards Booklet (PDF) (41 pp, 1.7MB, About PDF)
EPA Green Power Purchaser Awards
On-Site Generation
Kohl’s Department Stores
Lundberg Family FarmsGreen Power Purchasing
City of Houston, Texas
The Estee Lauder Companies, Inc. / Operations
ING
Merritt 7 Venture, LLC
Oregon State University
PepsiCo, Inc.
The Philadelphia Phillies
Powdr Resorts
U.S. Air ForceGreen Power Partner of the Year
Bellingham, Washington Community
Cisco Systems, Inc.
Intel Corporation
University of Pennsylvania
WhiteWave Foods Company
DOE Green Power Supplier Awards
New Green Power Program or Company
AmerenUESmall Residential/Commercial Green Power Program or Supplier of the Year
City of Palo Alto UtilitiesLarge Commercial/Institutional Green Power Program or Supplier of the Year
3Degrees
Sterling Planet
CRS Market Development Awards
Green Power Beacon Award
Portland General Electric
Honorable Mention: Detroit EdisonGreen Power Pilot Award
Energy Action Coalition
Honorable Mention: Green Mountain EnergyGreen Power Pioneer
Jan Hamrin
The 2008 Green Power Leadership Awards were presented in conjunction with the National Renewable Energy Marketing Conference, held October 26-29 in Denver, Colorado. A description of each 2008 Award Winner follows.
EPA Green Power Purchaser Awards
On-Site Generation
Kohl’s Department Stores
Based in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, Kohl’s is a family-focused, value-oriented specialty department store offering moderately priced, exclusive and national brand apparel, shoes, accessories, beauty and home products. Kohl’s strives to be a leading environmentally responsible retailer through focused resource stewardship by its associates and vendors.
Kohl’s currently buys or produces power from green sources equal to 20 percent of its annual electricity use for stores, offices and distribution centers nationwide. This amount equals more than 236 million kilowatt-hours annually. Kohl’s plans to maintain its 20 percent purchase through 2009, and is on contract to have 133 on-site solar photovoltaic arrays installed on rooftops in Oregon, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland. Kohl’s has currently activated 48 of these systems, with 52 more planned by the end of 2008.
A member of EPA’s Green Power Partnership since 2006, Kohl’s also received a 2007 Green Power Leadership Award.
Lundberg Family Farms
Lundberg Family Farms is a family owned and operated farm committed to growing and producing organic rice and rice products in the Sacramento Valley of Northern California. Lundberg’s environmentally focused philosophy has made green power a natural fit for the company.
Lundberg’s annual purchase of over 4 million kilowatt-hours of California wind-derived renewable energy certificates is enough to supply more than 100 percent of the operation’s total electricity use. Lundberg’s purchase currently represents the largest U.S. renewable energy commitment by an agribusiness. In addition to this purchase, Lundberg installed two solar photovoltaic arrays on company warehouses, which produce nearly 688 thousand kilowatt-hours annually. Both systems feed into the California power grid, enabling them to contribute extra power to the grid during the summer months when the state’s power demands are the highest.
Lundberg features its purchase on product packaging and spreads the word about green power through its public web page, speaking events, newsletters and at industry trade shows. Multiple local broadcast stations have also featured stories about the company’s green power activities.
Lundberg received a Green Power Leadership Award in 2004.
Green Power Purchasing Awards
City of Houston, Texas
The City of Houston’s comprehensive renewable energy plan calls for the purchase of fixed-price green power, which will help to offset the rising cost of conventional electricity. As part of this plan, the city has bought more than 350 million kilowatt-hours of wind-derived renewable energy certificates, enough to meet nearly 27 percent of its annual electricity needs, at a cost lower than traditional electricity. Houston’s purchase ranks among the largest in the Green Power Partnership, placing the city on both EPA’s National Top 50 and Top Local Government lists.
Houston has a goal of buying an added 40 megawatts of wind energy and hosting several solar photovoltaic projects. The city actively sends out communications to the media and public through press releases, newsletters, and website announcements to increase awareness about green power. The city of Houston also developed two websites: one helps the public learn about green power benefits, and the other compares the costs of different kinds of energy, including green power. Further, as a leader among municipal green power buyers, the City has taken part in an EPA-sponsored green power webinar to share its strategy of buying wind power with others. Houston also takes an active roll in presenting its model of success to other local governments and to industry groups.
The Estée Lauder Companies, Inc. / Operations
The Estée Lauder Companies is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of beauty care products. The company’s 36 million kilowatt-hour wind purchase powers 100 percent of its U.S. manufacturing, distribution, research and development and owned office spaces. In addition to the wind purchase, the company also installed a 600-kilowatt solar photovoltaic array at its Oakland, New Jersey facility, one of the largest solar photovoltaic projects in the state.
The company’s U.S. purchase is part of a larger initiative to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, which also includes purchases for global facilities, and preferential status to the company’s suppliers that use green power. In 2008, The Estée Lauder Companies is planning to install additional on-site systems to power other facilities within its operations.
The Estée Lauder Companies communicates its environmental values to customers, employees and shareholders as a vital part of its sustainability goals. The company uses window decals and ads to promote its green power purchase to customers in retail stores, and actively communicates to employees and stakeholders through newsletters, reports, and employee education events.
ING
ING is a global financial institution of Dutch origin offering banking, investments, life insurance and retirement services to over 85 million private, corporate and institutional clients in more than 50 countries. The company’s annual purchase of more than 75 million kilowatt-hours of wind-derived renewable energy certificates (RECs) supplies
100 percent of the electricity needs for its U.S. operations. ING’s parent company, ING Group, played an important role in developing ING’s U.S. green power procurement strategy, drawing on the company’s experience in buying green power for its Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium operations.
Through its green power purchase, ING seeks to increase awareness of environmental issues. The company has successfully expanded its outreach to influence those within and outside the organization, using e-mails, presentations, surveys, on-site displays and newsletters. The company’s first green power purchase inspired employees to create a corporate-wide greening effort called “Orange Goes Green,” which educates employees about renewable energy. Through this program, ING encourages its employees to sign up for wind power at home and to also adopt energy efficiency measures.
Part of ING’s green power purchase includes participation in a Connecticut green power program through the local utility, which earmarks a free solar photovoltaic system to a local community for every 1 million kilowatt-hour purchase. ING plans to have its donated systems placed on a library and a school.
Merritt 7 Venture, LLC
Located in the heart of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Merritt 7 Corporate Park is a Class A office park with six office buildings that measures roughly 1.4 million square feet. Its innovative campus has been recognized for its sustainability practices, including energy efficiency, and for buying green power. The company has taken a broad view of energy efficiency, from replacing water pumps and common area lighting fixtures, to upgrading elevator mechanical equipment and replacing cooling towers. Merritt 7 also installed data metering devices to enable the landlord to record electricity consumption and provide control of unusual conditions or spikes in electricity use. After working toward ideal energy efficiency, the company made a renewable energy certificate (REC) purchase of more than 21 million kilowatt-hours, or 100 percent of the organization’s remaining electricity use.
Merritt 7 offers sessions to building tenants to educate them on green buildings and avenues to buy green power products. Home to long-term tenants of many well-known brand names, the company hopes to provide information that will drive change within its tenant population and beyond, to branch offices across the country.
Oregon State University
Oregon State University’s (OSU) purchase of nearly 67 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy certificates (RECs) is equal to nearly 75 percent of the total campus electricity consumption. The University’s purchase places the school on EPA’s list of Top 20 College and University green power purchasers. The school funded its purchase through a student “Green Fee” approved during a general campus election, and resulted in a purchase of RECs from a mix of biogas, biomass and wind resources. The Green Fee produced the highest voter turnout in OSU history, with more than 70 percent of voting students supporting the initiative.
As a part of OSU’s purchase agreement, its green power supplier will set aside a part of each payment into a reinvestment fund that will finance an on-site solar photovoltaic project in 2009.
The University advises students about the Green Fee and the REC purchase at table displays during campus events. It also offers information to help students reach the campus goal of 100 percent.
PepsiCo, Inc
PepsiCo is one of the world’s largest food and beverage companies, with 2007 annual revenues of more than $39 billion. The company employs roughly 185,000 people worldwide, and its products are sold in approximately 200 countries. Its principal businesses include: Frito-Lay snacks, Pepsi-Cola beverages, Gatorade sports drinks, Tropicana juices and Quaker foods.
PepsiCo currently buys or produces power from green sources equal to 100 percent of its electricity purchased in the United States. This amount totals more than 1.1 billion kilowatt-hours annually. The large size of its purchase places the company on both EPA’s National Top 50 and Fortune 500 lists of green power purchasers. In 2008, PepsiCo increased its purchase amount by nearly 40 million kilowatt-hours per year to keep pace with growth in the company’s U.S. operations.
Buying green power is only one aspect of PepsiCo’s comprehensive and continuing program of environmental sustainability. When undertaking such programs, PepsiCo focuses on internal efficiency improvements, communication with supply chain partners and external opportunities to reach beyond the boundary of the company's own facilities.
PepsiCo demonstrated leadership through organizing a green supply chain initiative with three of its bottlers. The bottlers followed PepsiCo’s lead and each independently bought 100 percent green power for their own operations. For its leadership, PepsiCo was awarded EPA’s Green Power Partner of the Year Award in 2007.
The Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are the first Major League Baseball team to join EPA’s Green
Power Partnership. The club currently buys 20 million kilowatt-hours annually, enough to power 100 percent of the annual electricity use for Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies’ purchase of renewable energy certificates (RECs) are from wind and biomass resources.
The Phillies “Red Goes Green” announcement included notable attendees such as EPA’s regional administrator, the governor of Pennsylvania, the mayor of Philadelphia, Major
League Baseball’s executive vice president and chief information officer, as well as the Phillies’ president and chief executive officer. A Major League Baseball game followed the announcement, where players sported green hats, drawing questions from both media and fans. Broadcasters explained the significance of the green hats and the REC purchase to viewers during a live TV broadcast. The media event drew attention from local, regional and national news agencies including ESPN, FOX, CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC, Sports Illustrated and many more. Since the event, four other major league clubs have contacted the Phillies to learn more about its REC purchase.
Powdr Resorts
Headquartered in Park City, Utah, Powdr Resorts owns seven resort complexes across the United States, including Park City Mountain Resort in Utah, Killington Resort and Pico Resort in Vermont, Mt. Bachelor in Oregon, Boreal Resort and Soda Springs Resort in
California, Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort in Nevada, and Gorgoza Park, a tubing park in Utah. Powdr Resorts’ annual purchase of nearly 50 million kilowatt-hours of wind-derived renewable energy certificates (RECs) is enough to supply 100 percent of the operation's total electricity use.
With many visitors each season, Powdr Resorts recognizes a great opportunity to reach out to its guests and share its story about green power. On its website, www.saveoursnow.net, the organization prominently provides details about its renewable energy purchase, and also holds community meetings to educate others on what they can do. Powdr Resorts also shares green power news in vacation planning guides provided to hotels and resort visitors.
In the future, the organization plans to place interactive kiosks in key locations around the resorts. Each kiosk will provide information about wind energy and show the energy generation capacities of a small wind turbine. Powdr Resorts expects the kiosks to receive more than one million visits per year.
U.S. Air Force
The U.S. Air Force made an annual purchase of more than 899 million kilowatt-hours, establishing it as the top federal government buyer of green power and ranking it among the largest buyers on EPA’s National Top 50 list. The purchases made by 54 bases consist of a varied resource mix of biomass, wind, landfill gas and solar, delivered by a diverse product mix of renewable energy certificates (RECs), utility-delivered products and on-site systems.
The U.S. Air Force has complemented its renewable power purchases with several on-site renewable energy projects. Projects include wind farms at Warren Air Force Base (AFB) (3.3 megawatt) and Ascension Island (2.7 megawatt). In addition, the U.S. Air Force has a landfill gas project at Hill AFB (2.3 megawatt), as well as 3 solar photovoltaic arrays at Nellis AFB (14.2 megawatt), Luke AFB (a 0.4 megawatt) and March AFB (0.4 megawatt). The solar photovoltaic array at Nellis AFB is considered the largest solar array in the Western Hemisphere.
By taking part in industry and federal workshops, U.S. Air Force energy leaders encourage participants to embrace the benefits of green power. The U.S. Air Force is a previous winner of a Green Power Leadership Award in 2004, and received a Partner of the Year Award in 2003 and 2005.
Partner of the Year
Bellingham, Washington Community
Bellingham, Washington, is a coastal community near the Canadian border, rated by several popular magazines as the best place to live in the United States. The community received EPA’s Partner of the Year Award in 2007 and continues to display national leadership in the purchase and support of green power.
In early 2007, by a unanimous city council vote, the Bellingham local government chose to lead by example by buying 100 percent green power for all city-owned facilities. Later the same year, the city partnered with the local utility’s green power program and a local non-profit organization to launch the Bellingham Green Power Community Challenge. The goal of the challenge was to increase green power purchasing among the city’s residents and businesses to more than 2 percent of the city-wide electricity use.
To date, the community has far surpassed that original goal and is now buying more than 81 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy certificates (RECs). This amounts to nearly 11 percent of the community’s total electricity use. More than 2,400 households and businesses have enrolled to buy green power through the challenge. The community’s purchase resulted in EPA recognizing the Community of Bellingham as the first EPA Green Power Community in Washington State.
Cisco Systems, Inc.
Cisco Systems, Inc. is a multinational company with annual revenues of more than $39.5 billion. Cisco is a worldwide leader in networking technology that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Cisco believes that technology has the power to help the world manage its environmental challenges and is using networking technology to reduce its own environmental footprint. In June 2008, the organization announced a corporate global greenhouse gas reduction goal of 25 percent in absolute terms by 2012, sending a strong message that corporate growth and environmental protection can go hand in hand.
Cisco is using green power both in the United States and internationally as a strategy to meet its greenhouse gas reduction goal. The company’s annual purchase in the United States of 378 million kilowatt-hours of green power is supplied mainly from biomass, wind, solar and small hydro sources. Cisco’s purchase represents nearly 44 percent of its total annual electricity across its U.S. operations, and places the company among the largest buyers of green power on EPA’s National Top 50 list. To support the green power industry, Cisco buys from small and mid-sized suppliers. Cisco plans to increase its green power purchase by 22 million kilowatt-hours in 2009, including various on-site renewable electric systems for its facilities.
Intel Corporation
Intel Corporation, a world leader in silicon innovation, develops technologies, products and initiatives to advance how people work and live. Currently, Intel powers over 46 percent of its U.S. facilities through the purchase of more than 1.3 billion kilowatt-hours a year of renewable energy certificates (RECs) generated from wind, solar, geothermal and biomass sources. Intel’s purchase ranks among the largest in the Green Power Partnership, placing it on EPA’s National Top 50 and Fortune 500 purchaser lists.
Intel’s purchase is just one part of a multi-faceted approach to protect the environment, and one the company hopes will spur added development and demand for renewable energy. In addition, Intel Corporation’s venture capital arm, Intel Capital, invests selectively in various Cleantech-related domains, including solar photovoltaics, with the objective to hasten innovation in start-ups and use of renewables worldwide. Besides promoting greater energy efficiency in its products and facilities, over the last six years Intel has invested over $21 million towards more than 250 energy conservation projects that saved over 500 million kilowatt-hours.
To increase awareness of this landmark purchase, the company launched a comprehensive communications plan around the announcement which included press outreach in both traditional and social media publications, as well as print and online advertising. Intel launched a new environmentally-focused website that featured the announcement and included partners such as EPA, Green-e and the company’s green power provider. Intel takes part in speaking engagements, workshops and seminars to help ensure that the actions of support continue to affect the market. Lastly, Intel ran a high-visibility employee awareness campaign of the announcement in its U.S. facilities. The company continues to evaluate added opportunities in the alternative and renewable energy arena.
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania buys nearly 193 million kilowatt-hours of wind-generated renewable energy certificates (RECs), an amount equivalent to 46 percent of its total purchased electricity use. The purchase is large enough to have placed Penn on both
EPA’s National Top 50 and Top 20 Colleges and Universities purchaser lists.
The University is funding its wind power purchase with savings achieved through aggressive energy conservation. Over the past few years, the University reduced peak electricity demand by 18 percent. Penn’s long-term commitment to buying green power helps support developing new wind generation facilities, including a 12-turbine, 20-megawatt Pennsylvania wind farm. In 2007, Penn’s President became the first in the Ivy League to sign the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment. As a result, Penn formed the Environmental Sustainability Advisory Committee comprised of faculty, students and staff working across multiple disciplines to research and write a long range plan for reducing Penn’s carbon footprint. In addition, Penn formed the Green Campus Partnership as an umbrella group to promote Penn’s commitment to sustainability and advocate for enhanced policies at Penn.
EPA recognized the University of Pennsylvania as a Green Power Leadership Award winner in 2002 and as a Green Power Partner of the Year in 2003.
WhiteWave Foods Company
This is the fifth year that EPA has recognized WhiteWave Foods Company with an EPA Green Power Leadership Award. The company has a rich history of supporting green power, beginning in 2003 with its first purchase of renewable energy certificates (RECs) for the Silk® Soymilk brand operations. In 2004, the company began buying RECs to cover the operations for the Horizon Organic® brand, and in 2006 for the electricity used at the company’s corporate headquarters. In 2008, WhiteWave added the International Delight® and Land O’Lakes® creamer brands by increasing the company’s overall purchase to more than 98 million kilowatt-hours annually.
To further build on the impact of its REC purchases, WhiteWave helps engage and educate its customers, partners and media about the benefits of green power. WhiteWave promotes green power on its Silk and Horizon Organic packaging and offers unique consumer incentives and promotions. For two years running, Silk has engaged consumers in learning more about wind energy with its Green Caps for Green Energy program. Consumers who buy qualifying Silk products can enter the products’ UPC numbers at SilkSoymilk.com, and for each UPC entered, Silk donates 30 kilowatt-hours of RECs for its customers.
WhiteWave also buys green power for electricity used at events, such as the Farm Aid concert and Natural Products Expo tradeshows, to help spread the word about the benefits of renewable energy. WhiteWave continues to use online tools to help drive consumers to learn more about green power and to make informed decisions.
DOE Green Power Supplier Awards
New Green Power Program or Company
AmerenUE
AmerenUE’s Pure Power program is the largest green pricing program offered in the Midwest to date. The program utilizes resources from Bluegrass Ridge, a
Missouri Wind Farm, and Noble Hill, a Missouri landfill gas project. The Pure Power program was launched in October 2007 with a special celebration featuring a 131-foot wind turbine blade, an appearance by St. Louis Mayor and several Pure Power “early adopters.”
From the start, the company understood the importance of direct public outreach and education and has taken a grassroots approach, resulting in tremendous community response. So far, the AmerenUE Pure Power team has attended over 53 public events; 8 large corporate-sponsored events, such as Anheuser Busch Employee Earth Day and the Pfizer Green Celebration; and has presented to over 37 local organizations, including several local municipalities that have since signed on to the program. The company supports commercial customers that participate in the program, often by bringing educational presentations and booth displays directly to the customer’s site over lunch-time to educate employees.
In early 2008 the utility worked with the City of Plattsburg to establish the first EPA Green Power Community Challenge in the state of Missouri. The challenge provided a perfect opportunity to educate the public, and resulted in residential, business and government enrollments—including all 17 public buildings at 100 percent.
Small Residential/Commercial Green Power Program or Supplier of the Year
City of Palo Alto Utilities
PaloAltoGreen (PAG) draws renewable energy from 100 percent new, local and regional wind and solar resources, all from projects that have come on-line since 2005. Just five years since the program’s launch, total sales are 59 million kilowatt hours annually and the customer participation rate is 20.4 percent, the highest rate in the nation.
The City of Palo Alto constantly works to add value to its customer programs. New PAG participants receive a welcome kit, along with marketing and public relations support. One of the newest benefits offered is the “PaloAltoGreen Team,” a discount rewards card program for residents and businesses participating in PaloAltoGreen. The program promotes participating businesses that use renewable energy and rewards residents with discounts to those local businesses. The program was launched at Palo Alto’s Greenstock, a free event sponsored by PaloAltoGreen, which featured renewable energy workshops, live music, and a speech by the Mayor of Palo Alto.
Full support for PaloAltoGreen extends from the top down. In July, the city increased its own purchase of renewable energy, providing City Hall and the city’s water treatment plant with 30 percent of their electricity use.
Large Commercial/Institutional Green Power Program or Supplier of the Year
3Degrees
3Degrees continues to support a large, high-quality portfolio of renewable energy projects in 23 states from wind, solar, landfill gas and biomass sources, including many with ten-year Renewable Energy Certificate offtake arrangements. 3Degrees serves more than 200 U.S. and international business customers, as well as five utilities in three states (California, Oregon and Missouri) for its highly successful turnkey utility green pricing partnerships. The company’s annual sales recently reached 4 billion kilowatt hours, and it serves 6 of the top 15 corporate purchases nationally.
3Degrees works closely with corporate customers to engage their diverse stakeholders, including employees, end-use customers and companies in the supply chain. 3Degrees utilizes a wide range of unique customer support tactics, including a comprehensive online toolkit for customers, providing them with a variety of templates for communications and educational materials.
3Degrees’ partnerships with utility green pricing programs deploy a “wrap around the community” approach, which involves community-based awareness building, as well as direct enrollment tactics and community outreach. This approach yielded an average 7.5 percent participation rate across all of 3Degrees’ diverse set of partnerships, more than 4 times the national average for green pricing programs. By implementing community challenges in conjunction with its utility partners, 3Degrees has increased residential participation in several utility programs by an average of 50 percent.
3Degrees’ efforts in building the market for renewable energy have resulted in the company currently supporting over 1.1 Gigawatts of new renewable energy capacity.
Large Commercial/Institutional Green Power Program or Supplier of the Year
Sterling Planet
Sterling Planet delivers renewable energy, energy-efficiency products and carbon solutions to multinational businesses, universities, government agencies, utilities and individual consumers. Since 2000, Sterling Planet has offered certified RECs from wind, solar and a broad range of other renewable energy resources.
The company’s client list includes 1,460 business customers, among them the nation’s top two renewable energy purchasers and leaders in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership. Sterling Planet has also served 56 colleges and universities, 85 utilities, 156 government agencies and thousands of residential customers. The company’s annual REC sales, from June 2007 to June 2008, totaled 4.5 billion kilowatt-hours.
Sterling Planet is building a clean energy pipeline, with more than 400 megawatts of new renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction projects now under development in North America. A U.S. EPA Climate Leaders partner and founding member of The Climate Registry, Sterling Planet adheres to sustainable business practices and has committed to net zero greenhouse gas emissions from its own company operations.
Awarded a Green Power Leadership Award by the U.S. Department of Energy for the second consecutive year, Sterling Planet shares the spotlight with its many customers who have also received top environmental honors for their exemplary corporate stewardship.
CRS Market Development Awards
Green Power Beacon Award
Portland General Electric
In an innovative effort to bring business and residential renewable power customers together, Portland General Electric (PGE) created an online “green community” through the launch of their GreenPowerOregon.com Web site.
The site is available to all PGE customers, with special content available only to renewable power customers. Several hundred customers are registered on the site, with more than 10,000 unique visitors to the site in the first couple of months after launch.
Local businesses have experienced a great response from the site’s online coupons, including lines out the door and 300 coupons redeemed from PGE’s site at one bakery.
There are several key interactive elements on the site, including an easy-to-use green power calculator that helps customers determine the environmental impact of their energy choices and how much it costs to sign up for renewable power. In addition, visitors can view maps of renewable power generation sites, habitat projects funded by the program, and discover which neighborhoods (by zip code) are leading the pack in the renewable revolution.
PGE runs one of the top ranked utility green pricing programs in the U.S., according to National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) 2007 rankings for sales of renewable energy to residential customers. Launching GreenPowerOregon.com is a groundbreaking way for PGE to go beyond corporate constraints and create an exciting, dynamic way to reach customers. It has created a two-way communication flow with customers and enhanced renewable energy sales and retention efforts.
Portland General Electric received a Green Power Leadership Award in 2006.
Green Power Beacon Award – Honorable Mention
To help promote enrollments in its fledgling renewable energy program, GreenCurrents, Detroit Edison entered into a partnership with a landmark music venue in Ann Arbor, Michigan known as The Ark. The Ark attracts up-and-coming music acts and well-known artists from around the country who enjoy playing to audiences in its intimate atmosphere.
The electricity for select events at The Ark was offset by renewable energy obtained through the GreenCurrents program, and audience members were also encouraged to enroll in the program. Each customer enrolling during the event received a free CD of the evening’s featured artist. The program proved so popular that the event was extended from a weekly “Take a Chance Tuesdays” event into a “Green Month” of concerts, and now into a continuing series of “Green Events.” The Green Events held in conjunction with The Ark have led to more than 1,600 new enrollments into the GreenCurrents program. The program was launched in April of 2007, and total program enrollment currently stands at over 14,000.
The grassroots exposure for the program has made marketing its benefits and educating the public on renewable energy substantially easier. GreenCurrents carries Green-e certification to ensure customer confidence and support for the program. This is the first voluntary renewable energy program from a major U.S. utility serving southeastern Michigan and including the Detroit metro area.
Green Power Pilot Award
Energy Action Coalition
The 46 environmental and social justice organizations, over 700 local groups, and tens of thousands of young people that make up the Energy Action Coalition are leading the way in addressing climate change by creating vast networks of power, winning clean energy victories on campuses and in communities, and building a cleaner, healthier, and just future. In May 2005, Energy Action Coalition launched the Campus Climate Challenge to unite students and young people in achieving 100% clean energy policies on 1,000 campuses over three years. To date, they have reached over 2 million young people through the challenge and over 760 campuses have joined the campaign.
Spearheading an impressive movement, the Energy Action Coalition has also secured over 550 signatures on the American Colleges and Universities Presidents Climate Commitment, which mandates immediate action from colleges and universities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The American Colleges and Universities Presidents Climate Commitment is for 15% of each institution’s energy consumption to come from renewable sources within two years. A vast percentage of these institutions include a green power purchase as part of their commitment.
Students who work with the Energy Action Coalition have also created systems at their colleges and universities to help individual students purchase green power. The Campus Climate Challenge has resulted in several hundred green power purchases from institutions of higher education and has engaged thousands of youth in local advocacy work that has resulted in green power partnerships.
Green Power Pilot Award – Honorable Mention
Green Mountain Energy Company
After conducting primary research in both the Rio Grande Valley and Houston, Texas markets, Green Mountain Energy Company found that the Hispanic population in these areas was highly interested in clean electricity and Green Mountain’s product offering. In early April 2008, Green Mountain launched its first integrated advertising and PR campaign targeting the Hispanic market in Texas. A media plan that included a combination of both English and Spanish language advertising, and a comprehensive media mix of TV, radio, print and outdoor, was designed for maximum effectiveness.
The campaign also included a phone line staffed by Spanish-speaking representatives and the launch of a new website in Spanish. As a result, Green Mountain has experienced a 107% year-on-year increase in Spanish phone communications, driving significant traffic to the Spanish website, and had a 277% increase in Spanish-speaking sales just in the first month of the campaign.
Green Mountain’s approach to a comprehensive Hispanic communications campaign, founded in research and integrated throughout marketing, advertising, PR and sales channels, produced a successful launch and market opportunity. The company’s innovative campaign to an important and growing segment of the Texas population demonstrates leadership and proficiency in green power marketing.
Green Mountain Energy Company received Green Power Leadership Awards in 2001, 2002, and 2003.
Green Power Pioneer Award
Dr. Jan Hamrin
Over the past thirty years, Dr. Jan Hamrin has created a legacy of environmental and economic success. As founder of the nonprofit Center for Resource Solutions, Jan created the nationally known Green-e brand and certification programs for renewable energy, which provide consumer protection in evolving markets. The Green-e logo has become a premium mark of distinction among both buyers and sellers of renewable energy products because it builds upon a stringent set of standards to ensure that consumers who choose to pay a premium price for renewable energy are, in fact, getting a premium product.
Jan managed solar programs for the California Energy Commission in the late 1970s and later founded and led the Independent Energy Producers Association, pulling together renewable power and clean energy interests to affect policy and establish markets for non-utility power in the 1980s and 1990s.
Jan has served as advisor to the G-8 Renewable Energy Task Force, the International Energy Agency, and the Commission for Environmental Cooperation on renewable energy policy issues. Her portfolio of work includes developing an association of tracking systems for North America and shaping renewable energy policies in places like China, Brazil and Mexico. Jan’s leadership paved the way for “early actions” in greenhouse gas mitigation and carbon reductions that are today crucial components of California’s energy and environmental policies.
Jan's work in founding two pioneering nonprofit organizations has been a tremendous benefit to California over the past three decades. Her work continues to pay dividends by building the foundation for clean, renewable energy technologies and a viable energy marketplace, helping to create jobs and economic growth for the Western region, the country and internationally.
About the U.S. EPA’s Green Power Partnership
EPA’s Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program helping to increase the use of green power among leading U.S. organizations. The program encourages organizations to purchase green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with conventional electricity use. Partners include a wide variety of leading organizations such as Fortune 500 companies, local, state, and federal governments, trade associations, as well as colleges and universities. There are currently hundreds of Partner organizations buying billions of kilowatt-hours of green power annually.
About the Center for Resource Solutions
The Center for Resource Solutions is a nonprofit organization that makes it easier for people and businesses to understand and use renewable energy. CRS sponsors national and international programs that support the increased supply and use of renewable energy resources such as wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and low-impact hydroelectric power. CRS administers the Green-e Renewable Energy Certification Program, the nation’s leading certification and verification program that sets standards for renewable electricity-based products. To learn more about CRS, visit www.resource-solutions.org. 
About the U.S. Department of Energy’s Green Power Network
The Green Power Network is a U.S. government Web site providing green power market information. Additional information is available at http://apps3.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/.