NEWS FROM WESTERN AREA POWER ADMINISTRATION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 4, 2005
MEDIA CONTACT: LaVerne Kyriss, 720-962-7051, kyriss@wapa.gov

AGENCIES PURCHASE BIOMASS, WIND CERTIFICATES

LAKEWOOD, Colo.—Ten energy agencies and an Army base teamed up to buy renewable energy credits.

They will purchase renewable energy certificates for five years—accounting for 117,825 MWhs each year. The agencies include:

• Berkeley Lab, Lawrence Livermore Lab and Stanford Linear Acceleratory Center, Calif.—25,000 MWh
• Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas—2,500 MWh
• Kansas City Plant, Kan.—4,500 MWh
• Sandia National Laboratories, N.M.—6,700 MWh
• Los Alamos National Laboratory, N.M.—12,000 MWh
• Fort Carson, Colo.—40,000 MWh
• Golden Field Office and Central Regional Office, Colo.—625 MWh
• National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden, Colo.—11,500 MWh
• Western Area Power Administration—15,000 MWh

The certificates will come from biomass generation from the Sierra Pacific Industries' sawmill sites in Anderson, Lincoln and Sonora, Calif. Certificates will also come from wind generation from Nebraska Public Power District's wind farm in Ainsworth, Neb., and the Mountain View wind site in Palm Springs, Calif. All certificates are supplied by Sterling Planet, Inc., a third party marketer.

Renewable energy certificates, also known as green tags, are the intangible environmental benefits associated with generating one megawatthour of electric energy by a renewable resource. They don't require the energy to be physically delivered to the buyer, but instead offset the difference between cost of the renewable power and power from fossil energy sources. Purchasing green tags helps to meet the goals outlined in the "Greening the Government Through Efficient Energy Management" initiative. The initiative provides goals for Federal agencies to expand the use of renewable energy.

Western coordinated the requests for proposal for all the agencies and also committed to purchasing some of the green tags. "It's easy and cost effective to get renewable energy certificates through this program," explained Theresa Williams, Western’s Renewable Resources for Federal Agencies project manager. "We, at Western, are pleased to continue our commitment to support renewable energy."

For more about Western's renewable resources program, log on to Western's Green Tags Web site.

Western Area Power Administration annually markets and transmits more than 10,000 megawatts of power from hydroelectric powerplants owned and operated by the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 15 western and central states.  It is part of the Department of Energy.

PO Box 281213 Lakewood , CO 80228-2802 · Phone: 720-962-7050 · Toll Free: 1-800-982-4523
Fax: 720-962-7059 · E-mail: CorpComm@wapa.gov· Web site: http://www.wapa.gov

Serving the West with Federal hydropower

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