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Silicon Valley Power, the City of Santa Clara's municipal electric utility, launched its new renewable energy offering, Santa Clara Green Power, in November 2004. After three short months, an impressive 1.5 percent of the community — 729 residential and business customers — has enrolled in the program, driving Santa Clara Green Power community participation above the national green pricing program average of 1.2 percent participation. With strong support for its new program, SVP is committed to reaching a 5 percent enrollment goal by Nov. 1, the first anniversary of the program's launch.
Santa Clara Green Power offers all Santa Clara residential and business electricity customers an easy and affordable way to support clean renewable energy through their utility bill. Each participant's choice to pay a small additional cost of only a penny and a half per kilowatt-hour (1.5 cents/KWh) above the standard electricity rate, supports 100% clean wind and solar energy within California and their own community. SVP launched its renewable option in response to customer requests and to further increase the already large amount of renewable energy it supports.
The 729 participants currently enrolled in Santa Clara Green Power pay the low additional program fee to fund renewable power generators to deliver wind and solar power to the regional power pool instead of non-renewable energy. As a result, over four million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions and other harmful particulate matter will be prevented from being released into the Earth's atmosphere annually. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the environmental benefit is equivalent to planting 540 acres of forest, enough to cover almost 5% of the City of Santa Clara, or not driving the average passenger vehicle over 4.5 million miles each year.
On behalf of Santa Clara Green Power program participants, SVP will purchase renewable energy credits from newly constructed wind farms and solar photovoltaic projects located within California. Additionally, a portion of the Santa Clara Green Power rate will support new solar facilities in the City of Santa Clara, such as the recently completed Haman Elementary School project, helping to bring new installations into the community. The average Santa Clara household using 470-kilowatt hours per month will pay an additional cost of only $7 per month to participate in the program. The actual cost will vary depending on monthly usage.
Santa Clara utility customers can enroll in Santa Clara Green Power by signing up through the secure Web site, sending an email that includes customer name, address, account and phone number or by calling (408) 244-SAVE (7283).Source: 3 Phases Energy, 2/2/2005.
Waverly Light and Power, a municipal electric utility serving 4,300 customers in northeast Iowa, has developed an additional green pricing option for its customers. Under its 'Green Power Choice' program, customers can make contributions to support the development of renewable energy sources in Waverly. The minimum contribution is $2 per month and all contributions are tax deductible.
Since 2001, WL&P has been selling wind power certificates under its 'Iowa
Energy Tags' program. Each "Tag" represents 2,500 kWh of wind power
output and is priced at $50, or 2.0¢/kWh. The tags are sourced from three
wind turbines owned and operated by the utility--one 900-kW turbine located
north of Waverly and two 750-kW turbines located near Alta, Iowa. Revenues
from the certificate sales will be used to develop additional wind projects.
Source: Green Power Marketing Monthly Update - January 2005
On Dec. 1, the City of Bowling Green (Ohio) Public Utilities Department announced a new green pricing program for its 13,600 municipal electricity customers, replacing a similar program that it offered for the past four years. In partnership with American Municipal Power-Ohio and Green Mountain Energy, the city is now offering the 'Nature's Energy' product, which is a blend of wind, landfill gas, and small hydropower resources.
Customers can purchase 'Nature's Energy' for 100 percent of their electricity needs at a rate premium of 1.3¢/kWh, which is slightly less than the 1.35¢/kWh premium charged under the previous program. The new program is also open to commercial customers who can buy 1,000-kWh increments of green power at the same 1.3¢/kWh premium. A portion of the power for the program comes from the AMP-Ohio/Green Mountain Energy wind farm located six miles west of the city. Two, 1.8-MW wind turbines were added to the site in 2004, bringing the total project capacity to 7.2 MW.
Since the city announced the new offering, it has experienced a nearly 30 percent increase in green pricing enrollment, bringing total participation to 464 customers or about 3.4 percent of its customer base. Source: Green Power Marketing Monthly Update - January 2005
ICF Consulting announced today
that it is expanding its commitment to environmental sustainability by offsetting
a portion of the company’s total U.S. electricity consumption with renewable
energy. This commitment is the largest known green power purchase by a consulting
company and is consistent with ICF Consulting’s ongoing leadership in
reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting environmentally sustainable
technologies.
To offset 24 percent of its total electricity use for all of its U.S. offices,
ICF Consulting purchased 1,227,000 kWh (kilowatt-hours) of electricity generated
from renewable resources. The green power comes from renewable energy certificates
generated from 50 percent wind power and 50 percent landfill gas. ICF Consulting
purchased RECs that are third-party certified by Green-e to ensure their accuracy
and quality.
ICF Consulting’s renewable energy purchase is enough to power 100 homes for one year and is equivalent to avoiding approximately 1.6 million pounds of carbon dioxide, a GHG that contributes to global warming. The purchase is equivalent to removing 150 cars from the road for one year.
With this renewable purchase, ICF Consulting has become a Partner in the U.S. EPA Green Power Partnership. “ICF Consulting is providing a great example of environmental leadership” says Kurt Johnson of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership. “Due to the outstanding nature of its green power purchase, ICF Consulting has been designated a Partner in the EPA’s Green Power Leadership Club.”
In a related effort demonstrating corporate leadership on best practices for GHG management, ICF Consulting is a member of the California Climate Action Registry, a voluntary registry of corporate GHG emissions baselines. ICF Consulting recently completed the certification of its annual GHG emissions inventory and earned the status of Climate Action Leader.
Source: Molly Sterkel, ICF Consulting, 2/5/2005.
Minneapolis, MN-based electricity and natural gas supplier Xcel Energy recently announced that it has begun negotiations with three wind power developers to add approximately 400 megawatts of wind-generated electricity to its power offering in Colorado. The company said it plans to complete the negotiations by March and to begin purchasing wind power from the new facilities by the end of the year.
"If negotiations are successful, these three power purchase agreements will nearly triple the company's wind power in Colorado, to more than 600 MW," said Xcel Energy vice president of resource planning and acquisition David Eves.
Last year, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission granted Xcel permission to issue a request for proposal to pursue "up to 500 MW of cost-effective renewable energy under the company's overall resource planning process." Xcel said it received bids for 17 projects from 12 companies, representing 2,000 MW of wind power. Source: EIN Renewable Energy Today, 1/26/2005.
In northeastern Colorado, the cattle living on private and commercial ranches easily outnumber the human population in nearby towns. Gary and Laura Teague own a commercial cattle-feeding business amid the region's rolling grasslands. Faced with rising energy prices and tougher environmental regulations, they are in the vanguard of Colorado ranchers who see animal waste as a promising alternative source of electricity. RMEL: February E-News, 2/1/2005.
The first edition of Eco-Newsletter has been published. This bimonthly supplement to eco-structure provides many of the same features, including the following sections:
Source: Christina Koch, Managing Editor, Eco-Newsletter, 2/1/2005.
Certificates Holt, E. and L. Bird, 2005. Emerging Markets for Renewable Energy
Certificates: Opportunities and Challenges, NREL/TP-620-37388. Golden, CO:
National
Renewable Energy Laboratory, January. (PDF 1.5 MB)
Source: Green Power Marketing Monthly Update - January 2005
The RMEL Foundation is offering scholarships to deserving students who plan to enter the electric industry. The scholarship deadline is March 15, 2005. The application and qualification specifications for the scholarship are available on the Web site. RMEL: February E-News, 2/1/2005.
The NWCC is holding its third Western Transmission Workshop this week in Sacramento, CA. See the Web site for what new wildlife and siting projects are underway, and for information on the next Transmission Briefing (formerly RTO). Source: Rachel Permut, National Wind Coordinating Committee, 1/31/2005.
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute invites you to a Congressional briefing addressing the economic and environmental benefits of geothermal power generation. According to the US Department of Energy’s GeoPowering the West Director, Susan Norwood, “geothermal is poised to be one of the most cost competitive clean sources of power in the coming years.” In light of issues raised by the upcoming budget and energy bill- including employment, energy security and expanding domestic energy needs- geothermal development offers the promise to create new jobs, provide environmental benefits, solidify community tax bases and produce reliable, cost effective energy. This briefing will examine the range of state and local developments and federal efforts that support continued advances in geothermal technology. The briefing panel will include:
These next few years will provide crucial building blocks for geothermal development due in part to the fact that developers, government agencies, utilities, financiers and the general public are beginning to understand the multi-faceted benefits of geothermal energy. Across the United States, state laws creating renewable portfolio standards, coupled with the expansion of the federal production tax credit to include geothermal energy and pending changes in the Geothermal Steam Act, have prompted widespread interest in geothermal energy. The US Department of Energy, in addition to supporting continued advances in geothermal technology, is catalyzing new growth through its GPW initiative. GPW recently awarded special project grants to 14 states interested in geothermal development. For example, Alaska will have its first geothermal power project come online at the Chena Hot Springs Resort where the direct use of geothermal energy will be complemented by on-site geothermal electricity generation. Meanwhile, Arizona has added geothermal to its RPS and is set to develop the Clifton Geothermal Project near Flagstaff in the next few years. Idaho will see its first geothermal power project, the Raft River project, come online in 2005 which will demonstrate new higher-efficiency power generation technology. With aid from the GPW program, Nevada’s RPS will bring 200 or more megawatts of geothermal power online, doubling the geothermal generation in the state.
Those states with ongoing geothermal development have profited from their endeavors. New Mexico has utilized direct use applications of geothermal energy that have significantly increased fish production and sales and have provided economic opportunities, particular in the state’s rural communities. Geothermal energy is California’s largest non-hydro renewable power source, supplying 6 percent of the state's electricity. By setting aggressive RPS goals for expanded renewable power production, California’s expectations are that geothermal production will at least double in the next decade with 2000 MW or more of new geothermal power plants producing power. Oregon is in a position to see the fastest geothermal growth in the coming years with meetings in place between geothermal stakeholders and the Bonneville Power Administration. In addition, states like Hawaii, Washington, Colorado, Montana, Texas and Wyoming also are anxious to explore the potential of geothermal power. The briefing is open to the public and no reservations are required. For more information, please contact Theresa Murzyn at 202/662-1884. Date of briefing: Feb. 8, 2005, 4 to 5 p.m. Location: 2318 Rayburn House Office Building. Source: EESI Congressional Briefing: Geothermal Energy, February 8, 2005.
This story is a rebuttal to last week’s published article regarding: The report -- Ending the Energy Stalemate: A Bipartisan Strategy to Meet America's Energy Needs—was released by the National Commission on Energy Policy. For further information, contact Scott Sklar at (202) 347-2214.
An organization composed of twelve clean energy leaders who each have over 25 years in the field, labeled the recently-released study by the National Commission on Energy Policy as a "well intentioned, but misguided attempt, to balance US climate change emissions goals with reliance primarily on traditional energy resources."
The leaders lambasted the National Commission for recommending a total of $12 billion for advanced coal technology and nuclear development compared to $1.5 billion for renewable energy sources as "business as usual". While the leaders support a "cap and trade" approach for climate change emissions reduction in general, they pointed out that unless the portfolio of renewable energy and efficiency options are "banded" the potential for over-reliance on traditional resources would result.
The leaders expressed disappointment of the reliance on coal and nuclear.
While lower carbon emissions from coal conversion are laudable, public health
risks from mercury and particulates, water resource depletion from mining
and conversion, and worker risk from accidents and health (brown and black
lung)
— add up to critical issues not addressed by the study. Adding more
nuclear power generators at a time of heightened global terrorism, exposes
to the public to extreme risks that are completely unwarranted.
The leaders expressed that almost all of US energy can be met mid-century
with the portfolio of renewable energy and high value energy efficiency through
tax credits, performance standards, enhanced research, development and deployment,
procurement, and reducing regulatory barriers to interconnection, by implementing:
The leaders unanimously emphasized that maximum use of energy efficiency
tied to the maximum use of renewable energy is the only way to insure climate
change emissions goals are met wisely while maintaining US homeland security,
public health and safety, and a more geographically and technologically diverse
energy system that is more agile and cost effective.
Twelve noted national energy experts who have each been active in clean energy
for more than 25 years, have joined together to establish a formal, yet virtual
group, to address key national and global issues on energy, environment and
development. The group is a "Who's Who" of the clean energy leadership
in the United States since the 1970s. The leaders in alphabetical order are
(dates indicate when they started in clean energy), and those listed are contacts
for this press release.
Source: Scott Sklar, 1/31/2005.
Slated to show by example that economic development and environmental benefits can and do go hand-in-hand, Pennsylvania's newly enacted Advanced Energy Portfolio Standard was signed into law on Nov. 30, 2004 by Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell. The legislation requires electricity providers to "green up" their mixture of electricity by including a mandated level of renewable energy such as wind, solar, landfill methane, and hydro. The legislation was approved by the Pennsylvania Senate 32-15 on Nov. 17, and by the House on Nov. 20 by a vote of 161-35.
Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future (PennFuture) has been leading a broad-based coalition on this issue for two years, and has been laying the groundwork for passage of a bill for five years. The coalition consists of a diverse group of players, including renewable energy businesses, environmental organizations, faith-based groups, and other interested parties. PennFuture and the coalition drafted the initial framework bill and enlisted the House and Senate prime sponsors, then worked to get the Governor's Office to support the concept. Months of strategic education and outreach to rank-and-file members and leadership on both sides of the aisle followed.
As passed and signed, the AEPS requires that 18 percent of the electricity sold in Pennsylvania must come from renewable and advanced energy sources within 15 years. The bill sets up two categories of energy sources required to be used by all power companies selling electricity in Pennsylvania:
The environmental benefits of this bill are monumental, to say the least. Every year, it will avoid the following pollution (approximate values):
And we're not starting from scratch. The Pennyslvania Department of Environmental Protection data indicates that the Commonweath has already installed the following alternative resources:
Tier I:
Wood: 18 MW, Anaerobic Digesters: 11.36 MW, Landfill Gas: 90.94 MW, Wind: 129 MW, Solar: 239.21 KW
Tier II:
Municipal Solid Waste: 247.73 MW, Hydro: 2043.10 MW, Waste Coal: 1697.5 MW
As you can see from the above data, hydroelectric power generation is clearly Pennsylvania's most abundant source of existing renewable energy. But not for long.
In economic terms, the AEPS puts Pennsylvania in the forefront of clean and renewable energy technology and development. While Pennsylvania isn't the first state to enact such legislation, our bill is stronger than our neighboring states. New Jersey requires 6.5 percent by 2008, Maryland requires 7.5 percent by 2019 but does not include industrial customers, and New York requires 24 percent by 2012 but includes existing hydroelectric power, which is already 18 percent - so the net increase is just 6 percent.
Under the bill's provisions we will have eight times more green energy - most of it wind power - than we have right now. That's enough to power more than one million homes. And another major success of the bill is that there are guarantees for solar power - enough to power about 300,000 average homes in Pennsylvania and support over 14,000 jobs in the solar industry, with at least one-third held by Pennsylvania residents. The bill also calls for extensive energy efficiency and conservation measures.
Yes, we do like to toot our own horn about this bill, but what are others saying about it? According to research by Platts' Analytics group, Pennsylvania will develop 3,600 megawatts of new wind energy capacity to meet the Tier I requirements of the new standard. The new wind capacity will join 129 megawatts of wind capacity already generating in Pennsylvania. The bill will also require over 250 megawatts of new solar capacity by 2016, and Platts anticipates that Pennsylvania will also develop smaller amounts of new landfill gas generation, animal waste-based generation, and low-impact hydro generation to meet the Tier I requirements of the standard.
The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the national trade association of the solar energy industry, went even further with their calculations and expressed confidence that the bill will result in 408 megawatts of solar electric generating capacity by 2015. SEIA estimated that the AEP will support over 14,000 jobs in the solar industry, with at least one-third held by Pennsylvania residents. Right now, Pennsylvania has less than one megawatt of solar installed, so the impact on solar alone is huge.
PennFuture is now actively involved in the implementation of the AEPS and will continue our work to ensure that clean energy resources receive the utmost benefits from this historic bill. Source: PennFuture Green Power Update, 2/1/2005.
The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative recently announced that its Renewable Energy Trust has launched a $25-million request for proposals that will make funding commitments to support projects which could potentially generate up to 50 megawatts of new, clean energy for the New England electric grid. According to MTC, this is the second round of funding from the trust's Massachusetts Green Power Partnership.
MTC noted that the program provides long-term funding commitments to purchase renewable energy certificates and other price supports that are critical for clean energy projects seeking permanent financing.
"Increased clean energy generation offers immediate economic and environmental benefits for Massachusetts and the entire New England region," said Renewable Energy Trust director Rob Pratt. "Just as we did in round one, we hope to support a strong mix of clean energy technologies that will help reduce our exposure to fuel price volatility and meet the growing demand for cleaner energy."
MTC said projects are chosen through a competitive process, which includes expert analysis to determine the viability of each proposal, with funding commitments contingent on projects receiving all necessary state and local permits and on the annual construction and operation of the facility by 2007. Source: EIN Renewable Energy Today, 1/31/2005.
NSF, Office of Budget, Finance and Award Management, Headquarters, Research
Experience for Teachers: Supplement
Opportunity, Modification1.
Source: Grants.gov, 2/4/2005.
NSF, Office of Budget, Finance and Award Management, Headquarters, Research Opportunity Award: Supplement Opportunity Grant. Source: Grants.gov, 2/4/2005.
This news item comes to you as a service of Western's Renewable Resources Program.
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