Green tags
help purchase wind power for Schriever Air Force Base
by
Kevon Storie
When Schriever
Air Force Base near Colorado Springs, Colo., became Mountain
View Electric Association's biggest wind power customer,
the electric co-operative and its wholesale power supplier—Tri-State
Generation and Transmission—used green tags to meet
the demand.
Marketing strategy brings supply to demand
Simply put, green tag or certificate marketing splits renewable energy into two components: electricity and environmental benefits. The tags represent the environmental attributes of renewable energy, which the producer can sell to customers willing to pay the additional costs associated with renewable production. The producers can then put environmentally friendly electricity on the grid anywhere in the country and everyone gets the benefits of replacing energy produced by fossil fuels with renewable energy.
"The market for
green power is developing at different speeds in different parts
of the country," explained Jere
Bates, Tri-State pricing and forecasting manager. "Green
tags encourage production of renewable energy even when local
demand doesn't match the unit's capacity. It's an excellent
incentive to develop renewable resources in the areas with the
most potential."
Green power program gets big boost from Air Force sale
Take the example of MVEA's contract with Schriever. "Our members have had the option of buying 100-kWh wind power blocks for an extra $2.50 per month since January 2000. The program has grown over the years to 975 monthly subscriptions," said MVEA Engineering Manager Dave Waldner. "Then, with one contract for 1,500 blocks, our subscriptions nearly tripled. Green tags ensured that we had the supply to meet the sudden demand."
The demand was significant even for Tri-State, which sells 6,700 MWh of wind power annually to its member co-ops. The total generation is a mix of direct purchases from the Medicine Bow Wind Project in Wyoming and green tag purchases.
"Because
wind is an intermittent power source, the trick is to find an
inexpensive and efficient way to deliver it from the point of
generation to the end user," explained Bates. "In
that respect, green tags actually make renewable energy more
affordable and reliable. Our purchase increases the overall
amount of clean electricity on the grid even on days when the
wind doesn't blow in Spade Flats, Wyo.
Large users find wind power more viable
Reliability is a crucial issue for customers like Schriever AFB. It is the home of the Air Force's 50th Space Wing providing command and control for Department of Defense warning, navigational and communications satellites. Also housed at Schriever are the Space Warfare Center and the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, which supports strategic space systems and missile defense.
The facility's purchase of $45,000 worth of green electricity from MVEA each year will power only a fraction of its operations, but it shows a growing commitment to using renewable energy in government sectors. North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan included an initiative in the FY 02 Defense Appropriations Act to fund the move to wind power.
The initiative provided $500,000 to the Air Force to purchase 1,500 blocks of wind power for Minot and Grand Forks AFBs. The Air Force spent the remainder for wind energy at its discretion. Schriever's green power contract began in September 2002 and will run through 2006.
Strategies like green certificate marketing have advanced the technology required to make wind power a more feasible option for large users like Schriever. If more large users follow the Air Force's lead, green tags will help co-ops meet their demand.
