WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will recognize six leading organizations at the Seventh Annual Green Power Leadership Awards tonight in Philadelphia for advancing the development and use of “green power”.  These organizations are furthering the Bush Administration’s efforts to reduce our Nation’s dependence on foreign oil by increasing the use of clean, renewable energy.  The DOE Green Power Supplier Awards are competitive, and recognize exceptional achievements in supporting increased market deployment of renewable energy technologies through green power programs.

DOE’s 2007 Green Power Supplier Award winners are: Constellation NewEnergy (Baltimore, MD); 3Degrees (San Francisco, CA); Sterling Planet (Norcross, GA); SunEdison (Beltsville, MD); Pacific Power and Rocky Mountain Power (Portland, OR) and; Silicon Valley Power (Santa Clara, CA).  DOE co-sponsors the Green Power Leadership Awards with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Center for Resource Solutions.  Each organization recognized has helped advance the development of the Nation’s “green power markets” through the creation of successful green power programs.  The goal of green power programs is to provide market-based choices for electricity consumers to purchase power from environmentally preferred sources.  The combined green power supplied by these organizations amounts to over five billion kilowatt-hours of green power annually, equivalent to the amount of electricity needed to power nearly 465,000 American households annually.

“The Department of Energy applauds these organizations for taking a leading role in providing consumers with cost-effective options for ‘going green,’” DOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Alexander Karsner said.  “Green power marketing has enormous potential to expand domestic markets for clean, abundant and affordable renewable energy technologies by fostering greater availability throughout the country.  The leaders in the voluntary green power markets are a critical part of the President’s strategy to build, generate and promote renewable energy capacity that will have a sizeable impact in the marketplace and increase our Nation’s energy security.”

The following organizations have been selected for the 2007 Green Power Supplier Awards to recognize their work in three sub-categories:

New Green Power Program or Product (Constellation NewEnergy – Baltimore, MD)
This award recognizes green power programs or products judged as “most successful” in the marketplace based on both quantitative criteria, such as customer participation and green power sales, and qualitative criteria, such as overall value provided to customers.  For the purposes of this award, a “new” program or product is defined as being first offered in 2004 or thereafter.

Renewable Energy Marketer (3Degrees – San Francisco, CA; Sterling Planet – Norcross, GA; and SunEdison – Beltsville, MD)
This award recognizes renewable energy project developers or technology vendors who play a prominent role in supplying renewable energy or a renewable energy technology used in green power markets.

Green Power Program of the Year (Pacific Power and Rocky Mountain Power – Portland, OR; and Silicon Valley Power – Santa Clara, CA)
This award recognizes exemplary green power programs judged on a combination of quantitative and qualitative criteria.  Quantitative considerations emphasize program growth through continued effort and persistence.  Quantitative criteria include number of customers participating, customer participation rate (where applicable), and green power sales.  Qualitative criteria include the type of renewable resources offered and the overall value provided to customers, including but not limited to product pricing and fuel-price stability benefits. Separate awards will be considered for “small” and “large” programs.

Today, more than half of all U.S. electricity customers have an option to purchase some type of green power product from a retail electricity provider.  Currently, more than 750 utilities - or about 25% of utilities nationally - offer green power programs to customers.  Overall, retail sales of renewable energy to consumers making voluntary purchases totaled about 12 billion kilowatt-hours in 2006, representing a 40% increase over last year’s sales data.

The 2007 Green Power Supplier Awards will be presented this evening at the Seventh Annual Green Power Leadership Awards, which is being held in conjunction with the Twelfth National Renewable Energy Marketing Conference in Philadelphia.  The Green Power Leadership Awards recognize outstanding commitments and achievements in the green power marketplace in the following three categories: Purchasers; Suppliers and; Market Development.  DOE, EPA, and the Center for Resource Solutions each recognize winners in the Green Power Supplier, Purchaser, and Market Development categories, respectively.

Learn more about “green power” and DOE’s 2007 Green Power Leadership Awards.

Media contact(s):
Megan Barnett, (202) 586-4940