EPA Boosts Green Power Use With RTP Renewable Energy Purchase
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC — October 20, 2003 — With the purchase of more than 35 million kilowatt hours (kWh) worth of renewable energy for its largest laboratory complex, EPA now uses green power now for more than 40 percent of its total electricity needs. On October 1, EPA's Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, facility finalized three agreements to support the generation of energy derived from wind and biomass (mostly landfill gas). With this commitment, RTP purchases renewable energy equivalent to nearly 50 percent of its annual electricity use.
EPA committed to purchase 5.7 million kWh of green power in FY 2004 through the new NC Green Power Program. NC Green Power is the nation's first public utility commission regulated and approved statewide green energy program. EPA is a founding partner and will be one of the first customers to receive Green Power through the program.
The Defense Energy Support Center, in partnership with EPA, awarded two one-year contracts September 30 for renewable energy credits, or "green tags." Green tags allow EPA to support the generation of renewable energy sources by only buying the environmental attributes of the power, thus eliminating the difficulties and costs associated with long distance dispatch and transmission. In this case, 3 Phases Energy Services of San Francisco will supply EPA with green tags for 10 million kWh worth of wind power generated in Algona, Iowa. Sterling Planet of Alpharetta, Georgia, will supply green tags for 20 million kWh of energy from a landfill gas plant in Jacksonville, Florida. W
The 1.2 million gross square foot RTP facilities involved in this purchase include the recently completed Main laboratory building and the National Computer Center, which combined use an estimated 70 million kWh of electricity per year. Over the next year, approximately 50 percent of this energy will come from green power. In addition, the National Computer Center uses renewable solar energy from a 100-kilowatt photovoltaic roof, which was installed in April 2002.
This is EPA's 10th major green power purchase; the Agency procures renewable energy in the form of wind power, landfill gas, and green tags at the following locations:
- Richmond, California: 1.8 million kWh per year
- Golden, Colorado: 1.9 million kWh per year
- Cincinnati, Ohio: 15.4 million kWh per year
- Chelmsford, Massachusetts: 2.7 million kWh per year
- Manchester, Washington: 2.2 million kWh per year
- New York, New York: 6.1 million kWh per year
- Houston, Texas: 3.4 million kWh per year
- Edison, New Jersey: 6.3 million kWh per year
- Washington, D.C.: 39 million kWh per year
- Research Triangle Park, North Carolina: 35.7 million kWh
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