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May 2013 - FirstEnergy, a competitive power generation supply company, has been selected by Aurora Township to provide residents and small businesses with a 100% green energy option at a rate of 4.804¢ per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for the next 16 months. Under Illinois law, municipalities and counties can use community aggregation to purchase electricity from alternative suppliers. Community choice aggregation enables local governments to aggregate electricity demand within their jurisdictions in order to procure alternative energy supplies while maintaining the existing electricity provider for transmission and distribution services.
Bloomington, IL, has signed a similar agreement with Homefield Energy, which will result in savings for local Ameren customers. Through the program, customers will be locked in at a rate of 4.539¢/kWh, resulting in a 10–20 percent savings for customers over the 22-month contract. The program provides 100% renewable energy to customers and includes a 0.1¢/kWh fee to offset the city's costs of program administration.
Press Release -
Aurora Township, Ill., Residents and Small Businesses to Save Money Through FirstEnergy Solutions' Electric Aggregation Program
Press Release -
51 Illinois Communities Choose Homefield Energy to Supply Electricity
Additional Information -
Citizens Utility Board
April 2012 - The City of Cincinnati, Ohio announced the launch of its community choice aggregation (CCA) program, which will provide a 100 percent green electricity option for the city's eligible residents and small businesses. Percentage of income payment plan customers, as well as small business customers who use more than 700,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per year are not eligible to participate in the program. CCA allows local governments to aggregate electricity demand within their jurisdictions in order to procure alternative energy supplies while maintaining existing transmission and distribution services.
Cincinnati selected FirstEnergy Solutions (FES) to be the city's green power provider, and will now negotiate a contract for a 100 percent green electricity supply. The city's CCA program is expected to begin in June, and it is estimated that eligible residential households who remain in the program will save about $133 per year on electricity costs. The city's program is an opt-out program, which means that eligible customers will be automatically enrolled in the program, and must decline if they do not want to participate.
A portion of FES's green power product will come from local renewable energy sources, including renewable energy certificates generated from the Cincinnati Zoo Solar canopy project.
News Release -
Cincinnati Becomes First Major City to Offer 100% Green Electricity to Residents
Additional Information -
City of Cincinnati Aggregation
April 2008 - FirstEnergy Solutions (FES) announced that it has entered into an agreement to supply the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) with enough green power to meet 10% of the center's electricity needs. UPMC has purchased approximately 24 million kWh of FES's MixedGreens™ product, which is sourced from renewable energy certificates (RECs) from a combination of renewable resources including wind, biomass, geothermal electric, photovoltaic, and hydroelectric. FES has contracts for the output of 145 MW of wind energy capacity in western Pennsylvania, and another 70 MW expected to come online this year.
News Release - FirstEnergy Subsidiary Signs Renewable Power Supply Agreement with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
October 2007 - FirstEnergy Corp. has announced that FirstEnergy Solutions Corp., its competitive subsidiary, has launched SmartWind, a wind energy product for its commercial and industrial customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and Michigan. Under the SmartWind program, FirstEnergy Solutions' business and institutional customers can purchase renewable energy certificates (RECs) from wind farms in western Pennsylvania. Currently, FirstEnergy Solutions has more than 200 megawatts of wind power under contract from wind farms in Pennsylvania. To show its support of renewable energy, FirstEnergy Solutions will purchase RECs equal to 100% of the energy used at its Akron headquarters through the end of 2008.
News Release - Firstenergy Solutions Introduces Smartwind (PDF 20 KB) Download Adobe Reader
First Energy Solutions Media Contact: Mark Durbin, (330) 761-4365
October 2003 - According to an October 23 news article in the New Jersey Star Ledger, the NJ Board of Public Utilities (BPU) has decided to allow a green power pilot program offered to customers of Jersey Central Power & Light to expire this spring because of poor customer response.
Under the program, customers could voluntarily sign up or were randomly assigned to receive about 10% of their power from renewable energy sources at no extra cost. The program costs were covered by a $1 surcharge paid by all of the utility's customers. According to the BPU, roughly 125,000 customers were assigned to the program but about 25% opted out, in part because the new program did not offer an averaged bill payment option.
The BPU also decided to drop plans to develop a separate pilot program to allow another 200,000 customers to purchase green power starting next June. This second program was canceled because the BPU determined that a small surcharge to be levied on all customers would not be sufficient to cover the extra cost of the green power.
News Article - Consumers' Lack of Interest Kills Green Power Programs
NJ BPU Contact: Keny Welch (973) 648-4438
February 2003 - The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) approved the results of a sealed bid process to secure 200 MW of green energy to meet the electric demands of Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) residential customers who have not selected an alternative supplier in the state's competitive electricity market. This will be the first time that customers have the option of choosing cleaner energy as part of Basic Generation Service (BGS). There will be no difference in the price paid by those who choose to take part in the Green Pilot Program and other residential customers with BGS service. The power will be supplied by FirstEnergy Solutions Corporation.
To qualify as "green" for the bidding process, at least 9.75% of the energy provided must come from renewable sources, such as wind, solar or biomass, which is three times the level that retail companies must currently meet under the state's renewable portfolio standard (RPS). Customers will have the option of opting into the pilot program. If too few customers choose to participate, JCP&L will assign them on a random basis. The 150,000 residential customers who can participate in the pilot program represent approximately 7% of JCP&L's total BGS fixed-price load.
News Release - Board of Public Utilities approves "Green" Pilot Program for Jersey Central Power & Light Customers (PDF 17 KB) Download Acrobat Reader
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