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January 2009 - The Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB) has launched a Greenpower Grants program to provide funding for innovative local or regional renewable energy projects.
EWEB developed the new grant program to help direct funds from its voluntary Greenpower program into smaller-scale renewable energy or education projects. Under the EWEB Greenpower program, customers can opt to pay a premium on all or a portion of the electricity needs to support renewable energy projects. The new grant program will provide a single grant of up to $100,000 in the spring of 2009 with additional, smaller grants of up to $25,000 to be awarded in the fall.
To kick off the grant program, EWEB will be asking Greenpower customers to choose the first recipient. Greenpower customers will be able to vote for their favorite project either online or through the mail. The winner will be announced at the annual Earth Day Celebration.
News Release - New Greenpower Grants will fund renewable energy projects
News Article - EWEB Greenpower customers to award grant
March 2007 - Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB), the state of Oregon's largest publicly owned utility, announced a new voluntary program through which customers can support new renewable electric generation in the Pacific Northwest. Customers can purchase one or more 100-kWh blocks of renewable power each month for $1.50 (1.50¢/kWh) or 1,000-kWh monthly blocks for $10.00 (1.0¢/kWh); the 100% usage option is also priced at 1.0¢/kWh. The revenues collected from the EWEB Greenpower program will be placed in a specially authorized fund that will finance future renewable projects. The new product is Green-e certified.
Since 1999, EWEB has offered the EWEB Windpower program, which supports the utility's investment in the Foote Creek Rim Wind Project in Wyoming. The EWEB Windpower program became fully subscribed at the end of 2006.
News Release - Green-e Certifies Eugene Water & Electric Board's Greenpower Program
More Information - EWEB Greenpower FAQs - Jan 31, 2007 (PDF 42 KB) Download Adobe Reader
March 2006 - Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI), a national cooperative retailer of outdoor gear and apparel, announced that it will purchase 10 million kWh of green power, equivalent to 20% of the company's annual electricity usage. The purchase of wind, landfill gas and solar-generated electricity will provide 100% of the power for 17 of REI's 82 retail stores. REI has entered into renewable energy contracts with seven different utilities and marketers in nine locales, with some of the products being Green-e certified. In several cases, the purchases will reduce the company's exposure to fossil fuel surcharges. The purchases include the following stores and suppliers:
- Brookfield, WI; We Energies; sources: wind, landfill gas and solar
- Madison, WI; Alliant Energy/WP&L; sources: wind, landfill gas and solar
- Eugene, OR; Eugene Water & Electric Board; source: wind
- Denver, Englewood, Boulder, Grand Junction and Lakewood, CO; Xcel Energy; source: wind
- Colorado Springs, CO; Community Energy Inc.; source: wind
- Fort Collins, CO; Fort Collins Utilities; source: wind
- Bloomington and Roseville, MN; Xcel Energy; source: wind
- Dallas, Houston (two stores) and Plano, TX; Green Mountain Energy; source: wind
- Pittsburgh, PA; Community Energy Inc.; source: wind
News Release - REI Steps Up to 20 Percent Green Power
REI Contact: Kevin Hagen, (253) 437-7312
June 1999 - Less than two months after the Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB) began actively marketing its green power option, residential customers have signed up to buy almost a quarter of the power available. According to a June 15th article in The Eugene Register-Guard, about 1,700 of EWEB's 66,589 residential customers (2.6%), have signed-up for the wind power offering, which sells for a premium of 3.2¢/kWh.
According to the article, more than half of the participating customers are choosing to purchase 25% or more of their electricity requirements from wind energy; EWEB had anticipated that most customers would choose the 10% option. Because of this trend, EWEB may only need 6,000 customer sign-ups to fully subscribe the 6.5 MW of available wind power capacity. Also, the utility plans to offer the green power option to its 8,325 commercial and industrial customers later this year.
More Information - EWEB Windpower
News Article - EWEB Finds Strong Interest in Wind Power - No longer online at registerguard.com
February 1999 - On March 1, the Eugene Water & Electric Board will begin marketing power from its Wyoming Wind Project to its residential customers. The 41.4 MW project is owned jointly by EWEB (8.8 MW) and PacifiCorp (32.6 MW). EWEB hopes that 30% of its customer base, or 20,000 customers, will sign up to receive from 10% to 100% of their electricity needs from wind power. The price premium charged will be 3.2¢/kWh.
News Article - EWEB Plans To Offer Wyoming Wind Power to Residential and Commercial Customers
EWEB Contact: Mat Northway (541) 484-2411
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