NREL Ranks Leading Utility Green Power Programs
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The U.S. Department of Energys (DOE) National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL) released its annual ranking of leading utility
green power programs. Under these voluntary programs, consumers can
choose to help support additional electricity production from
renewable resources such as solar and wind. More than 600 utilities
across the United States offer these programs.
Using information provided by utilities, NREL develops Top 10
rankings of utility programs in the following categories: total
sales of renewable energy to program participants, total number of
customer participants, customer participation rate and the lowest
price premium charged for a green pricing service using new
renewable resources.
Ranked by renewable energy sales, the green power program of Austin
(Texas) Energy is first in the nation, followed by Portland General
Electric, Florida Power & Light, PacifiCorp and Xcel Energy.
(To view charts of utility rankings, visit Top Ten Utility Green Power Programs ).
Ranked by customer participation rates, the top utilities are City
of Palo Alto (Calif.) Utilities, Lenox (Iowa) Municipal Utilities,
Montezuma (Iowa) Municipal Light & Power, Portland General
Electric, and Sacramento Municipal Utility District.
Utility green power sales continue to show strong growth across the
country, said Lori Bird, senior energy analyst at NREL. These
utilities are the national leaders.
Customer choice programs are proving to be a powerful stimulus for
growth in renewable energy supply. In 2006, total utility green
power sales exceeded 3.5 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), about a 30%
increase over 2005. More than 500,000 customers are participating
in utility programs nationwide, up more than 10% from 2005.
Utility green pricing programs are one segment of a larger green
power marketing industry that counts Fortune 500 companies,
government agencies and colleges and universities among its
customers, and helps support more than 2,500 MW of renewable
electricity generation capacity.
NREL analysts attribute the success of many programs to persistence
in marketing and creative marketing strategies, including in some
cases, utility partnerships with independent green power
marketers.
In addition, the rate premium that customers pay for green power
continues to drop. Higher prices for conventional energy sources,
as well as increasing environmental concerns, are focusing greater
attention on renewable energy options, said Blair Swezey, NREL
principal analyst.
NREL performs analyses of green power market trends and is funded
by DOEs Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory
for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and
development. NREL is operated for DOE by Midwest Research Institute
and Battelle.
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© 2012 Penton Media Inc.
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