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Contacting EPA's Green
Power Partnership

Please feel free to contact the Green Power Partnership.

Green Power Planet #4
May 27, 2004

The Green Power Planet provides interested stakeholders the latest information regarding the Green Power Partnership and its Partners. In this edition of the Green Power Planet:

Current Partnership Statistics

The Green Power Partnership now includes more than 350 Partners buying approximately 1.4 million MWh of green power annually. Partners are located in 29 states, with the most Partners coming from Texas, California, Oregon, Wisconsin, and Washington, DC. Current Partner figures for various sectors include the following: Nonprofit (36), Food Services (35), Retail (27), Education (23), Federal Government (21), and State and Local Government (23). Other well-represented sectors include natural products, manufacturing, consulting, health services, and hotels.

Nominations Due July 2 for 2004 Green Power Leadership Awards

Presented each year by EPA, the Department of Energy, and the Center for Resource Solutions, the Green Power Leadership Awards honor leading national green power purchasers, suppliers and market builders. Green Power Partners are eligible for the Purchaser Awards—which recognize green power purchasers in the following three categories: On-site Generation, Green Power Purchasing, and Partner of the Year.

NOMINATIONS ARE DUE JULY 2. Nomination forms are available on the Partnership Awards Web page.

Partners are encouraged to self-nominate, and previous nominees and winners (listed below) are eligible. Additional information is available from Pam Mendelson (pam.mendelson@ee.doe.gov, 303-275-4819). The 2004 awards will be given at a dinner banquet on Monday, October 4, at the 9th National Green Power Marketing Conference, taking place in Albany, New York October 4-6. Additional details about the 2004 conference and awards will be contained in future editions of the Green Power Planet.

2003 ON-SITE GENERATION WINNERS: BMW, City of San Diego, Domaine Carneros, Fala Direct Marketing, Hayward Lumber, Loyola Marymount University, Solano County, Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc.

2003 GREEN POWER PURCHASING WINNERS: Austin Grill, City of Moab, Clif Bar, Kinko’s, State of New Jersey, Tower Companies, White Wave

2003 PARTNER OF THE YEAR WINNERS: City of Portland, Dyess Air Force Base, University of Pennsylvania, Johnson & Johnson

Additional Green Power Recognition Events: Austin, Seattle

In addition to national recognition on October 4, at the 2004 Green Power Leadership Awards, the Green Power Partnership is working to develop regional recognition events. Planning is underway for the following:

AUSTIN, TEXAS, SEPTEMBER 21: EPA will honor all Texas Green Power Partners in Austin, Texas, on September 21 at a recognition luncheon, which will be held in conjunction with the 2004 World Energy Engineering Congress at the Austin Convention Center.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, OCTOBER 19:. All Green Power Partners in the Pacific Northwest will be honored at a recognition event being held in conjunction with the 2nd Northwest Green Power Summit.

Additional details regarding how Partners can participate in these events will be circulated in future editions of the Green Power Planet.

Communicating the Environmental Benefits of a Green Power Purchase

The Partnership has developed a number of tools to assist Partners in describing the environmental significance of their green power purchase. The Power Profiler provides location-specific information regarding emissions associated with consumption of conventional electricity: by typing in a ZIP Code and entering a quantity of electricity (in kilowatt-hours), users receive figures regarding carbon dioxide and other emissions, as well as comparisons to acres of trees planted and cars taken off the road. Partners can use the Power Profiler to estimate the emissions that would have occurred if their green power purchase had been generated using conventional means. Appendix C of the Partnership Communications Guide provides additional information regarding how to calculate and communicate environmental benefits of a green power purchase.

Montgomery County, Maryland, Green Power Press Coverage

Montgomery County, Maryland, created a successful media splash when it announced that it has agreed to buy wind power as a percentage of its electricity supply—yielding media pick-up including radio, TV, and print coverage. The Montgomery County purchase is the largest purchase of wind energy in the nation by a local government, the largest retail purchase in Maryland, and the fifth largest retail purchase in the country. Montgomery County signed a contract with Washington Gas Energy Services and its wind energy supplier, Community Energy, Inc., to purchase 38,000 MWh of wind energy annually for two years. Montgomery County's purchase is significant, not only because of its large size, but also because the County orchestrated an innovative aggregation of wind power purchases by setting up a buying group of six County agencies, 11 municipalities, and Prince George's County. Montgomery County is also going to try to use its wind energy purchase to help it meet its pollution reduction obligations under the Clean Air Act. If accepted, this wind purchase would be the first green power purchase to receive State Implementation Plan (SIP) credit under this approach—and could pave the way for other state and local governments to follow. The Green Power Partnership participated in the press conference, presented Montgomery County with a Partnership certificate, and worked with Montgomery County to develop information about the significance of their purchase. Overall, the event provided a great example of how Partners can maximize public relations benefits from a green power purchase.

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