Author: Austin Energy Provider: SustainableBusiness.com News
For the second year in a row, Austin Energys green power program (GreenChoice) is the #1 utility-sponsored green power program in the nation based on sales. Austin Energy also ranked first with the lowest premium charged to customers subscribing to GreenChoice. The rankings were just released by the U.S. Department of Energys National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Austin Energy sold more than 289 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy last year, significantly more than second place Portland General Electric with 188.6 million kWh and more than twice that of third ranked Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) which had 143.1 million kWh in green power sales.
Last year, the Austin Independent School District became the largest subscriber of renewable energy by a school district in the nation and the largest subscriber to Austin Energys GreenChoice program subscribing for 45 million kWh of green power annually. Also last year, Concordia University in Austin became the first college in the nation to subscribe to 100% of its annual electricity needs from green power.
Current subscriptions to GreenChoice total almost 370-million kWh with 287 businesses and 7,200 residential customers participating. Forty-one Austin companies subscribe to 1 million kWh or more of green power and 257 companies subscribe to green power for 100% of their power needs. In fact, Austin Energy has more companies that qualify for a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency green power recognition program than are currently enrolled in the program nationwide.
Austin Energy was also one of the first utilities in the nation to provide a fixed cost component in its green power program as a hedge against the rising fossil fuels costs. GreenChoice subscribers see the fuel charge on their utility bill replaced by a GreenChoice charge that stays fixed for the 10-year life of our green power contracts. Last year, the Austin City Council approved the purchase of an additional 93 megawatts of wind-generated electricity, almost doubling Austin Energys existing 101 MW of renewable energy.
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