The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) released its annual ranking of green power programs for more than 800 U.S. utilities.
Using information provided by utilities, NREL develops rankings of utility programs in the following categories: total sales of renewable energy to program participants, total number of customer participants, customer participation rate, green power sales as a percentage of total utility retail electricity sales, and the lowest price premium charged for a green power program using new renewable resources.
Ranked by renewable energy sales, the green power program of Austin Energy is first in the nation, followed by Portland General Electric, PacifiCorp, Florida Power & Light, and Xcel Energy.
Ranked by customer participation rates, the top utilities are City of Palo Alto Utilities, Lenox Municipal Utilities, Silicon Valley Power, Portland General Electric, and Sacramento Municipal Utility District.
In 2007, total utility green power sales exceeded 4.5 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), about a 20% increase over 2006. Approximately 600,000 customers are participating in utility programs nationwide.
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.
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