Niagara Mohawk Pushes Green Energy

Niagara Mohawk Pushes Green Energy

Oct 04 - Business Journal - Central New York, The

SYRACUSE - Niagara Mohawk is hoping to get its customers to embrace renewable energy, or "GreenUp."

The Syracuse-based power company is pushing its GreenUp renewable- energy program to its 2 million customers, and so far about 8,800 have signed up. GreenUp customers choose to have their electricity produced by less polluting, renewable sources. Niagara Mohawk, a National Grid company, is driving the sign-up effort by including enrollment information in customers' September bills.

"GreenUp is a prime example of how a voluntary, market-based approach to renewable energy can create more choices for our customers and spur the development of new energy sources," says William F. Edwards, Niagara Mohawk's president.

The program requires NiMo's four renewable-energy partners to secure New York-based renewable energy resources - wind, bioenergy such as landfill gases, or hydropower - and offer it to the company's customers. After a consumer selects a renewable-energy provider, that provider will notify Niagara Mohawk of the customer's decision. Niagara Mohawk's supply portfolio will receive the energy on behalf of the customer, and Niagara Mohawk remains responsible for all service to the customer.

One downside to purchasing renewable energy is that it costs more than traditionally generated energy. For a typical residential customer, the additional cost for cleaner energy usually is between $5 to $7.50 per month. Business customers would also pay a proportionally higher fee.

The additional cost is billed as a surcharge and included on a customer's Niagara Mohawk bill. The money then is forwarded to the energy provider that the customer selects.

NiMo has partnered with Sterling Planet, Inc., Green Mountain Energy Co., Community Energy, Inc., and EnviroGen Marketing. Sterling Planet offsets carbondioxide, nitrogen-oxide, and sulfurdioxide emissions associated with regular electricity by blending new wind, small hydro, and facilities that use landfill gas as fuel. Sterling Planet is a renewable-project developer and the nation's leading retail provider of renewable kilowatt-hours, with more than 1 billion kilowatt - hours sold as of Aug. 31, the company says.

Green Mountain Energy has been providing less-polluting electricity longer than any other retail electric supplier in the nation, Niagara Mohawk says. An average Niagara Mohawk customer purchasing Green Mountain Energy electricity for a year can prevent more than 3,400 pounds of carbon dioxide - or as much as a car makes in more than 3,700 miles of driving.

Community Energy's NewWind Energy division sells 100 percent emission-free clean energy, all of which is generated in New York State. The energy comes from small, low-impact hydro plants to provide customers a lower cost option.

EnviroGen Marketing is a privately held, family-owned business located in Buffalo. Seventy-five percent of the power it sells comes from biomass facilities that generate electricity from organic matter, including methane gas from landfills, Twenty-five percent of the portfolio is served by low-impact hydroelectric facilities.

Niagara Mohawk provides electricity service to approximately 1.5 million customers and natural-gas service to approximately 560,000 customers in upstate New York. Its parent company also has electricity distribution operations in New England. National Grid generated $16 billion in annual revenues in 2003, It employs more than 24,000 employees.