Leading Utility Green Pricing Programs
By Eric Hübler, The Denver Post -- Mar. 9
Xcel Energy's "green pricing" program is the biggest in America in terms of participants, according to the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Windsource had 43,039 participants as of December, up from 32,600 a year
earlier. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power ranks second with 37,386
participants.
A green pricing program invites consumers to pay more voluntarily to
subsidize the generation of electricity through such renewable sources as wind
and solar energy.
The survey covered more than 500 utilities in 33 states.
Windsource placed fifth in terms of power sold -- 123.7 million kilowatt
hours. It relies on the Ponnequin wind farm, part of which is owned by Xcel,
near the Colorado-Wyoming border.
The nation's largest "green" producer, Austin Energy in Texas, sold
289 million kilowatt hours generated by wind and landfill gas.
Xcel wasn't in the top 10 in terms of proportion of customers participating,
but a smaller Colorado utility, Holy Cross Energy, came in fourth by that
measure. The Glenwood Springs provider has 5.1 percent of its nearly 50,000
customers participating in two green programs, the lab said.
Holy Cross' Wind Power Pioneer program buys power from Windsource and resells
it at the same premium, $2.50 per 100 kilowatt hours.
Holy Cross' Local Renewable Energy Pool relies on small hydro and
photovoltaic generators owned by consumers. It costs $2.50 per 75 kilowatt hours
purchased.
Some owner-consumers produce so much electricity that their meters run
backward during peak production times and they get a credit on their bills, Holy
Cross spokesman Bob Gardner said. Others receive modest payments.
"It eventually will pay for itself, and it's an environmental
contribution on their part," Gardner said.
----- Reprinted with thanks from: http://www.energycentral.com/centers/news/daily/article.cfm?aid=4696992
To see more of The Denver Post, or to subscribe to the
newspaper, go to http://www.denverpost.com
(c) 2004, The Denver Post. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune
Business News. XEL,