Green Power Communities
Posted by Kelly Smith on Mon, May 17, 2010
Businesses and organizations are not the only investors in green energy. Communities across the United States (and presumably around the world) are coming together to invest in a cleaner future by purchasing green power together. Municipalities that wish to become designated
Green Power Communities through the U.S. EPA must purchase green power that is equivalent to 2 to 10 percent of their total conventional electricity usage, depending on how much that municipality uses. Communities that wish to become more sustainable should consider reducing their collective carbon footprint in this way.
Green power purchases must adhere to national guidelines in order to qualify for this EPA program. This is especially important in the wake of recent news reports questioning the validity of some carbon offset projects. One sure way of finding a reliable source of renewable energy is to purchase Green-e certified green energy.
Green Power Communities bring citizens together to take pride in cleaning up the environment and reducing climate change. The EPA recognizes such communities with special Green Power Community road signs, among other distinctions. Currently, the communities offsetting the largest percentages of their conventional power usage are Gresham, Oregon, (17 percent), River Falls, Wisconsin, (15 percent), Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, (14 percent), Bellingham, Washington, (13 percent), and Corvallis, Oregon, (12 percent).
A Green Power Community is a little different from a Green Power Partner. According to the EPA, "GPCs are cities, towns, and villages in which the local government, businesses, and residents collectively buy green power in amounts that meet or exceed EPA's Green Power Community purchase requirements." This collective purchase of green power is the difference between a Green Power Community and a Green Power Partner. For example, the City of Houston is one of the top Green Power Partners with a green power purchase of 34 percent of the city's conventional energy usage. The City of Dallas (40 percent) and the City of Chicago (20 percent) are also in the list of the top twenty Green Power Partners. But without the investment of individuals and businesses to a specified level, these forward-thinking cities are not yet listed among the ranks of the Green Power Communities.