April 24, 2009—The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has released its annual assessment of leading utility green power programs. Under these voluntary programs, consumers can choose to help support additional electricity production from renewable resources such as wind and solar.
According to the NREL analysis, more than 850 utilities across the U.S. now offer green power programs. Green power sales in 2008 increased by about 20 percent over 2007, and they represent more than 5 percent of total electricity sales for some of the most popular programs. Wind is the primary source of electricity generated for green energy programs nationwide.
Using information provided by utilities, NREL developed “Top 10” rankings of utility programs for 2008 in various categories. The complete tables are available on the NREL Web site.
Ranked by renewable energy sales (kWh/year), the green power program of Austin Energy (TX) is first in the nation. Rounding out the top five are Portland General Electric (OR), PacifiCorp (OR and five other states), Xcel Energy (MN and seven other states), and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (CA).
Ranked by the percentage of customer participation, the top utilities are City of Palo Alto Utilities (CA), Lenox Municipal Utilities (IA), Portland General Electric (OR), Madison Gas and Electric Company (WI), and Silicon Valley Power (CA). (See attached tables for additional rankings).
Customer choice programs are proving to be a powerful stimulus for growth in renewable energy supply. In 2008, total utility green power sales exceeded 5 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), about a 20% increase over 2007. More than 600,000 customers are participating in utility programs nationwide.
