PGE, Pacific Power rank high for renewable energy
The U.S. Department of Energy released its annual report on utility “green power” programs and Portland General Electric retained its No. 2 spot for total renewable energy sales while edging into the No. 1 ranking for total number of customer participants. PacifiCorp, which operates as Pacific Power in Oregon, ranked No. 3 for sales and No. 2 for customer participants.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Green Power study, out annually since 2000, found that PGE’s three renewable energy purchase programs, for which customers pay a premium to show support for clean energy sources, had 72,812 participants. Second in line was Pacific Power with 71,165 customer participants.
Austin Energy earned the top renewable energy sales, 765,000 kilowatts per year, tapping wind and landfill gas as renewable energy sources. PGE had sales of 741,000 kilowatts per year using wind, biomass and geothermal energy. Pacific Power sold 378,000 kilowatt hours using wind, biomass, landfill gas and solar.
PGE markets some of its its renewable energy programs in partnership with Green Mountain Energy Company.
PGE’s program, which started in 2002 has a 10.2 percent participation rate, according to the NREL study. PacifiCorp., which was ranked only by its Oregon program, had a 6.5 percent participation rate.
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