NREL Ranks Green Power Programs

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has announced its annual accolades for green power programs. Over 300 energy utilities in 32 states now sponsor green power programs, through which consumers opt to pay a premium price for electricity to support renewable energy. Relying on statistics provided by the utilities, NREL has developed “Top 10” rankings in four categories: total sales of renewable energy, total number of customer participants, rate of customer participation, and price premium for renewable power.

Austin Energy sells more than twice the renewable energy—252 million kilowatt hours (kWh)—of any other utility. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power involves nearly 73,000 participants, more than twice the participation of runners up. Moorhead Public Service in Minnesota, meanwhile, holds the record for highest participation rate, at 5.8%. Washington’s Clallam County Public Utility District, which supplies power gleaned from landfill gas, claims the lowest price premium for green power, charging only 0.7 cents per kWh over conventional prices and beating out its nearest competitors by 0.3 cents. For more information, visit

www.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/topten.shtml or call 303-275-4090.