Almost 150,000 Customers in the Pacific Northwest Purchase Renewable Energy
A report released recently by the Renewable Northwest Project reveals that in 2008, 148,563 residential and commercial electricity customers in the Pacific Northwest voluntarily purchased green power from renewable resources like wind, solar, landfill gas and low-impact hydropower. Over 24,000 new customers have signed up in the last year, and the number of green power customers is now 56 times greater than in 2000, when RNP released its first report on this subject. Northwest customers purchased over 1.3 billion kilowatt-hours of green power in 2008, which is roughly the output of a 450 megawatt wind farm, or enough energy to power more than 111,000 homes for an entire year.
As public awareness of the consequences of energy choices continues to rise, green power becomes more and more attractive to electricity users across the spectrum. Among other things, the continued growth of green power in a time of economic uncertainty demonstrates that renewables are an increasingly crucial component of the nation’s energy supply, and not just a fad for rich customers with income to spare. Utilities and energy customers in parts of the country where green power has not caught on to the same degree should take note that the popularity of green power in the Pacific Northwest is a sign of things to come for the rest of the nation.
Post authored by David Petersen, partner practicing in the Sustainability and Real Estate and Land Use Group.
