BELLEVUE, Wash. (Oct. 28, 2009) – Whidbey Island has met Puget Sound Energy’s challenge to increase enrollment in the utility’s Green Power Program to 1,000 total residential and business participants. In recognition of meeting the goal, PSE on Nov. 25 will award the Island County Council of Governments a $25,000 grant toward a community solar project on Whidbey.
“We couldn’t be more pleased with the community support to go green,” said Walt Blackford, community services supervisor at PSE’s South Whidbey Customer Service Office. “Working together we achieved our goal and in addition to residents and businesses being Green Power Program participants, the community will benefit from another solar installation.”
PSE will present the elected members of the Council of Governments with a check for the solar grant at their Nov. 25 meeting in Coupeville. Once the funds are awarded, the Council will determine where the solar project will be located and what type will be implemented. Previous solar grants by PSE on Whidbey have gone to South Whidbey High School, Coupeville Middle and High School and the FETCH off-leash dog park.
Since the challenge started, a total of 1,017 Whidbey customers are now Green Power participants, representing an increase of 58 percent over total participants as of January 1, 2009, thanks to an organized community challenge effort backed by Island County and the municipalities of Coupeville, Langley, and Oak Harbor to encourage Island residents to enroll.
"It was a pleasure to work across the Island to grow the Green Power program,” said Linda Irvine, community resource conservation manager for the City of Langley. “PSE’s Green Power Program is a highly effective way to use our collective purchasing power to vote for clean, renewable energy."
Special thanks go to several island organizations that were early business participants in the Whidbey Island Green Power Challenge. Central Whidbey Chamber of Commerce, Christopher’s on Whidbey LLP, Clyde Theater, Island Athletic Club, Island Transit, Karlson Gray Gallery, and Prairie Center Red Apple Market. They all purchase Green Power for their businesses and have encouraged others to do the same. A complete list of participating Whidbey businesses can be found at PSE.com.
PSE’s Green Power Program gives customers a way to guarantee the amount of energy they use is matched in the grid with electricity from wind, solar, biomass and other renewable energy sources. The amount paid by each customer typically ranges from $4-$10 per month, and goes to support the local development of renewable energy that is in addition to – and separate from – the renewable energy facilities built by PSE, the nation’s second-largest utility owner and operator of wind power.
The utility’s green power program is independently audited by the Center for Resource Solutions, and was recognized in September 2009 by the U.S. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency as the nation’s “Green Power Provider of the Year” for 2009 due to the program’s rapid growth. In addition, PSE’s Green Power Program has been recognized for four consecutive years (from 2006 to 2009) by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory as one of the country’s top 10 such programs out of more than 600 in the nation.
For more information about PSE’s Green Power Program for electric customers and other ways to support renewable energy development, visit PSE.com.
Washington state’s oldest local energy utility, Puget Sound Energy serves more than 1 million electric customers and nearly 750,000 natural gas customers in 11 counties. A subsidiary of Puget Energy, PSE meets the energy needs of its growing customer base through incremental, cost-effective energy conservation, procurement of sustainable energy resources, and far-sighted investment in the energy-delivery infrastructure. PSE employees are dedicated to providing great customer service and delivering energy that is safe, reliable, reasonably priced, and environmentally responsible.
Rebekah Anderson, 1-888-831-7250