Sign up for cleaner energy, cleaner air at Festival for the Eno
July 1, 2004
Raleigh, N.C. – Attendees of the Festival for the Eno will have the opportunity to sign up to participate in the NC GreenPower program. Those signing up will be ensuring that some of the electricity being produced in North Carolina will be provided by cleaner energy sources such as solar, wind and methane from landfills and animal wastes. NC GreenPower is the first statewide program of its kind in the country, and all contributions to it are tax-deductible.
The signup booth will be to the right of the Meadow Stage and also will contain the exhibit of the N.C. Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA). NCSEA has been involved with NC GreenPower from its inception, and is currently involved in marketing and education efforts for the program. In addition, NCSEA’s Policy Director Richard Harkrader also serves as vice chair of the NC GreenPower Board of Directors.
“After 25 years of working hard to promote solar and other forms of renewable energy, we are very excited about this important first step in bringing a significant amount of clean electricity production to North Carolina’s citizens,” said NCSEA Executive Director Mark Ginsberg. “It’s going to take a lot of people pulling together in support of this program to make it work.” For as little as $4 a month, every North Carolinian can be an active participant in a creating a clean and sustainable energy future for our state.
ABOUT NC GREENPOWER www.ncgreenpower.org | 919.857.9000
NC GreenPower is the nation’s first statewide, multi-utility initiative to encourage the development of renewable energy sources. The program taps into technology that transforms renewable energy sources such as wind, sunshine and landfill methane gas into safe and environmentally sustainable power, giving North Carolinians cleaner options for their energy sources. The N.C. Utilities Commission approved the NC GreenPower program plan in January 2003. NC GreenPower is a subsidiary of Advanced Energy, a Raleigh-based nonprofit corporation that helps utility, industrial and residential customers improve the return on their energy investment.
Residential and business customers may voluntarily contribute funds that NC GreenPower will use to purchase power from renewable energy sources in the state. All renewable energy will be generated in North Carolina for the state’s electric supply. Customers also may sign up for the program by contacting their electric provider.
To date, the program has received support from 5,220 customers statewide, with monthly contributions averaging 14,500 blocks of energy per month [one block is equal to 100 kilowatt hours (kWh); the average house uses 1,000 kWh of energy each month. To participate in the program, energy consumers can contribute a minimum of $4 per month in addition to their electric bill total.]. This is like planting more than two million trees or 33 square miles of forest at 100 trees per acre. This also is the environmental equivalent of 2,900 people not driving their cars for one year.
Governments and businesses supporting the program through voluntary contributions include Eisai, Dominion North Carolina Power, Duke Energy, GlaxoSmithKline, IBM, Lowe’s Home Improvement, N.C. Department of Administration’s State Energy Office, N.C. Electric Membership Cooperatives, N.C. Pork Council, N.C. Public Power (ElectriCities), Progress Energy, Research Triangle Institute, Smithfield Foods and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Program affiliates are Environmental Defense, N.C. Council of Churches – Interfaith Eco-Justice Network, N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, N.C. Solar Center and N.C. Sustainable Energy Association.
ABOUT N.C. SUSTAINABLE ENERGY ASSOCIATION (NCSEA) www.ncsustainableenergy.org | 919.832.7601
NCSEA works to ensure a sustainable future by promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency in North Carolina through education, public policy and economic development. Since 1978, NCSEA has conducted or co-sponsored countless workshop, solar home tours and other events, educating tens of thousands of North Carolinians. NCSEA also is an active member of the Triangle Clean Cities Coalition, which focuses on increasing the availability and use of alternative fuel vehicles. It was instrumental in the formation and development of NC GreenPower.