Power Engineering - Five thousand Puget Sound Energy customers choose green power

BELLEVUE, Wash., Dec. 19, 2002 -- A growing number of Puget Sound Energy (PSE) customers are willing to shell out a little extra green to buy solar and wind power.

Nearly 5,000 customers have signed up for PSE's one-year-old Green Power Plan. Their commitment to green power has helped the utility achieve the first-year target for its program.

The growing demand for green power among businesses and households adds 1.8 million kilowatt hours of new renewable energy every month to the Northwest grid. Their participation also is helping foster the development of additional renewable-energy resources.

"Puget Sound Energy's consumers clearly are demonstrating their commitment to the Northwest's environment by choosing to pay a bit more for green power in order to drive more investment in the region's solar projects and wind farms," said Angus Duncan, president of the Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF).

"Right now, PSE customers are supporting renewable energy at a rate that would serve the annual electricity needs of nearly 2,100 households for a year," added Duncan. "That level of participation leads to more production, which eventually leads to lower costs for green power."

PSE's green power portfolio is administered by the Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing new sources of renewable energy. BEF obtains energy for PSE from the State Line Wind Farm near Walla Walla, Wash. and the Hanford/White Bluffs Solar Project in Hanford, Wash.

"We are delighted to see our residential customers embrace green power," said Liz Norton, marketing manager at PSE. "It also is exciting how our business customers are championing this effort. Of the PSE customers participating in the green power program, 87 are businesses. The participating businesses are paying on average an extra $23.26 a month for 1,150 kilowatt hours of green power," added Norton.

Green power is available to business and residential customers on a voluntary basis at a variety of prices starting at $4 for 200 kilowatt hours per month. Residential customers participating in the program, on average, are paying an additional $6.14 on their monthly electric bill to purchase the more expensive green power.

For the holiday season, PSE is introducing a new campaign titled the "Gift of Green". Now, a PSE customer can purchase a block of green power in a recipient's name. As in the green power program, customers can give green power in several different energy blocks at various prices. Customers can purchase a "Gift of Green" gift certificate, as well as sign up for the Green Power Plan at www.pse.com/yourhome/greenpower or by calling 800/562-1482.

Puget Sound Energy, a subsidiary of Puget Energy, is an investor-owned utility with more than 1.2 million customers in 11 counties, primarily in western Washington.

The Bonneville Environmental Foundation administers PSE's renewable energy portfolio. The portfolio includes output from:

* State Line Wind Farm near Walla Walla, Wash.
* Hanford/White Bluffs Solar Project in Hanford, Wash.

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