via City of Austin
Oct. 27 – The City of Austin just rose to the No. 2 slot on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Top 20 Local Government list of green power purchasers. It also ranked No. 7 on EPA’s National Top 50 list, across all categories.
“The City of Austin’s commitment to using green power serves as an example of leadership for others to follow,” said EPA Assistant Administrator Gina McCarthy.
See the lists at http://www.epa.gov/greenpower/toplists.
Local governments in EPA’s Green Power Partnership are ranked by their annual green power usage. The City of Houston ranked No.1, for purchasing 438,000,000 kWh. However, that represents only 34% of that city’s energy usage. Austin’s purchase of 406,000,000 kWh represents 100% of municipal energy usage. The City of Dallas ranked No.3, for purchasing 302,880,000 kWh, representing 40% of its usage.
Only two other communities on the Green Power Partners list made a 100% commitment to Green Power – the far-smaller Forest County Potawatomi Community and City of Santa Monica, CA.
“The City of Austin is helping to grow the nation’s green power market and showing what a difference local governments can make in reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” said Blaine Collison, Director of EPA’s Green Power Partnership.
As of Oct. 1, the City is purchasing 406 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of Green Choice power annually¬ through Austin Energy. Prior to this purchase, Austin ranked No. 9 on the EPA “Top 20” Local Government Partner List.
“Fulfilling a commitment made in the 2007 Austin Climate Protection Plan, the City is showing leadership by supporting cleaner renewable energy alternatives to reduce its carbon footprint,” said Chief Sustainability Officer Lucia Athens, who oversees citywide climate protection efforts.
According to EPA, the City of Austin’s green power purchase of 406 million kWh is equivalent to avoiding the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of nearly 55,000 passenger vehicles per year or the CO2 emissions from the electricity use of nearly 35,000 average American homes annually.
Other benefits of Green Power include cleaner air and helping to accelerate the development of new renewable energy capacity in Austin, Texas, and nationwide.
About EPA’s Green Power Partnership
The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that encourages organizations to buy green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with electricity use. The Partnership currently has more than 1,300 Partner organizations voluntarily purchasing billions of kilowatt-hours of green power annually.
EPA defines “green power” as electricity generated from environmentally preferable renewable resources, including wind, solar, geothermal, biogas, biomass, and low-impact hydro.
Partners include a wide variety of leading organizations such as Fortune 500® companies, small and medium sized businesses, local, state, and federal governments, and colleges and universities.
EPA updates each of its National Top Partner lists quarterly, highlighting some of America’s largest voluntary green power purchasers. Each list highlights EPA Green Power Partner top performers through October 5, 2011. Green power is calculated as a percentage of total electricity use.
For additional information, visit www.epa.gov/greenpower and www.austinenergy.com.
Contact:
Katherine Gregor, Sustainability Office, (512) 974-7901, Katherine.Gregor@austintexas.gov