March 31, 2008
Gresham City Council Issues Green Power Challenge
Goal is to generate 300 new green power enrollments among residents and businesses
GRESHAM, Ore. — The City of Gresham is challenging its citizens to purchase more environmentally friendly green power. At Tuesday’s city council meeting, Mayor Shane T. Bemis and the Gresham City Council will proclaim the City’s first Green Power Challenge.
“The City of Gresham is very committed to sustainable business practices,” said Mayor Bemis. “We demonstrated our powerful commitment to green power by going the extra mile to sponsor this challenge and purchase renewable energy for the city. I encourage citizens to sign up for renewable power during the Gresham Green Power Challenge and contribute to environmental stewardship for the future of our city and our state.”
The three-month Green Power Challenge for all Gresham PGE customers — business and residential —begins Tuesday, April 1 and concludes June 30. Through the community-wide challenge, the City hopes to increase its reliance on clean, renewable energy. The goal is to generate 300 new green power enrollments in PGE’s residential and small business renewable programs.
As a role model, the City of Gresham has already shown its commitment to green power. Recently, the City increased its green power purchase from 852,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of renewable energy to 1.8 million kWh of wind power annually for its city operations, which equals nearly 13 percent of Gresham’s annual electricity usage for its city facilities. This green power purchase is enough power to offset approximately 1.6 million pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in one year, which is equivalent to not driving 1.8 million miles. CO2 is a major contributor to global warming.
“Using renewable energy is one of the best ways to combat global warming,” said Thor Hinckley, PGE’s renewable power program manager. “Gresham’s citizens will emerge as leaders on this important issue. PGE applauds Mayor Bemis and the City Council for launching this important chapter in Gresham’s environmental history.”
PGE’s renewable power options
PGE offers two green power products* for residential and small business customers as part of its Renewable Power Options program:
- Clean WindSM — Residential and small business customers pay a $3.50 fee for a fixed amount of new wind power each month. The wind power comes from wind farms in Oregon and Washington and helps build new renewable resources in Oregon.
- Green SourceSM — With this product, 100% of the energy residents and businesses use is offset with renewable energy from 85% new wind power and 15% biomass power. The extra cost is about $7 monthly for the average PGE residential renewable power customer. For the average small business it’s about $13 more per month.
In addition, PGE’s residential and small business renewable power customers have the option of improving salmon and steelhead habitat in Oregon by supplementing their renewable choice with Habitat SupportSM, a $2.50 monthly contribution that goes directly to a program administered by The Nature Conservancy of Oregon.
PGE also offers a green power option for medium and large business customers like the City of Gresham — PGE’s Clean Wind program — for as little as $17 per month for 1,000 kWh, up to 100 percent of their usage.
How to sign up for the challenge
Gresham residential and small business customers who want to participate in the challenge and buy renewable power from PGE can enroll by visiting www.PortlandGeneral.com/Renewable/Gresham. Medium and large business customers should visit www.PortlandGeneral.biz/CleanWind. All customers can call (503) 228-6322.
The City of Gresham and PGE will promote this challenge through various grassroots marketing and sales efforts and events, including neighborhood canvassing and tabling at the Gresham Farmers’ Market. In addition, PGE will have sales representatives at retail stores and various local events.
The City of Gresham is committed to making smart and sustainable decisions about its impact on the environment. In July 2007, the City of Gresham and its wastewater treatment plant began participating in PGE’s Clean Wind Program. In February 2007, Mayor Shane T. Bemis signed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement to urge state and federal governments to enact policies and programs to reduce global warming pollution levels to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. Gresham is the eighth city in Oregon to sign on.
PGE’s Green Power Leadership
PGE’s national leadership in renewable power dates back to the 1990s when the company agreed to purchase the entire output of Oregon’s first major wind farm, Vansycle Ridge. Most recently, PGE completed the first phase of its Biglow Canyon Wind Farm in Sherman County, Oregon.
The plant is PGE’s first wholly owned and operated wind farm, and has an installed capacity of 125 megawatts of electricity — enough to power about 34,000 homes. Additional phases planned for construction in 2009 and 2010 are expected to bring the wind farm’s total generating capacity to between 400 and 450 megawatts. There are currently more than 62,000 PGE customers participating in PGE’s Renewable Options program. For more information about PGE’s renewable programs, visit GreenPowerOregon.com.
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* Customers will not have electricity from a specific generation facility delivered directly to their house or business. Their purchase causes renewable power to be delivered to the Northwest power grid equal to their household’s annual electricity use or a portion thereof, depending on the product they choose.
For more information, contact:
Elaina Medina, PGE,
503-464-8790
