April 02, 2007
PGE holds on to “number one” in residential green power use
Utility climbs in other national rankings
Portland, Ore. — For the second year in a row, Portland General Electric’s residential green power customers are tops in the United States for the amount of renewable energy consumed. That’s according to officials at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Also in 2006, the number of PGE renewable power customers cleared 50,000 for the first time.
Residential customers purchased 343,879,496 kilowatt hours of renewable energy last year, 23 percent more than in 2005.
Separately, NREL released lists of the top 10 utilities in other renewable energy sales categories. PGE scored third place or better in most categories.
“Utility green power sales continue to show strong growth across the country,” said Lori Bird, senior energy analyst at NREL. “These utilities are the national leaders.”
The percentage of PGE customers who purchase a renewable power option saw a large jump. PGE now ranks third in the nation, at 6.5 percent of customers, up from sixth place (5.3 percent) in 2005.
When residential customer counts were combined with commercial customers, PGE placed second in total kilowatt hours sold, 432,826,408 kWh, up 27 percent.
PGE ranked third for total numbers participating, with 50,284 customers at the end of 2006, an increase of 24 percent.
“With the introduction of our new Renewable FutureSM product in January, we expect our customer’s green power use to continue its rapid climb this year,” said Thor Hinckley, PGE Renewable Power Program manager.
Renewable FutureSM freezes the electricity portion of the PGE rate for up to five years, while offering 100 percent new renewable energy from an Oregon wind farm.
“The daily headlines about global warming are also making renewable power more attractive to customers,” Hinckley said. “Because renewable power sources produce little or no carbon dioxide, they contribute very little to climate change.”
NREL rankings are based on raw numbers and are not adjusted for the size of the utility. The full report can be accessed at the NREL Web site.
PGE offers information on its green power products in the Renewable Power section. Choices include:
- Renewable FutureSM — 100 percent new wind power from the Klondike II wind farm in Sherman County, Ore., with the energy portion of the rate guaranteed through Dec. 31, 2011.
- Green SourceSM — Residential and small-medium businesses buy 100 percent new renewable power equal to 100 percent of their consumption from wind, geothermal and biomass generation.*
- Clean WindSM — Customers pay a set fee for a fixed amount of new wind power each month, making it easy to budget. Available to residential and all business customers.*
In addition, all PGE renewable power customers have the option of improving salmon and steelhead habitat in Oregon through small additional charge, through a program administered by The Nature Conservancy of Oregon.
PGE has been making green power news since 1999 when it became one of the first utilities to offer a renewable power product. Just last week, PGE’s Pelton Round Butte Hydroelectric Project, owned jointly with the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, became a designated producer of green power, thanks to a “low-impact” certification from the Low Impact Hydropower Institute. Late this year, the utility will launch the Biglow Canyon Wind Farm in Sherman County developed by Orion Energy LLC and built, owned and operated by Portland General Electric.
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*Customers will not have electricity from a specific renewable generation facility delivered directly to their homes or businesses, but are purchasing renewable power to be delivered in their region.
PGE, headquartered in Portland, is a fully integrated electric utility that serves more than 793,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in northwest Oregon.
For more information, contact:
Mark Fryburg, PGE,
503-464-8481
