May 16, 2012
PGE customers’ decade of clean energy avoids 3.1 billion lbs. of greenhouse gas emissions
Top-ranked program celebrates 10th year
PORTLAND, Ore. — Who has the power to produce 21 billion pints of craft beer (or 7 billion shots of espresso), light up the iconic “Portland, Oregon” sign over Old Town for 48,000 years, or charge more than 716,000 electric vehicles for one year? Answer: Portland General Electric customers who have chosen to participate in the utility’s voluntary renewable power options.
PGE’s renewable power program marks its tenth year in 2012, and participants have purchased more than three billion kilowatt hours of electricity generated from renewable, emissions-free resources since the program rolled out in 2002. That’s enough to power all sorts of things that Oregonians hold dear, like the ski lifts on Mt. Hood (for 242 years).
With more than 80,000 customers enrolled, the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory has ranked PGE’s program number one in the nation since 2009, for the number of customers participating, and since 2003, based on the amount of renewable power sold to residential customers. PGE’s program ranks second nationally for the total amount of renewable power sold to residential and commercial customers combined.
The program offers options that allow customers to offset their entire monthly consumption of electric power with power generated from renewable resources or offset smaller increments of their usage with units of renewable wind power. A typical PGE residential customer purchasing 100 percent renewable power pays a premium of about $12 per month. The proceeds from the program are used to support development of clean renewable energy sources by purchasing renewable energy certificates on customers’ behalf and by investing in renewable power projects. Program options are reviewed and approved by the Oregon Public Utility Commission.
For more information, visit PGE’s dedicated microsite at GreenPowerOregon.com. Or check out the attached flyer for perspective on the progress Oregon has made in developing renewable power over the past decade.
Tenth anniversary -- PGE voluntary renewable power programs(PDF)
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About Portland General Electric Company: Portland General Electric, headquartered in Portland, Ore., is a fully integrated electric utility that serves approximately 825,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in Oregon.
For more information, contact:
Steve Corson, PGE,
503-464-8444