Progress Energy Corp. and Duke Power Co. have given $25,000 each to NC GreenPower to develop renewable energy sources in North Carolina.
NC GreenPower helps subsidize the purchase of power from renewable sources such as solar and wind. More then 7,000 North Carolina electric customers have signed up to help fund NC GreenPower through a payment option on their monthly utility bills.
Residences and businesses that sign up for the program typically pay an extra $4 per month for 100 kilowatt hours. That money then buys "green power" produced by solar, hydro and swine-waste facilities popping up around the state.
As of March, the equivalent of 19.3 million kilowatt hours of annual energy had been developed. That's less than two ten-thousandths of North Carolina's annual electric usage of 123 billion kilowatts, notes Ivan Urlaub, policy director for the N.C. Sustainable Energy Association.
"We are actually doing very well compared to other programs around the nation," says NC GreenPower spokeswoman Sharon Gladwell. "We'd like the numbers to be higher, but we haven't had the money to market the program."
Raleigh-based Progress (NYSE: PGN) also gave $25,000 to NC GreenPower in December 2003. Duke Power is a subsidiary of Charlotte-based Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE:DUK).
NC GreenPower is based in Raleigh.