WASHINGTON, DC, US.
The price premium charged for new, customer-driven green power is 80˘ per
kWh in some regions of the US, according to the latest annual ranking of
leading utility programmes.
The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory tracks voluntary programmes
offered by utilities, where consumers can choose to support additional
generation from solar and wind. More than 800 utilities across the US offer
such programmes, led by the sale of 577,636,840 kWh by Austin Energy in
Texas.
For programmes that have installed or announced firm plans to install or
purchase power from 100% new renewable resources, the price premium is as
low as 9˘/kWh for wind power sold by Edmond Electric, but two utilities
(Portland General Electric and Emerald People's Utility District) charge
80˘/kWh for power from wind, geothermal and biomass, although the report
notes that the rate premium continues to drop.
Using information provided by the utilities, NREL develops the ‘top ten’
rankings of utility programmes based on total sales of green power to
programme participants, total number of customer participants, customer
participation rate, green power sales as a percentage of total utility
retail electricity sales, and the lowest price premium.
“Utility green power programmes continue to expand across the country,”
explains Lori Bird, senior analyst at NREL, and are a powerful stimulus for
growth in renewable energy supply. Last year, total utility green power
sales exceeded 4.5 billion kWh, a 20% increase over 2006, with 600,000
customers participating in utility programmes across the country.
Utility green pricing programmes are one segment of a larger green power
marketing industry that includes major companies, government agencies and
universities among its customers, and support 3,000 MW of new green power
generation capacity. NREL attributes the success of many programmes to
persistence in marketing and creative marketing strategies including utility
partnerships with independent green power marketers.
In terms of total number of customer participants, Xcel Energy leads with
75,534 participants in its Windsource programme. The City of Palo Alto
Utilities is top in customer participation at 20.4% and Edmond Electric has
5.7% of its sales from green power.
NREL is the US Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for
renewable energy research and development. It is operated for the Department
of Energy (DOE) by Midwest Research Institute and Battelle.
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