Wind Power Makes the Neighborhood “Green”

Communities in southeast Portland have climbed onto the renewable energy bandwagon with fervor. So many customers in the area have decided to join Portland General Electric’s (PGE) renewable energy options that the company is going to purchase green tags to pay for the electricity used by streetlights in the nine communities that make up Portland’s “greenest neighborhood.”

Portland, Oregon – August 11, 2004 [SolarAccess.com] PGE will purchase enough wind power from the Stateline Wind Facility to pay for three months, approximately 635,198 kWh, worth of electricity used to power the community’s streetlights. Green ribbons were placed on the streetlight poles to designate the neighborhood. A total of 30,000 utility customers on the PGE system subscribe to Green Source, Healthy Habitat or Clean Wind, the renewable energy programs offered. There are 21,600 customers in the greenest neighborhood, and 2,900 of them purchase their power through one of the three programs. “PGE renewable customers should be commended for taking a leadership role and driving the renewable energy market forward,” said Diane Zipper, director of green power programs at Renewable Northwest Project, a regional renewable advocacy organization. “Renewable resources bring diversity and stable prices to our electricity mix, and environmental and economic benefits to our communities.” Because 30,000 customers have signed up for renewable power, an estimated 145 million pounds of carbon dioxide won’t go into the air each year, according to PGE. That’s the equivalent of taking almost 13,000 cars off the road. “I support lots of environmental causes that may take years to show some impact,” PGE customer Elyssa Rosen said. “But with wind power, I know it’s real and it’s immediate.”