PGE's Residential Green Power Program No. 1 for Third Year
PORTLAND, Ore., Apr 22, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- For the third year in a row, Portland General Electric (PGE) (NYSE:POR) sold more renewable power to residential customers than any other utility in the United States. That's according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the government agency that today released its annual rankings of utility green pricing programs.
PGE residential customers purchased 444,925,242 kilowatt hours (kWh) of renewable energy in 2007, 29 percent more than in 2006.
Also in 2007, the number of PGE renewable power customers surpassed 61,000 for the first time, an increase of more than 20 percent since 2006.
Separately, NREL released lists of the top 10 national Utility Green Pricing Programs in five categories based on 2007 data. PGE appears on all five lists.
PGE's 2007 NREL Rankings Highlights
-- Total Number of Customer Participants. PGE grabbed the No. 2 spot (from No. 3) for total number of customer participants, with 61,543 at the end of 2007. This includes residential and commercial participants.
-- Renewable Energy Sales. While PGE maintained its No. 2 ranking of total renewable kilowatt hours sold to residential and commercial customers combined, the company gained significant ground, moving to within less than five percent of the No. 1 spot. At the end of 2007, PGE sold 553,677,903 kWh, an increase of 28 percent since 2006.
-- Customer Participation Rate. PGE placed No. 4 in the nation for the percentage of customers who purchase a renewable power option. At the end of 2007, PGE had 8.5 percent of customers purchasing a renewable power option, an increase of 24 percent from 2006. Additionally, PGE continues to have the top-ranked mid-to-large utility green pricing program in the U.S.
"Every year PGE's renewable rankings improve, demonstrating that our company and our customers are committed to protecting the environment," said Thor Hinckley, PGE renewable power program manager. "But we're not resting on our laurels: next year we want to do even better."
NREL rankings are based on raw numbers for calendar year 2007 and are not adjusted for the size of the utility. The full report can be accessed at www.nrel.gov.
PGE offers information on its green power products at www.PortlandGeneral.com/renewable. Choices include:
-- Green Source(SM) -- 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 Wind(SM) -- Customers pay a set fee for a fixed amount of new wind power each month, making it easy to budget. This program is available to all residential and business customers.*
In addition, all PGE renewable power customers have the option of improving salmon and steelhead habitat in Oregon for a small additional charge, through a program administered by The Nature Conservancy of Oregon.
PGE's Green Power Leadership
PGE's national leadership in renewable power dates back to the 1990s when the company agreed to purchase the entire output of Oregon's first major wind farm, Vansycle Ridge. Most recently, PGE completed the first phase of its Biglow Canyon Wind Farm in Sherman County, Ore. The plant is PGE's first wholly owned and operated wind farm, and has an installed capacity of 125 megawatts of electricity -- enough to power about 34,000 homes. Additional phases planned for completion in 2009 and 2010 are expected to bring the wind farm's total generating capacity to about 450 megawatts. There are currently more than 62,000 PGE customers participating in PGE's Renewable Options program. For more information about PGE's renewable programs, visit www.GreenPowerOregon.com.
PGE, headquartered in Portland, is a fully integrated electric utility that serves more than 804,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in northwest Oregon. Visit PGE on the Web at www.PortlandGeneral.com.
*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.
SOURCE: Portland General Electric
PGE Elaina Medina, 503-464-8790 elaina.medina@pgn.com
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