MaryJanesFarm | Simply MJ

January 10, 2003

Green Power

For your 2003 New Year's resolution, consider throwing the switch on your home or business and stop buying electricity generated from destructive dams and polluting sources likes coal and nuclear. Until now, getting your electricity from wind meant finding a windfall to purchase equipment and hire someone savvy to help you install things like photovoltaic solar panels and wind turbines. This year you can make the switch in five minutes by picking up the phone and calling your power company. Simply ask your power provider if they have a green power option.

harnessing the power of the wind
   

You will continue to get reliable electricity (your lights will never flicker), but it will come from a cleaner pool of resources.

In the Northwest, Clearwater Power and Avista Utilities now offer power generated from landfill gas (methane) and wind, respectively.

Clearwater Power offers their power from the Coffin Butte Resource Project in Corvallis, Oregon. The power is generated by recovering methane that naturally escapes from landfills and using it to run gas-fired generators.

Avista Utilities' program involves purchasing blocks of power from the Stateline Wind Project (www.ppmenergy.com) located west of Walla Walla, Washington, on the Washington-Oregon border. The project consists of more than 450 turbines capable of generating 300 megawatts of power.

You can figure out how much your bill will go up by taking your power bill and looking at your usage. Using Avista rates as an example, look up how many kilowatt hours (kwh) you used last month and divide by 55. This determines the number of blocks you'll need for switching to wind power. Since Avista doesn't let you purchase partial blocks, round up your figure to guarantee that 100% of your power comes from the wind.

December usage: 300 kwh
divide by 55: 300 / 55 = 5.5 blocks (6 blocks rounded up)
6 blocks @ $1/block = $6.00 in addition to your regular bill

Avista's base electricity rate is $.051/kwh and if you use all wind power your rate becomes $.069/kwh, well below the nationwide average of $.0824/kwh.

Last year, Washington State became one of the first states to REQUIRE utilities to offer green power for their customers.

In Oregon, Kinko's, Inc. signed up ten of its Oregon branches for an expected total of 115 million kilowatt hours annually - about the same energy required to power 125 homes in the Pacific Northwest for a year. A purchase this size offsets carbon dioxide emissions equaling as much as 372,000 car miles. It would take more than 22,800 trees a full year to remove that same amount of CO2 from the atmosphere. Kinko's is one of 316 businesses and 8,467 Oregon households who have signed up for green power.

In Idaho, the State Land Board is installing monitors at blustery sites to determine if there is enough constant wind at a high speed to make generating electricity a profitable effort that could provide millions of dollars to the state school system. Wind turbines installed on state land could boost the school endowment fund that recently lost money because of its reliance on stock market investments. The state could produce up to $2 million a year by leasing property to wind farm developers.

Opportunities are increasing for farmers interested in making the switch to clean energy. This year, the 3rd Annual Harvesting Clean Energy Conference and the Idaho Ag Summit will be held jointly February 10 & 11 in Boise, Idaho. Learning how to use profitable clean energy projects like wind for irrigation power, solar for stock watering, on-farm biogas, and geothermal heat for greenhouses and aquaculture, farmers have the opportunity to cultivate clean energy in rural Northwest communities. For more information about the program and registration visit www.harvestcleanenergy.org/conference/.

To find out if you can sign up for green power, contact your utility company; some companies have websites explaining their green power program. If you have questions beyond what your power provider can answer, call the Renewable Northwest Project at 503-223-4544, email them at renewables@rnp.org or visit their website at www.rnp.org.

When you sign up for green power, you're telling electric providers to pour more clean energy – and less dirty energy – into the pool. Your demand drains dollars away from energy sources that create smog, acid rain, and rivers contaminated with mercury and other toxic metals and radioactive wastes. It's easy and simple and costs as much as a couple of rental videos or fast food meals. If you sign up, let us know at maryjane@maryjanesfarm.org. We'd like to honor you publicly by posting your name on our web site.

Send your questions to MaryJane Butters, c/o MaryJanesFarm, 1000 Wild Iris Lane, Moscow, Idaho, 83843. Questions may also be e-mailed to maryjane@maryjanesfarm.org. Please include your name and daytime telephone number. For more information, visit www.maryjanesfarm.org


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