Santa Clara Becomes Second Largest Green Power Community in United
States
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (Business Wire EON) April 29, 2008 --
The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has named the City
of Santa Clara a Green Power Community, making the City only one of
14 communities to receive such an honor. Santa Clara ranks as the second
largest Green Power Community, both in terms of population and size
of its green power commitment–57 million
kilowatt-hours annually. Together, the 14 communities are protecting the
environment by purchasing nearly 300 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of
green power annually.
“Santa Clara is known for its concern for the
environment, so it is wonderful to receive national recognition for our
ongoing commitment to renewable energy,” says
Patricia Mahan, Mayor for the City of Santa Clara. “This
is a true community effort spearheaded by our municipal utility, and
supported by the thousands of individual residents and businesses
participating in the Santa
Clara Green Power program.” Santa
Clara Green Power is a voluntary renewable energy program
offered by Silicon Valley Power
(SVP), the City of Santa Clara’s municipal
electric utility.
Power of Green
What makes the Green Power Community status of great importance is that
these individual renewable energy purchases by thousands of Santa Clara
residents and more than 130 businesses are above and beyond the standard
utility electricity mix, creating more demand for clean energy. While
SVP already has one of the cleanest
and greenest power mixes in the nation, its Santa Clara Green
Power program allows customers to match 100 percent of their
energy use with renewables. The Santa Clara community has achieved its
new Green Power status by purchasing energy credits that have surpassed
benchmarks established by the EPA.
“EPA applauds our community partners for
protecting our environment by purchasing green power,”
says EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. “By
voluntarily shifting to renewable energy, the community of Santa Clara,
California, is proving you don’t need to wait
for a signal in order to go green.”
Committing to More Than One Million kWh of Renewable Energy
It is fitting that the City of Santa Clara’s
municipal government is leading the charge as a green power champion.
The City recently committed to more than a million kilowatt-hours of
renewable energy annually for all municipal facilities–more
than one-quarter of the output of one large-scale wind turbine.
“We are excited that our City has made an
additional commitment to green power totaling more than one million
kilowatt-hours,” says Larry Owens, Division
Manager, Marketing and Customer Services for SVP. “The
City of Santa Clara, along with the thousands of others buying Santa
Clara Green Power, is a great indication of leadership by example.”
The City is not alone in its leadership; there are eight major
institutions in Santa Clara currently purchasing green power at levels
ranging from two million to eight million kWh annually: Agilent
Technologies, Applied Materials, Santa Clara University, Yahoo!,
Westfield Valley Fair, Terremark, National Semiconductor and Marriott
Santa Clara.
About Silicon Valley Power
Silicon Valley Power is the trademark adopted for use by the century-old
Electric Department of the City of Santa Clara, California. SVP provides
power to more than 50,000 customers, including Applied Materials, Intel,
National Semiconductor and Yahoo!, at rates 25 to 45 percent below
neighboring communities. SVP is an active participant in the wholesale
energy markets in the Western United States.
About Santa Clara Green Power
Santa Clara Green Power is a voluntary renewable energy
program offered by Silicon Valley Power to all of its residential,
commercial and industrial customers as a way to support energy generated
from 100 percent clean wind and solar power resources at a low
additional cost of 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. Santa Clara utility
customers can enroll in Santa Clara Green Power by signing
up through the secure website at www.siliconvalleypower.com;
sending an email that includes the customer's name, address, account and
phone number to green@siliconvalleypower.com;
or by calling (408) 244-SAVE (7283).
About the City of Santa Clara
Santa Clara is a family oriented and business friendly city in the
center of Silicon Valley, located in Santa Clara County at the southern
tip of San Francisco Bay, about 45 miles south of San Francisco. The
City of Santa Clara is in a strategic regional location convenient to
freeways, airports, railroads, expressways, light rail and other public
transportation. “The Mission City,”
as Santa Clara is known, was founded in 1852. It is now a community of
about 114,200 residents with employment base of about 135,000. With 19.3
square miles of tree-lined neighborhoods, thriving commercial and
industrial centers, and 300 days of sunshine each year, it is an ideal
location for individuals, families, and businesses.
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