In the United States many utility companies have green power programs. These programs allow customers the ability to voluntarily contribute to increasing the use of renewable energies by their utility company. Overall, some 850 utilities across the U.S. have these voluntary programs and they are growing in popularity.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently released the 2010 statistics for the green power programs across the U.S.. According to NREL, 1.5 million customers now participate in the green power programs, customers which include universities and government agencies. Overall, the programs are supporting approximately 9,000 megawatts of renewable energy across the U.S..
More than 6 million megawatt-hours of renewable electricity were sold during 2010 through the green energy programs. According to the 2010 statistics, the top participants in the green energy program are Austin Energy, Portland General Electric, PacifiCorp, Sacramento Municipal Utility District and Xcel Energy. Austin Energy sold more than 740 million kilowatt-hours in 2010.
Currently, the most popular form of renewable energy in use in the green energy programs is wind. At least seventy-five percent of the energy attained through the programs is generated through wind. Other forms of renewable in use for the programs are solar, biomass, landfill gas, geothermal and hydropower.
While wind is the reigning champ in the green energy programs across the country, solar is increasing in popularity. Many of the utility companies are promoting the use of solar and contributing to the building of solar farms of varying sizes in the communities they serve.
