C&I customers show growing interest in renewable energy
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Kinko's largest Roseville location pays an extra penny per kilowatthour to receive all its power from certified green sources. The corporation sets standards for incorporating sustainable business practices, but the decision to join Roseville Electric's RE-Green 100 program was made at the local level. (Photo courtesy of Kinko's)
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Kinko's does it, IBM does it, even Dow Chemical does it. Across the nation, companies large and small are electing to get some or all of their energy from renewable resources, creating more marketing opportunities for utilities that offer some sort of green power program.
The initiative usually comes from the company and is motivated by commitment to sustainable business practices. That doesn't mean that municipal utilities and electric cooperatives should wait for the phone to ring. Bulk green power purchases by large customers can help diversify a small utility's portfolio, develop new renewable resources and eventually make green power more affordable.
Active marketing boosts California utility's green power sales
Roseville, Calif., Electric Utility Director Tom Habashi confirmed as much when he praised Kinko's Roseville location for joining the municipal utility's RE-Green 100 program. "Green energy customers drive the market in a positive direction," Habashi declared. "The more customers who sign up for our green energy programs, the more renewable power we can develop."
One of three options Roseville customers have for supporting renewable energy, RE-Green 100 guarantees that the Roseville Kinko's will receive all its power from renewable resources. For a penny more per kilowatthour, the store is purchasing enough green energy annually to meet the needs of more than 30 homes.
The Roseville Kinko's is one of 71 locations fulfilling 100 percent of its energy demands with green power. More than 25 percent of the office supply store's U.S. branches now buy power from renewable sources, reflecting the corporation's long-standing dedication to protecting the environment.
Decision made locally
The decision to purchase green power was made at the local level, and stemmed from Kinko's corporate policy. However, Roseville aggressively markets RE-Green 100 and its other programs, RE-Green 50 and the RE-New Green Fund, to both commercial and residential customers. "Increasing the use of renewable energy and developing locally sited sources is one of Roseville's highest priorities," asserted Public Relations Manager Bernie Fargen.
Currently, 12 of the municipal utility's commercial accounts get some portion of their energy from green sources, each averaging more than 51,000 kWh annually. Customers learn of the green programs through Roseville's quarterly newsletter to commercial and industrial consumers, through print ads in business publications and from committed account representatives. "The usual marketing tools," noted Fargen. "We also take advantage of the fact that we are a city department. We publicize our programs in the city newsletter, and the city council actively supports our goals."
The promotion has brought the green program subscription rate to nearly 2 percent of Roseville's customer base--double the state average for utilities' green power programs--and earned the utility the Solar Electric Power Association's 2003 Public Awareness and Industry Leadership award. So far, Roseville's energy mix includes enough solar, wind, geothermal and small hydro generation to meet large customers' demands. As the market grows, the utility hopes to fulfill requests with locally produced green power. The RE-New Green Fund raises money to develop new local green resources through customers' voluntary contributions of an additional penny per kWh. Roseville matches those contributions and all green power purchases dollar for dollar.
Options for meeting renewable energy demands
For utilities concerned that they do not have enough renewable sources to supply large customers, green tags can help make up the difference. Some wholesale power suppliers like Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc., can arrange green tag purchases for members, as it did for Mountain View Electric Association in southeastern Colorado when Schriever Air Force Base made a large wind purchase from the small co-op.
Western can help customers increase their green power sources through the Public Renewables Partnership, an initiative to enable public power providers to integrate renewable energy into their portfolios and business strategies. The PRP, in cooperation with Evolution Markets, has created an online bulletin board where publicly traded utilities desiring to buy or sell green tags can make connections.
Some commercial customers may choose to generate their own green power with a wind turbine or solar array. Large food manufacturers, breweries, feedlots and wood product manufacturers have been known to produce enough biomass energy to sell back to power providers. In states with renewable portfolio standards, self-generation projects can help utilities meet their requirement, to say nothing of the benefits to the environment and local economy.
Green power is good for business as well as environment
Benefits, after all, are what business is all about. Everybody wants to be a good guy, but commercial and industrial customers have their bottom lines to think about. Utilities promoting green power to large accounts will sooner or later have to answer the question, "What's in it for my business, besides a white hat and higher electric bills?"
That white hat, it turns out, is worth quite a bit. Current national and global events have made renewable energy a hot topic. Green power is a good way for a company to generate favorable media coverage, set itself apart from its competitors and build customer loyalty. People who support green power like to support businesses that share their concern for the environment.
C&I customers don't have to take only their account representative's word for that, either. They can ask the Green Power Market Development Group, 12 major U.S. corporations that, with the World Resource Institute, are dedicated to building the corporate market for green energy. Members, including DuPont, Cargill, Staples, Johnson & Johnson and of course, Kinko's, have purchased a total of 97 megawatts of renewable energy as of September 2003.
That is quite a testament to the business sense of running a company on green power—and to the wisdom of offering green power to C&I accounts.
More than 300 utilities in 32 states do it, resulting in the installation and planning of more than 425 MW of renewable energy capacity. Commercial and industrial customers everywhere are finding that being green is getting easier—and more affordable—all the time.
