NEWS FROM WESTERN AREA POWER ADMINISTRATION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 6, 2009
CONTACT: Randy Wilkerson, 720-962-7056, wilkerson@wapa.gov
WESTERN PURCHASES RENEWABLE ENERGY CERTIFICATES
LAKEWOOD, Colo. —Western Area Power Administration has purchased renewable energy certificates to help meet renewable energy goals set by the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
Western contracted the purchase through its Renewable Resources for Federal Agencies program. The program is a partnership with the Federal Energy Management Program established to help Federal agencies move toward the nation’s renewable energy goals.
3 Degrees, Unicoi Energy Services, LLC and NextEra Energy Resources will supply Western with approximately 11,486 RECs in 2009, 50,000 RECs in 2010, and 1,372 RECs in each year from 2011 to 2015. Western's Colorado River Storage Project Management Center coordinated the purchase.
Renewable energy certificates, or "green tags," are the intangible environmental benefits associated with generating one megawatthour of electric energy by a renewable resource. Renewable energy producers can sell the credits, as well as the power itself, to allow all renewable resources to compete on a level playing field with conventional resources by recognizing there are other external costs associated with fossil energy sources. Agencies that are not located near the source of renewable generation can buy RECs and claim the environmental benefits to meet their own or mandated goals.
For more about Western's renewable resources program, log on to Western's Green Tags Web site, www.wapa.gov/powerm/pmtags.htm.
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Western Area Power Administration annually markets and transmits more than 10,000 megawatts of clean, renewable power from hydroelectric powerplants owned and operated by the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 15 western and central states. It is part of the Department of Energy.
Serving the West with Federal hydropower
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