Top Ten Utility Green Power Programs

December 2009

Green Pricing Program Renewable Energy Sales
(as of December 2009)
Rank Utility Resources Used Sales (kWh/year) Sales (aMW)^a
1 Austin Energy Wind, landfill gas 764,895,830 87.3
2 Portland General Electric^b Wind, biomass, geothermal 740,880,487 84.6
3 PacifiCorp^cde Wind, biomass, landfill gas, solar 578,744,080 66.1
4 Sacramento Municipal Utility District^c Wind, hydro, biomass, solar 377,535,530 43.1
5 Xcel Energy^cf Wind, solar 374,296,375 42.7
6 Puget Sound Energy^cg Wind, landfill gas, biomass, small hydro, solar 303,046,167 34.6
7 Connecticut Light and Power/ United Illuminating Wind, hydro 197,458,734 22.5
8 National Grid^h Biomass, wind, small hydro, solar 174,536,130 19.9
9 Public Service Company of New Mexico Wind 173,863,751 19.8
10 We Energies^c Wind, landfill gas, solar 173,217,802 19.8

^a An "average megawatt" (aMW) is a measure of continuous capacity equivalent (i.e. operating at a 100% capacity factor).
^b Marketed in partnership with Green Mountain Energy Company.
^c Product is Green-e Energy (www.green-e.org) certified.
^d Some Oregon products marketed in partnership with 3Degrees Group Inc.
^e Includes Pacific Power and Rocky Mountain Power.
^f Includes Northern States Power, Public Service Company of Colorado and Southwestern Public Service.
^g Residential product marketed in partnership with 3Degrees Group Inc.
^h Includes Niagara Mohawk, Massachusetts Electric, Narragansett Electric, and Nantucket Electric.

Green Power Sales as a Percentage of Total Retail Electricity Sales (in kWh)
(as of December 2009)
Rank Utility Program(s) % of Load
1 Waterloo Utilities^a Renewable Energy Program^b 21.4%
2 Edmond Electric^c Pure and Simple 8.1%
3 Portland General Electric^d Clean Wind, Green Source, Renewable Future 7.9%
4 City of Palo Alto Utilities^e Palo Alto Green^b 6.9%
5 Austin Energy Green Choice 6.4%
6 River Falls Municipal Utilities Renewable Energy Program^a 6.2%
7 Madison Gas and Electric Green Power Tomorrow 4.9%
8 Sacramento Municipal Utility District Greenergy^b 3.6%
9 Park Electric Cooperative^f Green Power Program 3.4%
10 PacifiCorp (Oregon only)^be Blue Sky Block^b, Blue Sky Usage^b, Blue Sky Habitat 2.8%

^a Power supplied by WPPI Energy.
^b Product is Green-e Energy certified.
^c Power supplied by Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority.
^d Marketed in partnership with Green Mountain Energy Company.
^e Marketed in partnership with 3Degrees Group Inc.
^f Power supplied by Basin Electric Power Cooperative.

Total Number of Customer Participants
(as of December 2009)
Rank Utility Program(s) Participants
1 Portland General Electric^a Clean Wind, Green Source, Renewable Future 72,812
2 PacifiCorp^bc Blue Sky Block^d, Blue Sky Usage^d, Blue Sky Habitat 71,165
3 Xcel Energy^e WindSource^d, Renewable Energy Trust 70,393
4 Sacramento Municipal Utility District Greenergy^d 50,250
5 PECO^f PECO WIND 34,491
6 Puget Sound Energy^cg Green Power Program^d 25,789
7 National Grid^h GreenUp 22,888
8 Connecticut Light and Power/United Illuminating CTCleanEnergyOptions 22,336
9 We Energies Energy for Tomorrow^d 20,927
10 Iberdrola USA: NYSEG and RG&E^f Catch the Wind 20,386

^a Marketed in partnership with Green Mountain Energy Company.
^b Includes Pacific Power and Rocky Mountain Power.
^c Some Oregon products marketed in partnership with 3Degrees Group Inc.
^d Product is Green-e Energy certified.
^e Includes Northern States Power, Public Service Company of Colorado and Southwestern Public Service.
^f Marketed in partnership with Community Energy Inc.
^g Residential product marketed in partnership with 3Degrees Group Inc.
^h Includes Niagara Mohawk, Massachusetts Electric, Narragansett Electric, and Nantucket Electric.

Customer Participation Rate
(as of December 2009)
Rank Utility Program(s) Customer Participation Rate Program Start Year
1 City of Palo Alto Utilities^a Palo Alto Green^b 20.8% 2003
2 Portland General Electric^c Clean Wind, Green Source, Renewable Future 10.2% 2002
3 Madison Gas and Electric Green Power Tomorrow 9.6% 1999
4 Sacramento Municipal Utility District Greenergy^b 8.5% 1997
5 City of Naperville^d Renewable Energy Program 8.4% 2005
6 Silicon Valley Power^a Santa Clara Green Power^b 8.1% 2004
7 Pacific Power - Oregon Only^a Blue Sky Block^b, Blue Sky Usage^b, Blue Sky Habitat 6.5% 2002
8 River Falls Municipal Utilities^e Renewable Energy Program^b 5.8% 2001
9 Stoughton Utilities^e Renewable Energy Program^b 5.2% 2002
10 Lake Mills Light & Water^e Renewable Energy Program^b 5.1% 2002
10 Pacific County PUD Green Power Tomorrow 5.1% 2002

^a Marketed in partnership with 3Degrees Group Inc.
^b Product is Green-e Energy certified.
^c Marketed in partnership with Green Mountain Energy Company.
^d Marketed in partnership with Community Energy Inc.
^e Power supplied by WPPI Energy.

Price Premium Charged for New, Customer-Driven Renewable Power
(as of December 2009)
Rank Utility Resources Used Premium (¢/kWh)
1 Edmond Electric^ab Wind -0.17
2 OG&E Company^ac Wind 0.28
3 Avista Utilities Wind, landfill gas, hydro 0.33
4 Park Electric Cooperative^d Wind 0.39
5 Arizona Public Service Company^e Wind, geothermal, biomass, landfill gas, solar 0.40
6 Indianapolis Power & Light Company Wind 0.42
7 Flathead Electric Cooperative^d Wind 0.50
7 Sacramento Municipal Utility District^e Wind, hydro, biomass, solar 0.50
9 Xcel Energy (New Mexico)^ae Wind, solar 0.75
10 Emerald People's Utility District Landfill gas, wind, biomass 0.80

^a Premium is variable; customers in these programs are exempt or otherwise protected from changes in utility fuel charges.
^b Power supplied by Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority.
^c OG&E Company offers two rate structures for its Wind Power program; the lowest premium is for the rate which exempts customers from the fuel charge.
^d Power is supplied by Basin Electric Power Cooperative.
^e Product is Green-e Energy certified.

For More Information -
Online Report: Utility Green Pricing Programs: What Defines Success?. NREL/TP-620-29831, August 2001. (PDF 1.1 MB) Download Adobe Reader