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Green Power Planet #29
June 15, 2010

In this edition of the Green Power Planet:

April Top Partner List Includes New Fortune 500^® Green Power Partners
July Top Partner List Updates
Ivy League Remains on Top of the College and University Challenge
Green Power Partners Making Headlines
Partner Spotlight: Santa Clara, CA, Community
Welcome New Partners
GPP Webinars—Future and Past
Spirit Lake Community Schools - Spreading the Word About Wind Energy
Save the Date—Renewable Energy Markets Conference
How to receive USGBC LEED Credit for your Renewable Energy Usage
Partnership Agreement and Requirements Updated
Got PV? NREL's "Open PV" Database

April Top Partner List Includes New Fortune 500^® Green Power Partners

On April 26, the Green Power Partnership (GPP) released its updated Top Partner Rankings. Among the Fortune 500® Green Power Partners, Intel Corporation remains the largest green power buyer with a purchase of more than 1.4 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year. Whole Foods Market, Motorola, Inc., and GE Healthcare-Headquarters Office moved up on the Fortune 500^® Green Power Partners rankings. Capital One, General Dynamics Land Systems' Central Office and Scranton Facility, and Johnson Controls, Inc. appeared on the list for the first time.

Notable additions to other Top Partner Lists include: Hilton Worldwide on the National Top 50 List; Boutwell, Owens & Co, Inc. on the Top 20 Printers List; and Lycée Francais of New York on the Top 20 K-12 Schools List. Also, the Montgomery County Clean Energy Buyers Group and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport improved their rankings on the Top 20 Local Government List.

For a complete list of all Top Partner Rankings, visit www.epa.gov/greenpower/toplists/index.htm.

July Top Partner List Updates

The next update of the Top Partner Lists will be on August 2. The deadline for green power usage updates to be included on the lists is July 6.

Ivy League Remains on Top of the College and University Challenge

Graduates The University of Pennsylvania led the Ivy League to its fourth consecutive overall conference championship in the 2009-2010 College & University Green Power Challenge that concluded in April. Penn was again the largest single purchaser in the challenge, followed by Pennsylvania State University, Carnegie Mellon, Oregon State University, and the University of Utah, each the champion of its respective conference. Participation in the 2009-2010 challenge grew to 54 institutions representing 26 different conferences nationwide, with a cumulative annual green power purchase of more than 1.1 billion kWh.

The Green Power Challenge is open to all U.S. colleges, universities, and conferences. To be listed, a conference must have an aggregate green power purchase of at least 10 million kilowatt-hours across the conference. For more information, please contact Blaine Collison (collison.blaine@epa.gov). To learn more about the Challenge, or to join next year's 2010-2011 Challenge, visit www.epa.gov/greenpower/initiatives/cu_challenge.htm.

Green Power Partners Making Headlines

Green Power Partners are being featured in media outlets across the country. An April 26 Forbes.com story highlighted the ten largest purchasers within the Green Power Partnership, while Environmental Leader profiled Partners that also appear on the Fortune 500^® Green Power Partners list. Additionally, the winners of the 2009-2010 College & University Green Power Challenge were featured in several media outlets, including American School & University, Environmental Leader, and Sustainable Business.

Partner Spotlight: Santa Clara, California, Green Power Community

Santa Clara City Council Santa Clara, California, is a community of more than 115,000 residents located at the southern tip of San Francisco Bay. "The Mission City" began purchasing green power for individual city facilities in 2005. By 2008, the city's green power purchasing had increased to more than 1 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) for all city facilities.

In February 2007, Santa Clara's City Council issued a challenge to all residents and businesses in the city to participate in the municipal utility's Santa Clara Green Power program. By the beginning of 2008, Santa Clara's total community-wide purchases reached 57 million kWh, qualifying Santa Clara for recognition as EPA's 15th Green Power Community.

As of spring 2010, the Santa Clara community is purchasing more than 160 million kWh of green power, making it the top Green Power Community in the Partnership. GPP congratulates the Santa Clara Green Power Community and thanks the thousands of participants—representing nine percent of the city's residents and businesses—who made this achievement possible.

For a complete list of all EPA Green Power Communities, visit www.epa.gov/greenpower/communities/index.htm.

Welcome New Partners!

Welcome to the following 70 organizations that have recently joined the Green Power Partnership (as of June 1, 2010).

Banking & Fin. Srvcs.: Harris (Ill.), New Resource Bank (Calif.), TD Bank, N.A. (N.J.)

Consulting Srvcs.: Energy & Sustainability Partners, LLC (Mass.)

Education (Higher): Adelphi University (N.Y.), Amherst College (Mass.), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (N.Y.), Smith College (Mass.), Southwestern University (Texas), University of St. Thomas (Minn.)

Education (K-12): The Chapin School (N.Y.), The Spence School (N.Y.), Town School for Boys (Calif.)

Educational (Other): Indianapolis Zoo (Ind.)

Food & Beverage: United Natural Foods, Inc. (R.I.)

Govt. (Federal): U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / Pacific Regional Office (Ore.)

Govt. (Local, Municipal): City of Auburn, CA / Wastewater Treatment Plant, City of Clayton, MO, City of New Haven, CT, City of Rochester, NY, Marin Energy Authority (Calif.), Town of Lee, MA / Water Treatment Plant

Green Power Community: Helotes, Texas Community

Health Care: Signature Smiles (Wash.)

Industrial Goods & Srvcs.: Aircraft Spruce and Specialty (Calif.), General Dynamics Land Systems / Central Office (Mich.), General Dynamics Land Systems / Scranton (Pa.)

Information Technology: Avectra, Inc. (Va.), Datapipe, Inc. (N.J.), Madison Computer Works, Inc. (Wis.), VerticalResponse, Inc. (Calif.), Votenet Solutions, Inc. (D.C.)

Insurance: United Services Automobile Association (USAA) (Texas)

Legal Services: Trafton & Matzen, LLP (Maine)

Media & Publishing: Ogden Publications (Kan.)

Non-Profit (NGO): Biomass Thermal Energy Council (D.C.), Condominium Residences I of Falls Grove (Md.), Hydrogen Education Foundation (D.C.), Renewable Energy Markets Association (D.C.), The Association of Green Property Owners and Managers (Wash.)

Other: Aspire Savings Network (Colo.), Dogtopia of Omaha (Neb.), Green Collar Earth LLC (N.Y.), Robinson's Rain Barrels, LLC (Mo.)

Outdoor Equipment: La Sportiva N.A. (Colo.)

Printing: BCT-Denver (Colo.), Consolidated Printing Company (Ill.), Deluxe Corporation / Antelope Valley Facility (Minn.), Deluxe Corporation / KC Renner Facility (Minn.), Deluxe Corporation / Mountain Lakes Facility (Minn.), Green Color Printing (Calif.), Horizon Screen Printing (Mo.), Original Impressions (Fla.), Phoenix Press (Conn.), Rocket Direct Communications (Va.)

Real Estate: Bennett Group (D.C.), Exit Realty - Thomas Meyer Associates (Mo.), Preotle, Lane & Associates Ltd. (Mass.)

Restaurants & Food Srvcs.: CakeLove (D.C.), Dutch Mill Catering (D.C.), Eatonville Restaurant (D.C.), San Chez Restaurant (Mich.)

Retail: BetterLivingVirtually.com LLC (Colo.), Cole Hardware (Calif.)

Travel & Leisure: Alcatraz Cruises, LLC (Calif.), BPG Hotel Partners XI LLC / Hilton Baltimore BWI Airport (Md.), Flow Yoga (D.C.), Hotel Terra, Jackson Hole (Wyo.), InterContinental Hotel San Francisco (Calif.), The Moonrise Hotel (Mo.)

GPP Webinars—Future and Past

webinar On Thursday, June 24, from 1:00 - 2:15 pm (ET), GPP will host a webinar on reverse energy auctions. In an online reverse energy auction, energy suppliers compete against each other in real time, increasing competition and driving down prices. Many organizations have used reverse auctions to lower energy costs and add green power to their electricity mix. In addition to being used to procure energy in competitive markets, reverse auctions can be used to procure renewable energy certificates and carbon offsets.

Participants will learn about:

How an online reverse energy auction works
The potential cost savings benefits of reverse energy auctions
Two Green Power Partners' experiences with reverse energy auctions

Speakers will be:

Blaine Collison, Green Power Partnership
Dan Joyce, World Energy
Lisa Madsen, United Natural Foods
Brian Magden, General Services Administration

Register today!

On Wednesday, August 4, from 2:00 - 3:30 pm (ET), GPP will host a webinar on collaborative PV procurement, highlighting the largest public renewable energy procurement in terms of both number of sites and number of jurisdictions participating.

This webinar will provide an overview of the Renewable Energy Procurement (REP) Project, a collaborative effort between the members of the Joint Venture Public Sector Climate Task Force and the County of Santa Clara, California. By leveraging the contractual resource investment of the County of Santa Clara and creating a strategically bundled procurement pool, all members of the collaborative procurement are benefiting from reduced or eliminated technical, financial, and organizational challenges of adopting renewable power.

Speakers include:

Blaine Collison, Green Power Partnership
Rachel Massaro, Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network
Ben Foster, Optony
Siva Darbhamulla, County of Santa Clara, CA

Participants will learn

How nine independent municipal agencies were able to combine efforts in a joint procurement for 14 MW of new solar PV installations
What role each project participant played
What pitfalls were avoided, challenges addressed, and successes achieved
How to approach a similar project in another region of the country and leverage this effort

Register today!

On April 8, GPP hosted a webinar on Green Power Procurement for K-12 Schools, which included an overview of the Green Power Partnership and available EPA resources and tools for schools. Presentations were given by Green Acres School in Rockville, Maryland, and the Austin Independent School District in Texas.

On April 20, GPP co-hosted a webinar on Renewable Energy for the Printing Industry with the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership Program (SGP). Presentations were given by Phoenix Press in New Haven, Connecticut; The John Roberts Company in Coon Rapids, Michigan; and Monroe Litho in Rochester, New York.

You can also download a transcript, recordings, or presentations from the April GPP Webinars by visiting the Events and Webinars page on the Partnership's website.

GPP webinars are now available on iTunes as podcasts!

About Podcasts

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Spirit Lake Community Schools - Spreading the Word About Wind Energy

"Curious" to learn more about wind energy? Students in Spirit Lake, Iowa, can help! Earlier this year, first graders at Spirit Lake Elementary School, a Green Power Partner, developed a book-featuring a special guest- to help educate their peers about the school's use of on-site wind energy. Written and illustrated by the students, the book features the character Curious George visiting the school and posing questions about the school's on-site wind turbine. Find the book on the Spirit Lake Community School's website at www.spirit-lake.k12.ia.us/~jtirevold/bg/building.htm and www.spirit-lake.k12.ia.us/~jtirevold/bg/CG/Page00.html.

Save the Date - Renewable Energy Markets Conference

For 15 years, Renewable Energy Markets (REM) has defined and expanded marketplace opportunities for clean power. Bridging the interests of renewable energy generators, marketers, and utilities with those of purchasers, policymakers, and the communities that benefit from clean energy, REM is the nation's premier forum for the energy community to gather, learn from each other, and recognize best practices for promoting renewable energy. This year's conference will take place in Portland, Oregon, from October 19-22, 2010.

Early bird registration is now open through August 27. Register Today!

How to Receive USGBC LEED Credit for your Renewable Energy Usage

Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), LEED is a green building certification system that verifies, through a rigorous third-party process, that a building was designed and built to perform better across several categories: energy savings; water efficiency; CO₂ emissions reduction; improved indoor environmental quality; and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. Organizations using green power can earn LEED credits, provided the usage meets the USGBC’s criteria.

LEED recognizes the following renewable energy resources:

Solar
Wind
Geothermal
Low Impact hydro
Biomass
Biogas (on-site only)

In addition, there are several factors you should consider when trying to earn LEED credits for renewable energy usage:

LEED awards points to renewable energy in each one of its rating systems.
In general, LEED awards more points to on-site generation than to the purchase of off-site green power.
In some rating systems, the minimum green power percentage must be higher to receive credit for an offsite purchase than to receive credit for an on-site system.
Green power that is not generated on-site must be Green-e certified.

For more information on LEED certification and renewable energy, visit the LEED website at www.usgbc.org/LEED/LEED_main.asp.

Partnership Agreement and Requirements Updated

In May GPP released updated versions of its Green Power Partnership Agreement and the Green Power Partnership Partner Requirements documents. The re-designed Partnership Agreement now includes space for Partners to highlight their motivation for their purchase, and can be faxed on a single page to conserve paper. The GPP Partner Requirements were revised to reflect new eligibility requirements for green power sourced from states that have a mandatory greenhouse gas cap in place for power plant emissions, or similar regulatory mechanisms.

To download the revised Partnership Agreement, visit www.epa.gov/greenpower/documents/gpp_partnership_agreement.pdf.
To download the revised Partnership Requirements, visit www.epa.gov/greenpower/documents/gpp_partnership_reqs.pdf.

Got PV? Add Your Installation to NREL's "Open PV" Database

Timemap Earlier this year, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) launched the "Open PV" Project, a collaborative effort between government, industry, and the public to develop a comprehensive database of photovoltaic (PV) installation data for the United States. NREL initially populated the database with information from state-run incentive programs, large utilities, and other organizations, but invites users to enter their own PV installation data to help make the database more complete. GPP encourages Partners to add their PV installations into the database by visiting http://openpv.nrel.gov. This website features more information about the project and a time-elapsed map showing U.S. PV installations installed between 2000 and 2010.

Want More GPP News?

GPP offers additional Partnership and green power news through its Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed. The GPP RSS feed will send automatically updated information to subscribers' desktops or favorite feed readers like My Yahoo or iGoogle. Subscribe now!

Contacting EPA’s Green Power Partnership

Please feel free to contact the Green Power Partnership:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
The Green Power Partnership
Fax: 202-343-2208
Web site: www.epa.gov/greenpower

Recruiting & Green Power Communities - Blaine Collison (collison.blaine@epa.gov or 202-343-9139)
Marketing & Outreach- Allison Dennis (dennis.allison@epa.gov or 202-343-9526)
Partnership Administration & Policy – Matt Clouse (clouse.matt@epa.gov or 202-343-9004)

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