Cost of Renewable Energy Continues to Fall, NREL Releases Green Power Rankings

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has released its annual assessment of leading utility green power programs.  Under these voluntary programs, consumers can choose to help support additional electricity production from renewable resources such as wind and solar. 

According to the NREL analysis, more than 850 utilities across the United States now offer green power programs. Utility green power sales in 2009 exceeded 6 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), and they represent more than 5 percent of total electricity sales for some of the most popular programs. Wind energy represents approximately two-thirds of electricity generated for green energy programs nationwide.

“Despite the economic downturn, consumers are continuing to support the development of renewable energy by voluntarily participating in utility green power programs,” said NREL senior energy analyst Lori Bird. “These utilities are the national leaders.”

Using information provided by utilities, NREL developed “Top 10” rankings of utility programs for 2009 in the following categories: total sales of renewable energy to program participants, total number of customer participants, the percentage of customer participation, green power sales as a percentage of total utility retail electricity sales, and the lowest price premium charged for a green power program using new renewable resources.

Ranked by renewable energy sales (kWh/year), Austin Energy in Austin, Texas sold the largest amount of renewable energy in the nation through its voluntary green power program. Rounding out the top five are Portland General Electric (Oregon), PacifiCorp (Ore. and five other states), the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (Calif.), and Xcel Energy (Col., Minn., Wis. and New Mexico).

Ranked by the percentage of customer participation, the top utilities are City of Palo Alto Utilities (Calif.), Portland General Electric, Madison Gas and Electric Company (Wis.), the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, and the City of Naperville (Ill.). (See attached tables for additional rankings).

“Participating in green power programs is one way that consumers can support renewable energy development and reduce their environmental footprint,” said NREL analyst Jenny Sumner. More than 650,000 customers are participating in utility programs nationwide.

Utility green pricing programs are one segment of a larger green power marketing industry that counts Fortune 500 companies, government agencies and colleges and universities among its customers, and helps support more than 6,000 MW of renewable electricity generation capacity.

NREL analysts attribute the success of many programs to continued efforts by utilities and their partners to raise awareness of the availability of green power options.  In addition, the rate premium that customers pay for green power continues to drop.  The average net price premium for utility green power products has decreased from 3.48¢/kWh in 2000 to 1.75¢/kWh in 2009. 

The Green Power assessment was performed by NREL's Strategic Energy Analysis Center (SEAC), which integrates technical and economic analyses and leads NREL's efforts in applying clean energy technologies to both national and international markets.

NREL released its first annual Green Power study in 2000.

NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for DOE by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

Visit NREL online at www.nrel.gov

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 Electricb	Wind, biomass, geothermal	740,880,487	84.6
3	PacifiCorpcde	Wind, biomass, landfill gas, solar	578,744,080	66.1
4	Sacramento Municipal Utility Districtc	Wind, hydro, biomass, solar	377,535,530	43.1
5	Xcel Energycf	Wind, solar	374,296,375	42.7
6	Puget Sound Energycg	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 Gridh	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 Energiesc	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 Utilitiesa	Renewable Energy Programb	21.4%
2	Edmond Electricc	Pure and Simple	8.1%
3	Portland General Electricd	Clean Wind, Green Source, Renewable Future	7.9%
4	City of Palo Alto Utilitiese	Palo Alto Greenb	6.9%
5	Austin Energy	Green Choice	6.4%
6	River Falls Municipal Utilities	Renewable Energy Programa	6.2%
7	Madison Gas and Electric	Green Power Tomorrow	4.9%
8	Sacramento Municipal Utility District	Greenergyb	3.6%
9	Park Electric Cooperativef	Green Power Program	3.4%
10	PacifiCorp (Oregon only)be	Blue Sky Blockb, Blue Sky Usageb, 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 Electrica	Clean Wind, Green Source, Renewable Future	72,812
2	PacifiCorpbc	Blue Sky Blockd, Blue Sky Usaged, Blue Sky Habitat	71,165
3	Xcel Energye	WindSourced, Renewable Energy Trust	70,393
4	Sacramento Municipal Utility District	Greenergyd	50,250
5	PECOf	PECO WIND	34,491
6	Puget Sound Energycg	Green Power Program	25,789
7	National Gridh	GreenUp	22,888
8	Connecticut Light and Power/United Illuminating	CTCleanEnergyOptions	22,336
9	We Energies	Energy for Tomorrowd	20,927
10	Iberdrola USA: NYSEG and RG&Ef	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 Utilitiesa	Palo Alto Greenb	20.8%	2003
2	Portland General Electricc	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	Greenergyb	8.5%	1997
5	City of Napervilled	Renewable Energy Program	8.4%	2005
6	Silicon Valley Powera	Santa Clara Green Powerb	8.1%	2004
7	Pacific Power - Oregon Onlya	Blue Sky Blockb, Blue Sky Usageb, Blue Sky Habitat	6.5%	2002
8	River Falls Municipal Utilitiese	Renewable Energy Programb	5.8%	2001
9	Stoughton Utilitiese	Renewable Energy Programb	5.2%	2002
10	Lake Mills Light & Watere	Renewable Energy Programb	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 Electricab	Wind	-0.17
2	OG&E Companyac	Wind	0.28
3	Avista Utilities	Wind, landfill gas, hydro	0.33
4	Park Electric Cooperatived	Wind	0.39
5	Arizona Public Service Companye	Wind, geothermal, biomass, landfill gas, solar	0.40
6	Indianapolis Power & Light Company	Wind	0.42
7	Flathead Electric Cooperatived	Wind	0.50
7	Sacramento Municipal Utility Districte	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.