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PR 27 01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
MONDAY, April 30, 2001
CONTACTS: John Lebens, BPA (503) 230-3965
PORTLAND, Ore. - In a continuing drive toward a green energy future in the Northwest, the Bonneville Power Administration and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) signed an agreement today to promote renewable power development. The partners will market its environmental attributes through the innovative "Green Tags" program.
As an example of how the program works, BPA, BEF and Energy Northwest are building a solar generation facility at Hanford, Wash. When it is complete, BPA will buy the solar output and meld it with other agency supplies and then sell it at BPA's regular rate. The green power attributes will be assigned to BEF to cover the cost for solar that is above the regular rate. BEF will then sell the green tags to interested parties, creating additional revenue to expand a $15 million fund for renewable resource development.
"Green tags are a simple way of capturing the environmental attributes of wind, solar and other renewables. They give buyers an easy way to help transition the power system from fossil fuel dependence to new renewables," said Angus Duncan, president of BEF.
"BPA is proud to be among the first in the country to pursue the green tag program," said John Lebens, BPA account executive. "It will help fund a dramatic expansion of BPA's purchases of renewable sources of energy, which in turn makes the Northwest grid more reliable and helps the environment."
To qualify for green tags, generation facilities must be endorsed by Northwest environmental groups and may include wind, geothermal, solar or biomass. Purchasers in turn can offset a portion of the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions that result from their electricity usage and get credit for purchasing a percentage of their power from renewable sources.
BEF sold the first green tags to the US Environmental Protection Agency in Seattle a year ago. Sales are now planned throughout the Northwest.
updated April 30, 2001 by BPA Communications, 503-230-5131.