Lacey urges customers to buy green power

The city and Puget Sound Energy are challenging residents, businesses and public agencies to buy "green power."

The Lacey Green Power Challenge is a six-month campaign to increase to 1,000 the number of residents and business customers buying green power from the utility. More than 250 residential and business customers purchased green power as of December.

If successful, the utility, with support from the Bonneville Power Administration, will fund a $20,000 solar energy demonstration project on public property that is yet to be determined.

Homeowners associations can compete, and the one with the highest level of participation will receive a $1,000 grant from PSE for an approved neighborhood project.

All participants will receive green power window decals and coupons from supporting businesses while supplies last.

But the competition is about more than the prizes.

"If each household and business in Lacey purchased just four dollars worth of green power each month, our community would effectively remove 36,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year," Mayor Virgil Clarkson said in a news release. "According to the experts, that's equivalent to our residents not driving 79 million miles."

PSE's Green Power Program allows subscribers to select the amount of green power they want to pay for, starting at $4 each month and increasing in increments of $2 a month.

A typical energy-efficient household using about 800 kilowatt-hours of electricity each month would pay an additional $10 a month to go 100 percent green.

The purchase of green power does not mean electricity produced by wind or the sun is headed directly to the participating home or business, but rather the additional revenue is spurring development of those renewable energy resources in the Northwest.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency named Lacey in 2007 to its Green Power Leadership Club as the 11th city to use green power for its electrical energy needs.

Lacey now uses renewable energy sources such as wind and solar for needs that include lighting City Hall, Lacey Timberland Regional Library, all its water and wastewater facilities, and more than 3,000 street and traffic lights.

EPA's official "Welcome to a Green Power Community" signs will be placed at major city entrances shortly.

Olympia uses green power for its wastewater, stormwater and water systems.

Tumwater will begin purchasing green power this year for its water and wastewater systems.

Christian Hill covers the city of Lacey and the military for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5427 or chill@theolympian.com.