Earth Month Tip #8, Green Up Your Power

From the City of Seattle
Earth Day April 22, 2007

SEATTLE - Earth Month reminds us that we need to continue to take daily steps to keep our city and our planet healthy and environmentally sustainable. Seattle City Light customers can promote the use of clean, renewable energy by joining the Green Up program.

Green Up allows customers to invest in the development of new renewable energy sources, such as wind power, geothermal and biomass energy. By adding $3 a month to their electricity bills, Green Up participants can take credit for buying enough renewable energy to cover 25 percent of an average residential customer’s usage. A $6 premium covers 50 percent of the average residential usage, and $12 a month equates to 100 percent.

More than 2,500 customers are already participating in Green Up. In 2006, they purchased 34,000 megawatt-hours of renewable energy from the Stateline Wind Project in eastern Washington and Oregon.

Sign up today for Green Up by visiting www.greenupseattle.org or calling (206) 684-8822.

To sweeten the deal, while supplies last, customers who join Green Up or increase their existing participation will receive a 12 ounce bag of organic coffee from local roasters Batdorf and Bronson and a 2 ounce organic chocolate bar from Dagoba Chocolate.

Increasing the use of clean, renewable energy reduces greenhouse gas emissions that can affect climate change. Reducing those emissions is an important initiative for Seattle and the world. For example, scientists believe climate changes are shrinking glaciers in the North Cascades that store the water that allows City Light’s dams to produce electricity. Investing in new renewable energy sources now could help protect Seattle’s existing hydroelectric power supply.

You can make a difference! Start by joining Green Up today and then let others know of your commitment. Tell people where you shop and where you work that climate protection matters. For a list of other great steps to make Seattle and Planet Earth a better place to live, visit the Green Seattle Guide at www.seattle.gov/environment/cag/index.html.