The following notice was posted on the PA State Department of Environmental Protection website:
Pennsylvania this week became the first state in the nation to give the green light to cleaner electricity when power began flowing under an historic agreement between GreenMountain.com and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The contract, which specifically requires cleaner and renewable electricity, is the first of its kind in the nation and was awarded by the Pennsylvania Department of General Services (DGS). The company won the contract over seven other suppliers who were also invited to bid. GreenMountain.com, which markets electricity featuring cleaner and renewable generation sources through its Green Mountain Energy(SM) brand, will supply 37,500 megawatt hours to more than a half dozen Commonwealth government accounts. The supply contract represents five percent of the Department of General Services aggregated power purchase for 2000. Part of the electricity to be supplied under the DGS contract will come from the Green Mountain Wind Farm in Garrett, Somerset County. Ground was broken on this 10.4 megawatt facility on Dec. 1, 1999. Once completed, it will be the largest wind powered facility in Pennsylvania and one of the largest in the eastern United States. GreenMountain.com customers have been responsible for development of the largest solar facility in Pennsylvania in Conshohocken and major solar and wind projects in California. The Pennsylvania State Capitol Building will be lighted with renewable energy. Pennsylvania agencies that will receive cleaner electricity include the Governor's residence, the Department of Corrections, Capitol Complex buildings in Harrisburg, state office buildings in Pittsburgh, Scranton, and Reading and Pennsylvania's 14 universities. "The Pennsylvania government contract demonstrates that cleaner and renewable electricity is competitive, reliable and a viable form of energy supply," GreenMountain.comís Mid-Atlantic region president David Breitmayer said. Breitmayer noted that electricity generation is the leading source of industrial air pollution. All of GreenMountain.comís electricity blends are dramatically cleaner than traditional electricity. "Congratulations to GreenMountain.com and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for this critical first step at the dawn of the new century," Clean Air Council Executive Director Joseph O. Minott said. "Buying clean, renewable energy, especially from new sources, reduces the threat that coal and nuclear power plants pose to public health and safety." <> For more information, visit http://www.greenmountain.com.
Send message to the chair of the Science Project User's Group, Rachel Merz (rmerz1@swarthmore.edu)
last updated 1/12/2000
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