WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection…
WASHINGTON -
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced the
communities of Washington, D.C. and Brookeville, Md. as winners of
the first Green Power Community Challenge. The year-long challenge
encouraged communities across the nation to voluntarily increase
their use of green power generated from renewable resources such as
solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, biogas, and low-impact
hydropower. By using green power, communities help to reduce their
carbon footprint, improve public health, and advance the market for
renewable energy.
“The Green Power Community Challenge proved that any
community, no matter its size, can harness the collective power of
its businesses and residents to achieve real environmental
results,” said EPA Assistant Administrator Gina McCarthy.
“By switching to renewable energy, EPA’s Green Power
Communities are investing in a more secure, healthy, and prosperous
future.”
Washington, D.C. surpassed all other challenge participants to win
the competition title for the most amount of green power used
annually. District of Columbia businesses, residents, and the
District Government are collectively using more than 772 million
kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually, enough to meet 8
percent of the community's total electricity use.
Brookeville, Md., is the challenge winner for the highest green
power percentage of total electricity use. Forty-five percent of
Brookeville’s local government, residential, and business
electricity usage comes from green power sources.
EPA launched the challenge in September 2010 with a goal for its
participating communities, across 14 states and the District of
Columbia, to reach a green power usage of 1.8 billion kWh annually.
Today, EPA's Green Power Communities surpassed the goal and are
using more than 3.3 billion kWh, equal to preventing the carbon
dioxide emissions (CO2) from the electricity use of more than
284,000 homes.
EPA Green Power Communities are cities, towns, and villages where
the local government, businesses, and residents collectively
committed to buying green power in amounts that meet or exceed
EPA's Green Power Community purchase requirements. Green Power
Communities are members of EPA’s Green Power Partnership, a
program working with more than 1,300 partner organizations to
voluntarily use green power to reduce the environmental impacts of
conventional electricity use.
More information on the Green Power Community Challenge and
results: http://epa.gov/greenpower/communities/gpcchallenge.htm