SUN PRAIRIE, WIS., April 23 — The U.S. Department of Energy’s
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently released its annual
ranking of leading utility green power programs. Based on 2007 customer
participation rates, River Falls Municipal Utilities (RFMU) is one of
the top utilities in the United States for renewable energy program
performance.
RFMU had 5.3 percent of its residential customers purchasing green
power equal to all or a portion of their electricity, ranking ninth in
the nation on NREL’s “Top 10” list for customer participation
rates. RFMU provides green power to its customers through the Wisconsin
Public Power Inc. (WPPI) Renewable Energy Program. The community-owned
utility is a member-owner of WPPI.
“River Falls has demonstrated a substantial leadership commitment to
promoting the use of renewable energy,” WPPI President and CEO Roy
Thilly said. “The community’s accomplishment in this area
exemplifies how WPPI and its members can work together for a better
energy future.”
Community members in River Falls purchase electricity from clean, green
sources by participating in the Renewable Energy Program. Customers pay
$3.00 per month for blocks of renewable energy equal to some of all of
their monthly electric usage. A block is the equivalent of 300
kilowatt-hours of electricity.
Overall, residential customer participation across 40 WPPI member
communities that offered the Renewable Energy Program in 2007 was almost
2.5 percent, comparing favorably to the 2007 national average of 1.8
percent cited by NREL. Four WPPI member communities-River Falls, Lake
Mills, Stoughton and Oconto Falls-had participation levels exceeding
four percent.
Using information provided by utilities, NREL develops “Top 10”
rankings of utility programs in the following categories: total sales of
renewable energy to program participants, total number of customer
participants, customer participation rate, green power sales as a
percentage of total utility retail electricity sales, and the lowest
price premium charged for a green power program using new renewable
resources.
The municipally owned utility of River Falls is the only Wisconsin
utility to make the “Top 10” list for customer participation rates.
The current NREL “Top 10” list marks the third time River Falls has
earned national recognition for its successful green power program
performance. Last year, RFMU earned the no. 9 spot for its 2006 customer
participation rate. In 2005, RFMU was no. 10 on the list.
NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy’s primary national laboratory
for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. To
view NREL’s “Top 10” lists, visit
http://www.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/resources/tables/topten.shtml.
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WPPI is a regional power company serving 49 customer-owned electric
utilities. Through WPPI, these public power utilities share resources
and own generation facilities to provide reliable, affordable
electricity to more than 190,000 homes and businesses in Wisconsin,
Upper Michigan and Iowa.
