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Green Power News

February 15, 2012
EPA Recognizes Green Power Leaders: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) completed its quarterly Green Power Partnership rankings, which recognizes leading organizations for their green power efforts. Wal-Mart moved up in rankings from 15th to 3rd in overall green power usage, behind Intel and Kohl's, who retained their top two rankings. Sprint also moved up the Green Power Partner rankings, from 20th place to 13th place on the Fortune 500 Partners List, and up from 45th place to 26th place on the National Top 50 Partners List. Supermarket retailer Ahold USA made the Green Power Partnership rankings for the first time, with more than 149 million kWh of annual green power usage.

February 15, 2012
UniSource Energy Services Unveils Solar Program: UniSource Energy Services (UES) is now offering a solar green power program, Bright Arizona Community Solar. The Bright Arizona Community Solar program allows electric customers to purchase solar power from two recently completed solar generating systems in Mohave County, Arizona, with a combined capacity of 1.7 megawatts.

February 15, 2012
InterContinental Miami Purchasing 100% Wind Power: InterContinental Miami hotel has partnered with Greenlight Energy to purchase 15,467,000 kilowatt-hours of wind renewable energy certificates, equivalent to 100 percent of InterContinental Miami's electricity needs for 2012. InterContinental Miami has been added to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 100 percent Green Power Purchasers List, as well as the EPA's Green Power Leadership Club for its purchase.

February 15, 2012
Eastern University (PA) Signs 7-Year Agreement: Eastern University (PA) has partnered with Community Energy to extend its 100% green power commitment for seven years. Eastern University has purchased 100% of its electricity from wind renewable energy credits (RECs) since 2006 and is now committed to purchase 100% green power through at least 2018. Community Energy will supply a portion of the university's renewable energy generation through solar renewable energy credits from a 6 megawatt solar facility in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which Community Energy plans to build in 2012.

February 15, 2012
Greenerprinter & Giovanni Food Company Join Green-e Marketplace: Greenerprinter and Giovanni Food Company have joined Green-e Marketplace by purchasing Green-e Energy certified renewable energy certificates to meet their electricity demands. By participating in Green-e Marketplace, Greenerprinter and Giovanni Food Company can now display the Green-e logo to inform customers of their purchases of renewable energy.

January 31, 2012
Gunderson Health System Completes 5-MW Wind Project: Juhl Wind announced the official start-up and operation of the two-turbine, 4.95 megawatt (MW) GL Wind project for Gunderson Health System in Winona County, Minnesota. The GL Wind Project is a wind project that was developed specifically to address the energy demands of the Gunderson Health System. The GL Wind project is part of Gunderson Health's Envision program, which seeks to develop a portfolio of innovative green energy projects.

January 31, 2012
IKEA Powering Cincinnati Store with Solar: IKEA officially turned on a PV solar installation located at its Cincinnati-area store in Westchester, Ohio. IKEA partnered with REC Solar to develop and install the 128,000 square-foot, 1,026 kilowatt system, which consists of 4,186 PV panels that will generate over 1.3 million kilowatt-hours of renewable solar electricity for its Westchester store.

January 31, 2012
Super Bowl XLVI Goes Green: Green Mountain Energy has been selected to supply green power for Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis, Indiana. Green Mountain Energy will supply 15,000 megawatt-hours of renewable energy certificates (RECs) for all six major Super Bowl facilities. The purchase is the equivalent to the electricity use for Lucas Oil Stadium, site of the Super Bowl, the Indiana Convention Center, site of the NFL Experience Football Theme Park, and all four of the major NFL hotels, including the NFL headquarters, the Super Bowl Media Center, and the AFC and NFC team hotels. The purchase comes from wind generated in North Dakota.

January 31, 2012
Climate Registry General Reporting Protocol Open for Public Comment: The Climate Registry draft of "General Reporting Protocol 2.0" is now available for public comment. The General Reporting Protocol outlines the policies of The Climate Registry and required reporting calculation methodologies. This draft incorporates all previous updates and clarifications as well as updates to The Climate Registry's voluntary reporting program and includes new guidance on accounting for renewable energy certificates (RECs). Participation in a green power program should be accounted for in Scope 2 (indirect emissions) calculations, while unbundled RECs can be applied to an inventory through a separate adjustment. The Climate Registry is accepting public comments on the draft through close of business February 17, 2012.

January 17, 2012
SRP Opens Community Solar Program to Businesses: Salt River Project (SRP) is opening its Community Solar program to business customers, allowing businesses to purchase solar power from the 20 megawatt Copper Crossing Solar Ranch, located in Florence, Arizona. The Copper Crossing Solar Ranch currently provides solar power for homes and schools, and about half of Copper Crossing's generated solar power will be allocated for business customers. Beginning in February 2012, business customers will be able to purchase solar electricity through the Community Solar program at a fixed rate of 9.9 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), over a 10 year period.