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Land and Water Fund of the Rockies Markets Green Power
To encourage the use of clean and renewable energy, the Land
and Water Fund of the Rockies (LAW Fund), a nonprofit
environmental organization in Boulder, Colorado, developed a
grassroots, community-based approach to marketing wind power.
To date, the LAW Fund in partnership with Public Service
Company of Colorado (PSCo) and other utilities around the state
has succeeded in signing up approximately 18,000 residential
customers and more than 500 commercial, industrial, state, and
municipal customers for green power statewide.
The wind energy that LAW Fund markets_drove the
development of Ponnequin Wind Farm, Colorado's first
wind installation. Ponnequin supplies wind energy to PSCo
and a number of other utility wind programs in Colorado. By
purchasing clean power, customers are reducing the amount
of electricity generated from fossil fuels. The combustion of
fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide, a major contributor to
global climate change.
Because of the strong customer support for wind power,
utilities in Colorado have committed to producing an
additional 80 megawatts of wind power capacity by 2004.
The LAW Fund is applying the valuable lessons learned in
Colorado to promote solar and wind power in Arizona, Utah,
and New Mexico, and to help organizations in other states
establish similar community-based marketing programs.
Blueprint for Renewable Energy
The LAW Fund was founded in 1990 to provide legal and
policy assistance to community groups throughout the Rocky
Mountains and the desert area of the Southwest. The LAW
Fund established its Energy Project in 1991 to work for
sustainable energy policies and practices.
Today, the Fjiergy Project is active in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada,
New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming—a rapidly developing area that
is expected to need an additional 15,000 megawatts of new
electricity capacity by 2015 at a cost of more than $15 billion. In
light of this growth and the increasing environmental problems
faced by the region, the LAW Fund developed a comprehensive
blueprint for a sustainable energy future.
To achieve the goals of the blueprint, the LAW Fund
believes that a grassroots approach to marketing is
Utah Colorado
. New '
Arizona Mexico
The LAW Fund's green power project is active in Arizona,
Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.
essential. The LAW Fund aims to develop a community
ethic in support of clean power. Beginning with Boulder
County and later broadening to other communities, the
LAW Fund used this approach to aggregate demand for
power above and beyond the demand generated by
utilities' traditional marketing.
Utility wind programs are examples of green pricing—
charging consumers slightly higher prices for an
environmentally preferable product. In this case,
consumers can purchase wind-generated electricity in
blocks of 100 kilowatt-hours for a premium (additional
charge) of $2.50 a month.
The wind-generated electricity is delivered via the commu-
nal power grid; that is, there are no direct power lines from
the wind farm to the consumer. Colorado now has 20
utilities whose customers can choose to purchase some or
all of their electricity needs from wind power. In the case
of PSCo, the portion of the customer's bill associated with
wind energy is protected from changes in rate that might
occur due to changing costs of fossil fuels, which utilities
normally pass on to consumers.
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RESULTS AT A GLANCE
•
r
Approximately 80 megawatts of wind power is
expected to be on line in Colorado by the end of 2004. ~.
A total of more than 450 businesses, 49 public sector
groups, and approximately 18,000 residential customers ,
have made a commitment of more than $1 million to j
purchase 201,751 megawatt-hours (MWh) of wind ";
power annually. Annual capacity of 119,758 MWh is '„
already online, and an additional capacity of 81,994
MWh is in progress. :
This level of demand for wind power is already reducing
emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) by 118,560 tons each
year. In addition, 293 tons of nitrogen oxide (NOx) '
emissions and 327 tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions i
are being eliminated annually. When all the planned
capacity comes online, total annual savings will be
199,733 tons CO2,493 tons NOx, and 551 tons SO2. [
The community-based marketing plan has had a :
significant impact on customer response to green
pricing. Boulder County, where the campaign was j5
.initiated, represents only 5 percent of PSCo's customer "
base, yet almost 40 percent of residential wind power 1
purchases and more than half of the small business I
purchases are from Boulder County. J
Marketing Strategies
One of the most successful aspects of the Grassroots
Campaign for Wind Power is the partnership between PSCo
and the LAW Fund. The participation of a nonprofit group
like the LAW Fund (with no financial stake in the outcome)
adds credibility to the campaign, while a large for-profit
supplier like PSCo has the resources to employ traditional
marketing techniques. The LAW Fund uses secondary
partnerships with governmental, nonprofit, and private
organizations to strengthen and add leverage to the campaign
and create a broad-based, community-wide marketing
strategy. Elements of the strategy are described below.
Leadership by the Governor
In addition to creating a Renewable Energy Task Force in 1996,
former Colorado Governor Roy Romer enthusiastically supported
wind power for the governor's mansion and held a press
conference to commend PSCo, environmental partner groups, and
businesses that had purchased wind power.
Through the end of his term in January 1999, Governor Romer
continued to urge diversification of power sources and awarded a
grant to the LAW Fund to expand the community-based marketing
campaign by training and funding other nonprofits to undertake
similar grassroots marketing efforts. These actions garnered
extensive media coverage and successfully encouraged businesses
and other municipalities to follow the governor's example.
Municipalities
Purchases of wind power by municipalities strengthen the
program in more than one way. The purchases can be quite
large compared with individual purchases by small
businesses and residential customers. Furthermore, city and
town participation sparks media attention, raises public
awareness of green power, and sets an example for local
citizens. Municipalities often have a strong network of
outreach channels such as public access television,
newsletters, and municipal legislation on issues like water
quality and sewage treatment that generate news in the
mainstream press. Denver and Boulder purchased
substantial amounts of wind power and publicized their
purchases extensively.
Paying the extra premium for wind power is cost-effective
when compared with future bills for environmental
cleanup, according to Basalt City Councilman Chris Lane,
as reported in The Aspen Times. "When you look at the big
picture," Lane said, "it's not costing us anything."
Businesses
Private-sector purchases of wind power create media
attention and foster a sense of community stewardship.
Businesses can promote the use of renewable energy to their
customers, employees, and suppliers, and thereby increase
demand. Often, businesses are eager to purchase wind power
to improve their environmental image. The LAW Fund
designed a personalized approach to appeal to specific
business owners and kinds of companies.
Among small businesses, high-profile service organizations
and businesses (hospitals, churches, restaurants, etc.) and
businesses that serve environmentally minded customers
(natural food stores, outdoor equipment retailers, etc.) were
targeted as being the most likely to purchase green power.
Small businesses were contacted initially via a letter,
followed by a phone call and personal visit. In dense
commercial districts, a street team of canvassers made
contact with a large number of business owners in a
relatively short time. When possible, support from the local
chamber of commerce was used to encourage participation.
With large companies, those with an existing environmental
ethic were targeted first in order to save time and enhance the
likelihood of success. Each firm was researched to facilitate the
development of a marketing proposal that would demonstrate
to company officials the value of purchasing wind power. Large
companies also were asked to partner with the LAW Fund to
market wind power internally to their employees.
Although the additional costs were the most common reason
given for declining to purchase wind power, large and small
companies agreed that the public relations and publicity
benefits received from purchasing wind power far outweigh
the additional energy costs.
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Ponnequin Wind Farm is Colorado's first wind installation.
As reported in The Sunday Camera, Jonathan Beggs, owner
of the Bucking Brown Trout Co., a hiking and fly fishing
store in Nederland, Colorado, said, "The additional cost was
a concern. But I think that the benefits outweigh the cost of
paying a little extra. I did it because [wind power]—being a
pollution-free way of generating electricity—is appealing to
me and I wanted to support it."
Residential Customers
The bulk of utilities' marketing is dkected to residential
customers. Marketing efforts include updates and other
information mailed out as inserts with monthly bills or as
separate direct mailings. The LAW Fund supplements these
strategies by staffing tables at community events, making
presentations to civic groups, and persuading environmental
groups to include information about wind power in their
newsletters. These activities serve mainly to educate
consumers in the hope that they will consider purchasing
some or all of their power from wind in the future.
The LAW Fund developed a Colorado Wind Power website with
information about each of the 20 wind power programs in Colorado.
The site provides facts about wind power, a list of participating
businesses, and an interactive calculator of emissions savings.
Customers who want to buy green power are able to sign up online.
Lessons Learned
The campaign proved that it is possible to generate demand
for green power through grassroots marketing. The LAW
Fund will apply the lessons learned as it takes its grassroots
campaign to new markets.
Demand creates the need for more resource
acquisition
The demand created by the grassroots campaign was an
important factor in PSCo's decision to build an additional 25
megawatts of wind capacity to anticipate future demand from
its customers. The popularity of the program shows that
customer support can be a strong driving force for the
implementation of renewable energy sources.
Participation can be diverse
Many green-pricing programs focus on residential customers.
This project demonstrates that many businesses and public
entities also are willing to pay for clean energy. The LAW Fund
found this willingness among groups in a variety of geographic
settings, as well as among organizations and companies with
varying ideological viewpoints and economic status.
The message needs to appeal to values
Grassroots marketing of green power should emphasize the
community ethic of purchasing clean and renewable energy.
This message is similar to the approach used in the recycling
campaigns that have become institutionalized in many
communities. This type of ethic not only develops demand for
green power, but also sustains that demand.
"The key to our success is an approach that develops a
community ethic in support of wind power so that when
people flip a light switch, they understand the link to air
quality and the environment," says Rudd Mayer, director of
the LAW Fund's Grassroots Campaign for Wind Power.
Transferability is essential
Grassroots marketing techniques should be transferable to
virtually any location, technology, or market structure. The
LAW Fund is working with groups in Utah and New Mexico
to develop green pricing in those states, and it plans to work
with groups in Arizona to market solar power.
Outside funding may be needed
A successful community-based approach may require funding
from outside sources such as foundations and the federal
government. Most community and nonprofit groups do not
have the budget or resources to perform the required education,
outreach, and marketing needed to succeed. To maintain
credibility, funding for the community-based marketing effort
should not come from the participating utility.
Partnering may present challenges
Unfortunately, some of the community and nonprofit groups best
equipped to tackle a grassroots campaign may have an adversarial
history with the participating utility company that could damage
the marketing campaign. Working together on the green pricing
issue, however, may serve to facilitate discourse on other
environmental issues. However, it is important that the public is
aware that the utility is not funding the marketing program.
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Environmental groups may not receive credit
The participating utility may be reluctant to advertise its
partnership with environmental groups because of past adversarial
histories or the company's desire to be acknowledged for
independent actions. Environmental groups that have dedicated
time and effort to marketing wind power may become frustrated if
they are not publicly recognized for their actions.
Training leaders can be expensive
An effective campaign requires people who are familiar with the
utility industry and passionate about clean energy. Training new
leaders if the campaign is expanded or transferred to other
locations can be time-consuming and expensive.
Future green suppliers may be hindered
The grassroots campaign helps utilities establish their brand (name
recognition) as green suppliers. When competition arrives in a
community, the new green power providers may find it difficult to
attract customers. But the benefits of current green pricing
programs in reducing emissions and building community
awareness may outweigh such potential problems.
Internal divisions may arise
Environmental groups disagree regarding green pricing. Some
groups contend that marketing programs take time away from
efforts to obtain public policy in support of renewable energy. The
LAW Fund believes that green pricing has allowed it to provide
critically important education and awareness in the community and
does not detract from its legislative and regulatory efforts to
promote clean energy use.
Looking Ahead
The Land and Water Fund plans to continue its work on the
grassroots campaign with special emphasis on Denver businesses
and large corporate customers. In addition, the LAW Fund hopes to
spread its success by helping groups in other states organize similar
programs. The LAW Fund is working to establish community-
based campaigns in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also
proposing creative ways to help community-based programs stand
on their own without financial support from grants, such as tapping
into public funds that are being established in restructured
electricity markets.
"Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah are three markets that are
opening up, and we hope to use the things we learned in Colorado
in those states," says Mayer. "Using clean energy is a small and
easy, but important, thing to do to make the world a better place."
For More Information
Land and Water Fund of the Rockies
2260 Baseline Road, Suite 200
Boulder, Colorado 80302
Tel: 303-444-1188; Fax: 303-786-8054
E-mail: landwater@lawfund.org
Website: http://www.lawfund.org
Grassroots Campaign for Clean Power
Rudd Mayer
Green Marketing Program Director
Land and Water Fund of the Rockies
2260 Baseline Road, Suite 200
Boulder, Colorado 80302
Tel: 303^44-1188, ext. 227
Fax: 303-786-8054
E-mail: rudd@lawfund.org
Website: http://www.cogreenpower.org
US. Environmental Protection Agency
State and Local Climate Change Program
Ariel Rios Building (6205J)
1200 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Phone: 202-564-9410; Fax: 202-565-2095
Website: http://www.epa.gov/globalwartning/actions/state
Email: denny.andrea@epa.gov
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