The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is hosting its fourth annual national, year-long campaign to encourage communities coast-to- coast to use renewable energy and fight climate change. As part of the campaign, communities are competing to see which one can achieve the highest green power percentage of total electricity use and which one can use the most green power. The winning communities will be declared in September 2014. The winners of the third annual Challenge were Oak Park, IL and Washington, D.C. Who Can Participate? EPA invites communities nationwide to participate in the Challenge. To participate, a community must qualify as a Green Power Community, which includes collectively buying or producing green power on-site in amounts that meet EPA requirements. Once the community's collective green power purchase meets these requirements, the local government submits the GPC Partnership Agreement. To learn more about becoming a Green Power Community, visit www.epa.gov/greenpower/communities. How Does The Challenge Work? Over the span of a year, EPA GPCs track and report their collective green power use and green power percentage of total electricity use. GPCs are ranked according to the two award categories on EPA's website on a quarterly schedule. At the conclusion of the Challenge, the community that has the highest green power percentage and the community that uses the most kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power will be recognized by EPA. By Supporting Green Power: • Communities can reduce their carbon footprint, increase citizen pride, improve public health, and enhance their community image. • EPA's Green Power Communities are collectively buying billions of kWh of green power annually, equivalent to the carbon dioxide (C02) emissions from the electricity use of hundreds of thousands of homes. • Every average American home that uses 100 percent green power helps avoid more than 18,000 pounds of C02 emissions. EPA Green Power Communities Across the Country ^ ^ WA April 2014 ------- What Will Happen During the Challenge? The Challenge will begin in September 2013. EPA will update the rankings in December 2013, April 2014, and June 2014. Communities will be able to review the standings and make changes to their purchases until September 1, 2014, when the final green power use is determined. Throughout the Challenge, EPA provides technical and outreach assistance to participants to help them increase their green power usage rates. GREEN POWER COMMUNITY CHALLENGE TIMELINE Sept 2013 I Dec 2013 April 2014 I June 2014 Sept 2014 I Sept 1,2014 Final green power usage determined Sept 2014 Winning communities announced What Will You Get? Communities will benefit from outreach and publicity events that take place during the span of the Challenge, including media attention at the launch and conclusion of the Challenge, limited technical support from EPA, and being highlighted on EPA's website. Communities will also receive two Green Power Community signs for outdoor display. The winning communities of the Challenge will plaque from EPA. Welcome to a Green Power Community We exceed EPA guidelmes for buying clean renewable energy [ 2014 also receive a Congrats to our 2012-2013 Challenge Winners! EPA declared the winning communities on Sept. 23, 2013. Washington, D.C. won the Challenge title of using the most green power annually at more than 1 billion kWh. Oak Park, IL led the Challenge competition in achieving the highest green power percentage of total electricity use at close to 92 percent. We congratulate the more than 45 GPCs which participated. For More Information www.epa.gov/greenpower/gpcchallenge James Critchfield Green Power Partnership critchfield.james@epa.gov 202-343-9442 Launch Your Green Power Campaign Today Join other leading U.S. communities by launching a green power campaign today. Before signing the GPC Partnership Agreement, communities must be collectively purchasing or producing green power on-site in amounts that meet EPA requirements. The table below outlines the respective EPA Green Power Community usage requirements based on the community's electricity use. Working with your local utility or power provider, determine the amount of electricity used within the community boundary (city limits). The community must collectively use green power in amounts that meet or exceed the corresponding percentage for the matching baseload electricity use level. Green Power Community Usage Requirements If your community's annual electricity use in kilowatt- hours is... Your community must, at a minimum, use this much green power to qualify as a GPC... > 100,000,001 kWh 10,000,001-100,000,000 kWh 1,000,001-10,000,000 kWh < 1,000,000 kWh 3% of your use 5% of your use 10% of your use 20% of your use About EPA's Green Power Partnership The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that encourages organizations to buy green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with purchased electricity use. The Partnership currently has more than 1,500 Partner organizations voluntarily purchasing more than 29 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually. Partners include a wide variety of leading organizations such as Fortune 500® companies, small and medium sized businesses, local, state, tribal, and federal governments, and colleges and universities. Green power is generated from renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, biogas, and low-impact hydropower. Green power resources produce electricity with an environmental profile superior to conventional power technologies and produce no fossil-fuel based greenhouse gas emissions. Purchases of green power also help accelerate the development of new renewable energy capacity nationwide. An Environmental Choice for Your Community &EPA GREEN POWER PARTNERSHIP* ------- |