GP: Green-e Certifies Six "Green Tag" Providers (yes, Six!)

["Tom Gray" <tomgray@igc.org>]

More info on Green Tags.  Please read and consider.  We have purchased
enough Green Tags for 2002 to reduce U.S. CO2 emissions enough to offset our
entire household's emissions (from electricity use, heating, and
transportation).  For the average U.S. household to cover 10% of its
electricity use with Green Tags would cost just $20-25 a year (even with no
energy efficiency measures).

This is the way to build a market for renewable energy that no regulatory or
legislative change can take away.  You can buy them anywhere, whether you
have a choice of electricity suppliers or not.  And as demand grows, the
cost of Green Tags is likely to fall.

Thanks for listening.

Tom

-----Original Message-----
From: keri bolding [mailto:kbolding@resource-solutions.org]
Sent: Friday, May 10, 2002 10:56 AM
Subject: Green-e Certifies Six "Green Tag" Providers (yes, Six!)


Hello All!
A press release went out yesterday, announcing that Green-e has certified 5
Tradable Renewabke Certificate (TRC) products.  However, as of today, we are
happy to announce to you (exclusively) that we have now certified 6 TRC
products.  See below for the amended release.

*you are receiving this via an announcement list created to let friends of
CRS know of our new events and developments.  If you would like to be
removed, or think someone should be added, please respond.
Thank You!
__________________________
Këri Bolding
Communications Director
Center for Resource Solutions
Presidio Building 49
Moraga Ave.
PO Box 29512
San Francisco, CA  94129
Phone:  (415) 561-2100
Fax:  (415) 561-2105
___________________________

Information on CRS programs is available at www.resource-solutions.org.
Curious about Green-e and green power?  Check out www.green-e.org.


Green-e Certifies Six “Green Tag” Providers
Versatile New Way for All Consumers and Businesses to Support National
Transition to Renewable Energy

San Francisco, CA (May 9, 2002)-- From an Olympia, WA coffee roaster, to a
Rhode Island supermarket chain, to offices of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Tradable Renewable Certificates (TRCs), (aka “Green
 Tags”) are providing green energy choice to millions of customers and much
of the business sector for the first time.  The Center for Resource
Solutions (CRS) announced today that six providers of Tradable Renewable
Certificates have earned Green-e certification.  Customers purchasing Green
Tags from these six providers have an independent assurance that their
purchase supports generation from high-quality newly developed renewable
energy plants.  Green-e will introduce TRCs and these certified marketers to
the country at a May 23rd press conference in Washington, DC.

Currently, green power is only available to roughly one third of U.S.
electricity consumers through competitive power markets and utility green
pricing programs.  Green Tags make it possible for all Americans to support
renewable energy, regardless of whether their state is deregulating its
energy markets.  Five different Green-e certified TRC providers are helping
to bring new renewable energy plants online in the Northeast, Mid Atlantic,
Great Plains, Texas, Pacific Northwest, and California.

 “We decided to purchase Green Tags to offset our greenhouse gas emissions
for three of our store locations in Rhode Island,” said Kathleen Loftus of
Shaw’s Supermarkets, “Since the product is Green-e certified, Shaw’s feels
confident our purchase makes a difference in the air we breathe.”

“Through the purchase of TRC products, consumers help reduce our nation’s
dependence on fossil fuels to produce electricity, and contribute to the
reduction of air emissions,” said Jan Hamrin, Executive Director of CRS.
“When TRC products are Green-e certified, consumers can be confident they
are receiving the environmental benefits of green power as well as helping
to expand the market for clean renewable energy.”

TRCs, also known as “Green Tags,” are created when renewable energy is
substituted for traditional power.  TRCs represent added benefits and costs
of renewable generation and are purchased in addition to the electricity
that most consumers now use.  Green Tags provide a way to buy and sell the
environmental attributes of renewable generation separately from the
electricity generated.  Green Tags help overcome the obstacle of delivering
the benefits of renewable energy to customers who are typically far from
generating plants.  The purchaser of a Green Tag is the sole "owner" of the
environmental attributes of a specific megawatt hour (MWh) of energy added
to the grid.  Independent verification ensures that no two Green Tags
represent the same MWh of energy.

“TRC markets mean renewable energy developers can find the best customers
for their products regardless of where the actual generating facility is
located,” said Karl R. Rábago, chair of the Green-e Green Power Board that
oversees the certification program, “and Green-e certification means
customers will have more choices of high-quality projects and products they
can choose to support. The combination of these benefits will greatly
increase liquidity in renewable energy markets and can be the catalyst for a
huge expansion in renewable energy development.”

Since 1997, Green-e has served as a nationally recognized tool to help
consumers identify environmentally superior renewable energy offerings.
Green-e is a voluntary certification program for renewable energy products
sold in competitive retail electricity markets, regulated markets, and
nationwide through Tradable Renewable Certificates.  To earn Green-e
certification, a TRC product must originate entirely from new renewable
facilities that generate energy from the sun, the wind, the heat of the
Earth, low-impact hydropower, biogas, or biofuels.  Certified providers
undergo an annual verification process audit to document that the company
purchased enough quantity and type of renewable certificates to meet
customer demand and marketing claims.  Each certified provider also agrees
to abide by the Green-e Code of Conduct, and to submit marketing materials
to CRS to meet Green-e disclosure and truth-in-advertising requirements.

Green-e certified TRC providers now include:
Sun Power Electric, www.sunpower.org - Available in New England
Community Energy, www.newwindenergy.com - Available nationwide
Sterling Planet, www.sterlingplanet.com - Available nationwide
Bonneville Environmental Foundation, www.greentagsusa.org - Available
nationwide
Aquila, www.aquila.com - Available nationwide
Renewable Choice Energy, www.renewablechoice.com - Available nationwide

For further information, please contact Center for Resource Solutions (CRS)
at (415) 561-2100, or visit the website(s) www.resource-solutions.org or
www.green-e.org.  CRS is a nonprofit organization that encourages
sustainable growth and promotes the use of clean energy.

###


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