HOUSTON – Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that the City of Houston is number one on the EPA’s Top 30 Local Government list of the largest green power users from the Green Power Partnership for 2017.
“We are proud to be again recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for our green power use,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner. “By making the choice to use clean, renewable energy, Houston is leading by example and sending a message to cities and businesses across the United States that using green power is a sound business decision and an important tool in reducing one’s carbon footprint in the fight against climate change.”
This announcement comes days after the launch of a 50 megawatt (MW) solar facility in Alpine, TX dedicated to providing up to 10.5% of the City’s electricity needs at a set, competitive price for the next 20 years. Houston also purchases Green-E certified wind energy credits through Reliant Energy, an NRG Energy company. All together, Houston is using nearly 1.1 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually, 89 percent of its total power needs and the equivalent to the electricity use of more than 100,000 average American homes.
Houston’s choice to use green power is helping to advance the green power market and support clean renewable energy alternatives. Green power is zero-emissions electricity that is generated from environmentally preferable renewable resources, such as wind, solar, geothermal, biogas, eligible biomass, and low-impact hydro. Using green power helps build demand for the development of new renewable energy capacity nationwide and helps users reduce their carbon footprints.
In addition to Houston’s spot on the Top 30 Local Government list, it also appears seventh on the National Top 100 list. The city also appears on EPA’s Long-term Green Power Contracts list, recognizing the city’s 20-year contract to purchase green power.
About the City of Houston’s Sustainabiliy Division
The goal of the Sustainability Division is to help the City of Houston identify strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; collaborate with departments on developing programs, projects, and policies that improve the quality of life for Houstonians; and engage the community and citizens on environmental, economic, and social equity issues. For additional information, please visit www.greenhoustontx.gov.
About EPA’s Green Power Partnership
The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that encourages organizations to use green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with electricity use. The Partnership currently has more than 1,400 Partner organizations voluntarily using more than 40 billion kilowatt-hours of green power annually. Partners include a wide variety of leading organizations such as Fortune 500® companies; small and medium sized businesses; local, state, and federal governments; and colleges and universities. For additional information, please visit http://www.epa.gov/greenpower.