Green energy programs typically charge ratepayers a slight premium for electricity that is certified as being 80% or 100% derived from non-greenhouse gas producing sources. Usually these are wind energy programs, but some include solar, geothermal, and biofuel sources of generation.
- Austin, TX leads the category for "most green energy" with 724 million kilowatt hours/year.
- Palo Alto, CA leads the "highest participation" ranking with 21% of residential consumers participating.
- Exel Energy in Colorado and Minnesota has the most total participants: 71,571, but is followed closely by two Oregon electricity providers: Portland General Electric and Pacificorp with 69,258 and 67,252 participating accounts respectively.
- Edmond, OK leads in terms of percent of total load sold to residential participants at 6.4%.
It's interesting to note that the 3 cities listed above are all homes to major universities: University of Texas, Stanford University, and the University of Central Oklahoma (the 3rd largest university in Oklahoma).
Green power typically costs about 1-2 cents/kwh more than non-green, but in 2008 due to spikes in the price of fossil fuels, green power actually cost 1 cent/kwh less for customers of Edmond Electric and OG&E Electric Services.
