EPA Releases Top 10 List Of College And University Green Power Partners

Washington, D.C. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released the most recent national Top 10 College and University Partners list highlighting the largest college and university purchases of renewable energy by members of the Green Power Partnership. The list reflects renewable energy purchases made through March 27, 2006.

Topping the list is the University of Pennsylvania, which nearly tripled its previous purchase amount to 112,000 MWh. Following in second on the list is newcomer Northwestern University at 40,000 MWh who joined the Green Power Partnership this past February. Rounding out the top six college and university purchasers of green power are Western Washington University, University of Utah, Syracuse University, and Duke University.

The University of Pennsylvania's purchase also places it among the largest green power purchasers in the nation, currently holding No. 8 on the overall Top 25 list of the largest green power purchasers in the Green Power Partnership. Northwestern University is also on the most recent overall Top 25 list in a tie for No. 22. The actions of the Top 10 College and University Partners help drive the development of new renewable energy sources of electricity generation. Combined, the Top 10 purchases for this sector amount to over 322,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) of green power annually. This number of megawatt-hours of renewable energy is the equivalent to removing the emissions of 39,000 cars from the road annually or powering over 30,000 average U.S. homes for a year.

The Top 10 College and University Green Power Partners, listed in descending order of purchase size, are as follows:

College and University Partner	Purchase Size (MWh)
1. University of Pennsylvania	112,000
2. Northwestern University	40,000
3. Western Washington University	35,000
4. University of Utah	25,000
5. Syracuse University	22,000
6. Duke University	18,564
7. The City University of New York	18,400
8. Pennsylvania State University	17,600
9. Harvard University	17,491
10. The Evergreen State College	16,250

EPA's Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program helping to increase the use of green power among leading U.S. organizations. The program encourages organizations to purchase green power as a way to reduce the risk of climate change and environmental impacts associated with conventional electricity generation. Currently, the Green Power Partnership has over 625 Partners voluntarily purchasing nearly 5 million MWh of green power. Partners include a wide variety of leading organizations such as local, state, and federal governments, trade associations, universities, and Fortune 500 companies.

EPA updates both its overall and sector-specific lists of green power purchasers quarterly. The next scheduled update is set for July 2006 and will reflect information received by Partners as of June 26, 2006.

For more information on EPA's Green Power Partnership, visit: www.epa.gov/greenpower.

For more information on EPA's Top College and University Partners, visit: www.epa.gov/greenpower/partners/top10ed.htm.

For more information on EPA's overall Top 25 list of Partners in the Green Power Partnership, visit: www.epa.gov/greenpower/partners/top25.htm.

SOURCE: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency