Corvallis named nation's leader in green power by EPA

Corvallis purchases 100 million kilowatt-hours of green power annually, totaling 13 percent of its total energy purchase

By: Makenna Bishop

Posted: 2/10/09

Corvallis was recently named the nation's leader in green power use by purchasing more renewable energy than any other city.

Annually, Corvallis purchases more than 100 million kilowatt-hours of green power. This totals at about 13 percent of the total energy purchased in the city.

According to the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), the city's green power purchase is equal to avoiding the carbon dioxide emissions from more than 13,000 vehicles per year. It is also enough electricity to power 9,000 American homes each year.

Steve Cook has been a professor in geosciences at Oregon State for the past 12 years. His main focus is sustainability. He said that it's impressive for Corvallis to be leading the nation in green power use, but that 13 percent isn't a high enough number.

"It's really cool that people are beginning to buy into green power," Cook said. "But we have a steep hill ahead of us."

Cook said that for as little as $12 more a month, the community could purchase 600 kilowatt-hours of renewable energy.

For such a small investment, many high-income citizens aren't participating.

"$12 is reasonable," Cook said. "That's about three chocolate bars. Not Hershey, but organic and free-range chocolate."

Within Corvallis, Oregon State University makes the largest contribution to green power purchases.

Mayor Charlie Tomlinson said that this indicates the community's commitment to the future of environmental sustainability.

"Students at OSU voted for an additional incidental fee that allows the university to purchase more green power," Tomlinson said. "It really shows their leadership in their future, and that's admirable."

Brandon Trelstad is the sustainability coordinator at Oregon State. He said that Corvallis is a place that cares about the environment, its citizens and the long-term outlook.

"It also shows how the OSU community is an integral part of the Corvallis community," Trelstad said. "We share the same 'living room.' In many ways, the university and the city depend on each other."

According to Trelstad, because Corvallis has agreed to pay a price premium to purchase electricity from renewable sources, the demand of non-renewable sources is reduced.

"It clearly brings a lot of great national attention to a relatively small corner of the world," Trelstad said.

Cook said that it will be challenging to convince everyone to continue or to start purchasing energy from renewable sources.

"There's no lack of scientific evidence that this is a necessary move; it's not a debate," Cook said. "Getting people to realize it's an issue - and not a matter of opinion - is tough."

Though the percentages seem small, cities in Oregon make up half the list of top 10 green power purchasers. The other four cities include Beaverton, Bend, Gresham and Salem.

Students interested in sustainable energy are encouraged to attend an open forum on drafting OSU's climate action plan. The forum will take place Tuesday at 2 p.m. in room MU 208.

"The community at Oregon State has shown me, as a non-student, that young people really do care about what the planet is going to look like throughout their lifetime," Tomlinson said. "They're willing to spend a little extra money for the good of their community."

Makenna Bishop, senior reporter

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