Green Power In Memphis
by TreeHugger on 04.22.05
The Tennessee Valley Authority is running with the idea of selling ‘green power’ to their on-grid customers. Our own John Laumer recently pointed out the advantages and political trends in living off-grid, now the rest of the people in the Tennessee Valley can choose how their energy is produced; well…almost. Actually, they can choose how the company uses their money – which is just as good in my book.
By enrolling in ‘Green Power Switch’ the consumers pays an additional amount of money. The cost is $4 extra per 150-kilowatt-hour block, so that you can buy as many ‘blocks’ of green energy as you can afford. This is about equal to 12% of the average energy home use in their area. So an entire house powered by the good stuff will run you about an extra $33 a month. But, the end goal is based on economies of scale. As more people buy more green blocks, the company can invest into expanding its stake in renewable energy resources, and the price will go down due to more efficiency in a large production setting. This method offers a weaning technique for power consumption, and lets a consumer decide the importance of renewable energy in the energy market.
The TVA estimates that buying two blocks of ‘green power’ a month is equal to the environmental benefits of planting an acre of trees in the Tennessee Valley, or recycling 15,322 aluminum cans, or not driving a car for 4 months. What more could a Treehugger ask for! Move over Elvis, I’m heading to Graceland ::TVA ::Green Power Switch ::Elvis [by T. McGee]
