US Consumers Increasingly Choose Green Power

Throughout the United States, more and more utility customers are choosing to purchase green power, even though it comes at a premium. An AP article in Sunday's Washington Post focuses on Minnesota, and notes that 30% more of the state's residents this year are willing to pay extra for electricity that comes from renewable sources:

Since 2001, Minnesota's utilities have been required to offer customers the green pricing option.
Customers check a form to offset a certain percentage of their energy in renewable energy - primarily wind. While the green energy isn't necessarily delivered directly to the customer, the utilities generate an amount of renewable energy equal to the purchase.

In Minnesota, which ranks fourth in the country in wind energy, participation in green pricing varies.

More than 700 customers in Moorhead, for instance, pay higher bills to get power from two 180-foot wind turbines in the city. That's more than 5 percent of the utilities' 14,000 customers - the highest percentage in the state.

Minnesota isn't the only US state seeing such an uptick in consumer purchase of green power: nationwide, 20% more customers are taking advantage of green power options if they're available. Thirty-six states offer green pricing. ::Washington Post