Alton, IL, September 9, 2014 - The City of Alton, IL announced today that that it has been designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a Green Power Community. Alton, IL is collectively using nearly 94 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually, which is enough green power to meet 17 percent of the community's total electricity use. The City of Alton is buying a utility green power product from Homefield Energy. This demonstrates a proactive choice to switch away from traditional sources of electricity generation and support cleaner renewable energy alternatives.
“This is a huge honor and we are proud to be recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,” said Mayor Brant Walker. “Using green power helps our community become more sustainable, while also sending a message to others across the U.S. that supporting clean sources of electricity is a sound business decision and an important choice in reducing climate risk.”
Green power is electricity that is generated from environmentally preferable renewable resources, such as wind, solar, geothermal, eligible biogas, biomass, and low-impact hydro. Using green power helps accelerate the development of new renewable energy capacity nationwide and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector.
"The EPA congratulates the community of Alton, IL on becoming a Green Power Community and achieving an impressive 16 percent green power use community-wide," said Mollie Lemon, Program Manager of EPA's Green Power Partnership. "By using more than 93 million kilowatt-hours of clean, green electricity annually, the community of Alton is helping to reduce harmful carbon pollution and taking a leadership position on the environment."
According to the U.S. EPA, Alton's green power use of nearly 94 million kWh is equivalent to avoiding the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of nearly 14,000 passenger vehicles per year, or the CO2 emissions from the electricity use of nearly 9,000 average American homes annually.
The City of Alton joined the Cool Cities Program in 2008. Since that time, the City has secured grants in excess of $189,000 for energy saving measures in the Public Works and Sewer Treatment Plant buildings. The City of Alton also received a 2013 Most Progressive City Award from Ameren Illinois.
About EPA’s Green Power Partnership
The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that encourages organizations to use green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with electricity use. The Partnership currently has more than 1,300 Partner organizations voluntarily using billions of kilowatt-hours of green power annually. Partners include a wide variety of leading organizations such as Fortune 500® companies, small and medium sized businesses, local, state, and federal governments, and colleges and universities.
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For additional information, please visit http://www.epa.gov/greenpower.
