The city of Kent signed an agreement to purchase power for nearly all of its facilities from dedicated, local, renewable energy resources through Green Direct – Puget Sound Energy’s innovative renewable energy program.
By signing onto Green Direct, the city anticipates saving several hundred thousand dollars over the life of the contract.
The first round of Green Direct, a wind project in Western Washington, was fully subscribed in 2017. The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission approved the second round offering of the PSE’s Green Direct program to allow more customers to take advantage of the program. Other participating cities include Issaquah and Redmond, and other agencies include Port of Bellingham, Port of Seattle and Bellevue College, among others.
Green Direct is a voluntary, renewable energy option through which cities and other large organizations commit to purchasing solar- and wind-generated energy for a 10-, 15- or 18-year term under a specified rate structure. These purchase commitments provide the financial certainty needed to ensure that two proposed renewable energy plant projects can move forward with construction.
Green Direct opens the door to energy sources that reflect consumer values, promotes the development of new renewable energy, maintains predictability for future energy costs and reduces a city’s carbon footprint. It also integrates with existing, standard PSE billing.
As part of the program, businesses and municipalities purchase energy from renewable resources rather than coal or natural gas.
“The city of Kent is committed to being a good steward of the environment, and the City Council recently approved an agreement with PSE to use Green Direct power,” said Kent Mayor Dana Ralph in a city news release. “This means the city is doing its part to use renewable energy. We are grateful for the partnership with PSE. The city believes participating in this program is the right thing to do.”
PSE has negotiated a power purchase agreement with a wind energy developer in Lewis County (south of Olympia) that will start operations in 2019. PSE expects to get a contract with a solar project developer in south central Washington to produce power in 2021. Kent will pay a fee for the wind and solar power, but then receive a credit for the portion of energy charges that it’s replacing with renewable energy.
The Green Direct program is fully subscribed.
“We can have a bigger impact on the environment when we work in unison,” said Kimberly Harris, PSE president and CEO. “The power of partnership is the key driver of PSE’s Green Direct program; it’s also essential to the success of PSE’s plan to reduce our carbon footprint by 50 percent by 2040. We believe in a better energy future for our state. Together, we can make that vision a reality.”
PSE gets about 37 percent of its fuel from coal, 31 percent from hydroelectric, 22 percent from natural gas and 9 percent from wind, according to its website.
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