Topping the list is the University of Pennsylvania, which has been a Green Power Partner since 2002. The University of Pennsylvania is committed to purchasing 40,000 megawatt-hours annually for 10 years. To fund the wind power purchase, the university uses a portion of the savings from its aggressive energy-conservation program that has reduced campus peak demand by 18 percent. In second place is Western Washington University, which, following a student-led initiative, recently became the first public university in the country to implement a student fee for the purchase of green power.
Both the University of Pennsylvania and Western Washington University were on EPA's most recent national Top 25 List of the largest green power purchasers in the Green Power Partnership.
The University of Utah, Syracuse University and Duke University are the third, fourth and fifth largest purchasers in the college and university sector, respectively.
The actions of the Top 10 College and University Green Power Partners help to drive the development of new renewable energy sources of electricity generation. Combined, the purchases made by these college and university amount to 216,000 mwh) of green power annually. This is enough renewable energy to power approximately 20,000 homes a year or it is equivalent to removing the emissions of 26,000 cars from the road each year.
The Top 10 College and University Green Power Partners, listed in descending order of purchase size and the resource used to generate green power, are as follows:
The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary EPA program that seeks to increase the use of green power among leading U.S. organizations. Partners in the program purchase green power for a portion of their electricity needs in return for EPA technical assistance and recognition. EPA's Green Power Partnership currently has more than 600 Partners, including Fortune 500 companies, states, federal agencies, trade associations and universities.
EPA updates its lists of green power purchasers quarterly.
