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| Coming
Soon: "Made With Renewable Energy" Labels on
Products |
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| The
Center for Resource Solutions (CRS) -- the
people that brought you the "Green-e" certification
for green power products -- announced in November that
it will launch a new "Made With Renewable Energy"
label for products in 2004. The label will feature the
distinctive Green-e logo and will be available to companies
that buy a "significant" amount of certified
renewable energy for their buildings and factories. According
to CRS, a number of companies have already applied for
the label, including White
Wave (a maker of soy milk products), the Interface
Fabrics Group, Choice
Organic Teas, and Lundberg
Family Farms, a producer of rice. |
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| SmartPower
Welcomes Newest Staff Member |
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| SmartPower expanded its staff and its
reach with the hire of Bernadette Buck as State Program
Director. Bernadette had been active in clean air and
renewable energy for several years in both Massachusetts
and California while working in information technology.
Among other duties, Bernadette is spearheading the speakers
bureau, newsletter, outreach, and affinity marketing programs
for SmartPower. She is a native of Easton, Massachusetts
and currently resides there. |
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| SmartPower
Endorses Action Principles |
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| SmartPower endorsed the action principles
put forth by the Connecticut
Climate Coalition, including a call for 20%
clean, renewable energy use in Connecticut in the short
term. The coalition, acting as part of the New
England Climate Coalition, seeks to capitalize
on the opportunity and awareness created by the recent
agreement on greenhouse gas emissions signed by the New
England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers.
Now that states and municipalities must create implementation
plans to make the governmental agreement a reality, the
coalition sees an opportunity to influence the details.
It will use the principles to work toward ensuring that
the implementation plans include clean, renewable energy
as one of their key strategies. |
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| New
Fuel Cell Power Plant Dedicated at Yale University |
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| FuelCell
Energy, Inc., along with the Connecticut
Clean Energy Fund and Yale
University, dedicated Connecticut’s first
high-efficiency Direct Fuel Cell® Power Plant at the
Environmental Science Center (ESC) near Yale University’s
Peabody Museum New Haven.
The 250 kilowatt fuel cell will provide approximately
25 percent of the building’s electricity needs,
with the heat being used primarily to maintain tight temperature
and humidity controls at the ESC. |
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| CPTV’s
Jennifer Boyd Receives Award for Energy Television Series |
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| People’s
Action for Clean Energy (PACE), a longtime
champion of clean, renewable energy for Connecticut, held
its annual awards night in December, and SmartPower exhibited
at the event. Award recipients included Jennifer Boyd
of CPTV, producer and
director of the five-part original series Connecticut’s
Energy Future which was sponsored by the Connecticut
Clean Energy Fund together with SmartPower and
Bridgewater
Solar Works. The series, hosted by actor Ed
Asner, explored issues surrounding our existing energy
habits while looking at renewable energy technologies
and conservation methods that could help improve our lifestyles
and our environment at the same time. |
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| Business
New Haven Energy Issue Includes SmartPower |
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| SmartPower took advantage of the energy
focus of Business New Haven’s
January 6th issue by taking out a full-page
ad. The message continues promoting SmartPower’s
20% by 2010 campaign by inviting businesses and their
employees to become SmartPower Champions. |
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| SmartPower
Joins the Northeast Energy and Commerce Association |
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| SmartPower became a member of the Northeast
Energy and Commerce Association (NECA), a non-profit
trade association serving the competitive electric power
industry in New England. NECA's mission is to facilitate
an open forum among all electric power stakeholders to
foster the development and maturation of competitive power
markets. NECA’s forums and conferences have increasingly
focused on innovative alternatives to conventional, fossil-fuel
based energy sources, including clean, renewable energy.
SmartPower’s presence as a member will further those
goals. |
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SmartPower |
phone: 860-249-7040 |
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Volume 2;
Issue 1, January 2004 |
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| GreenUp
gets a SmartPower boost in Worcester |
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| As 2003 neared its close, SmartPower
implemented an intensive marketing test program in Worcester
that could significantly change the clean, renewable energy
landscape when the program and its successes are rolled
out to other markets throughout 2004. |
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 The
first-of-its-kind SmartPower test program aimed to build
customers of clean, renewable energy in conjunction with
“GreenUp” from Massachusetts
Electric. The SmartPower campaign used paid and
earned media to urge Worcester residents to become active
supporters of clean, renewable energy by enrolling in
GreenUp, thereby placing renewable energy on the power
grid. |
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| “What this program wanted to
address was the need to strongly inform the public that
clean, renewable energy is here – it’s affordable
and it’s available for us to purchase. Our research
has found that this seemingly obvious fact is lost on
a majority of the public,” said Brian F. Keane,
Executive Director of SmartPower. |
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program included direct mail pieces, paid radio advertisements,
earned media including appearances on Worcester television,
radio and newspaper, visibility in high-traffic retail
stores, and speaking presentations in the Worcester
area.
“SmartPower provided a critical supplement to
a remarkable offer to provide clean, renewable energy
by a large and credible utility,” continued Keane.
“Massachusetts Electric and the four green power
marketers who helped launch these efforts stepped up
to the plate with GreenUp. We got involved in Worcester
to provide critical support to their efforts, providing
a clean choice and adding momentum to the inevitability
of the dominance of clean, renewable energy.” |
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Worcester energy consumers were
given the chance to sign up for clean, renewable energy
from one of four suppliers operating within GreenUp.
These suppliers are: CET
& Conservation Services Group Inc, Community
Energy, Mass
Energy Consumers Alliance, and Sterling
Planet. |
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| SmartPower made selecting a supplier
easier by including a business reply card with the SmartPower
mailing and by redesigning www.smartpower.org
to allow customers to select a supplier online. The entire
GreenUp effort was kicked off in September when Massachusetts
Electric included a bill insert with their September and
October bills detailing the options under GreenUp. Similar
customer choice programs are expected to launch in Connecticut
and Rhode Island this spring. |
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Living Earth, Worcester ‘Better Food Store’ |
A unique aspect of this strategy was the SmartPower effort
to reach out directly to retail electric consumers who
would be most likely to be early adopters of clean, renewable
energy. SmartPower found a receptive audience in customers
of Living
Earth, a popular Worcester ‘Better Food
Store’ providing high-quality natural and organic
products. Bernadette Buck, State Program Director for
SmartPower, tabled there to promote clean, renewable energy
and GreenUp. "Customers of Living Earth are already
interested in healthy living and a better world,"
she said. "They’re pleased to find out that
they can make the same kind of choices in energy sources
as they do in their food and household products."
Frank Phelan, general manager of the store, agreed. “We’re
very supportive of renewable energy and we thought our
customers would like to know more about their choices.” |
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| GreenUp, approved by the Massachusetts
Department of Telecommunications and Energy, is a collaborative
effort among Massachusetts Electric, renewable energy
firms, state government agencies and environmental groups.
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| Connecticut
Religious Institutions Make Commitment to Clean, Renewable
Energy |
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St. James Episcopal in West
Hartford |
With the guidance of the Interreligious
Eco-Justice Network, a group of leaders of
Connecticut's interfaith community, including representatives
from the Episcopal Church, the United Church of Christ,
and the Jewish community, recently announced plans to
use up to 100 percent clean, renewable energy in their
facilities and buildings throughout the greater Hartford
area.
The decisions of the faith community to utilize clean,
renewable energy are part of the 20% by 2010 campaign
sponsored by SmartPower and implemented by three other
organizations, including the Interreligious Eco-Justice
Network. The goal of the 20% by 2010 campaign is for
20 percent of all energy used in the region to come
from clean, renewable energy such as solar, wind, biomass,
methane gas and small hydro resources by the year 2010. |
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| The religious institutions that are
supporting clean, renewable energy include the Episcopal
Diocese of Connecticut in Hartford, The Connecticut
Conference of the United Church of Christ in Hartford,
Grace Episcopal Church
in Newington, St. John's Episcopal
Church in Vernon, St.
James Episcopal in West Hartford, Trinity
Church in Torrington, and P'nai
Or in West Hartford. In many cases, the institutions
have committed to 100% clean, renewable energy for a two-year
period. |
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Trinity Church in Torrington |
By placing clean, renewable power onto the electricity
grid, faith leaders are promoting healthy communities
and energy independence. “Our commitment to energy
conservation and the use of clean, renewable sources of
energy is part of our obligation as Christians to protect
and restore the sacredness of the natural environment
and the need to respond with gratitude toward the gifts
of creation,” Bishop James E. Curry, of the Episcopal
Diocese of Connecticut, said. “Environmental issues
are not simply scientific, political, or economic, but
are moral and spiritual, as well. We have a responsibility
to lead by example.” |
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| These faith-based organizations are
turning their 20% by 2010 pledges into actions with EAD
Environmental, a marketer of renewable energy.
EAD Environmental offers institutions, businesses, and
individuals renewable energy certificates, called RECertificates,
which distinguish the environmental benefits of electricity
generated by renewable energy technologies from electricity
generated by conventional fossil fuel technologies. |
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Detail of stained glass window, St. John's
Episcopal Church, Vernon
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“We support the development of renewable energy
markets and are committed to conservation and environmental
responsibility,” said Rabbi Andrea Cohen-Keiner,
Director of the Interreligious Eco-Justice Network.
“We understand creation as the living handiwork
of God, such things as conservation and energy choices
are expressions of our understanding of the sacredness
and interconnectedness of life. We are grateful to be
a part of this cooperative effort among the religious
community working together towards the goals of protecting
our environment and energy self-sufficiency.”
Gordon Bates, the Associate Conference Minister for
Justice/Witness Ministries of the Connecticut Conference
of the United Church of Christ, expressed his support
for this initiative.
“Environmental concerns have always been high
on our priority list; the decision to support renewable
energy was a logical extension of our church’s
commitment to preserving the Earth and its precious
natural resources,” Bates said. “We hope
to interest 258 churches in this option and encourage
individual homeowners to do the same.” |
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| A
New Years' Resolution for the City Of New Haven |
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| New Haven and Westport Purchase
Renewable Energy |
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Westport town hall |
From dieting to spending, most New Year's resolutions
are broken within days. But the City of New Haven and
the Town of Westport inaugurated an unbreakable resolution
for the New Year - to purchase clean, renewable energy
for New Year's Day. By purchasing renewable energy certificates
from New England small hydroelectric facilities, New Haven
and Westport supported local businesses while offsetting
their impact on the environment. |
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| Last summer, the efforts of SmartPower
collaborator Clean
Water Fund resulted in a resolution enacted
by the New Haven Board Of Aldermen permanently committing
New Haven to getting 20% of its energy from renewable
sources by 2010. City staff then worked closely with SmartPower
grantee Environment
Northeast, along with a number of other groups
and organizations, to bring about the January 2004 commitment,
a first step towards the resolution’s goal. “It's
a wonderful start to the New Year for our City, our State,
and our environment,” noted New Haven Mayor John
DeStefano Jr., “and not only is it the right thing
to do for our community, but it is also easy and fast
to implement.” |
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| The Town of Westport also purchased
renewable energy certificates covering 100% of its energy
consumption at the Town Hall for the month of January.
Diane Goss Farrell, First Selectwoman for the Town of
Westport, heralded the commitment by declaring, "We
care about our community and the environment. We are not
required to buy green power; we are choosing to."
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| On New Year's Day, New Haven and Westport
will continue to buy electricity from their regular suppliers.
EAD
Environmental's renewable energy certificates
represent the proof that clean, renewable energy has been
generated. |
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| “We are pleased to see that the
momentum from SmartPower’s 20% by 2010 campaign
continues in this way,” said Brian F. Keane, Executive
Director of SmartPower. “Municipalities are natural
leaders in purchasing clean, renewable energy, and these
New Year commitments further demonstrate that fact.” |
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| SmartPower
Launches Speakers Bureau |
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| SmartPower has formed a Speakers Bureau
and has begun an extensive outreach effort targeted to
community groups, neighborhood associations and civic
groups. “We know people appreciate a knowledgeable,
informative discussion of their energy choices, and with
clean, renewable energy now available to a majority of
citizens in central and southern New England, it’s
all the more important to talk through the options,”
said SmartPower Executive Director Brian F. Keane. |
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| The interactive presentation includes
a snapshot of current energy sources in New England and
their effects on our air quality and global warming. It
then outlines the recent creation of renewable energy
markets in New England, an exciting new development that
enables consumers to choose the source of their energy.
It touches on state legislature’s actions that mandated
demand for clean, renewable energy and also the commitment
made by organizations and individuals to SmartPower’s
20% by 2010 campaign. Participants will walk away with
a clear action plan as to how each of them can help promote
clean air, healthy communities and true energy independence. |
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| The format of the presentation and
discussion can be tailored to the needs of individual
groups. The engagement can run from 30 minutes to one
hour in length and includes time for questions. If you
are interested in inviting a SmartPower speaker to your
organization’s meeting, please contact Bernadette
Buck at bbuck@smartpower.org
or 617-947-1676. |
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