The Stamford Board of Representatives vote was a very clean shade of green; the 20% by 2010 resolution passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 30-0 with 3 abstentions, 5 not voting and 2 absent. The vote commits the city to 20% clean energy use by 2010, and also authorizes city staff to learn how to best take advantage of the Connecticut Clean Energy Communities program, a joint venture between SmartPower and the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund.

“We’re all responsible for the well-being of our children. Clean energy works. It’s real and it is available now. That is why the City of Stamford is joining SmartPower today and committing to 20% clean energy use by 2010,” said Dannel P. Malloy, Mayor of Stamford.

Westport’s vote was similarly supportive. "Towns can provide a leadership role in reducing the use of fossil and nuclear fuels for electric generation," Westport First Selectwoman Diane Goss Farrell said. "I am pleased Westport will play its part." Selectman Carl Leaman, who was instrumental in gathering support for the measure, added "It is important that we break the dependence on fossil fuel for ecological and economic reasons. This is the first step toward that goal."

As with other towns that have committed to 20% by 2010, the action and commitment to clean energy is the first step in a process that could ultimately lead to the installation of at least one photovoltaic system on city property. Such a system would be installed through the Connecticut Clean Energy Communities program from SmartPower and the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund.

In addition to Stamford and Westport, the other Connecticut municipalities taking a leadership role with clean energy are New Haven, New Britain, Milford, West Hartford, Fairfield, and Portland.

SmartPower is proud to have been a Track Sponsor and Exhibitor at Building Energy 05 – the 30th Annual Conference and Trade Show for Renewable Energy and Green Building Professionals. The event, organized by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA), was held at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston on March 15-17, 2005.

SmartPower’s track, "Business Brings It Home," featured informative sessions on the value of clean energy and sustainable products in the modern marketplace. SmartPower’s Jonathan Edwards was a featured speaker in a seminar entitled "Why Buy Clean?" His presentation focused on the importance of the marketing message that clean energy is available, reliable and powerful and why the SmartPower marketing message is “Clean energy. It’s real. It’s here. It’s working.”

Edwards also served as chair and speaker of "Connecticut Clean Communities Program: The Importance of Collaborative Marketing." The session provided an in-depth examination of SmartPower’s groundbreaking 20% by 2010 Campaign and the synergistic roles played by its collaborative partners. Bryan Garcia of the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund described the progress made in establishing voluntary clean energy markets in Connecticut and the powerful new incentive offered to municipalities under the Clean Energy Communities Program. Rabbi Andrea Cohen Kiener of the Interreligious Eco-Justice Network and Bob Wall of SmartPower – and formerly of Clean Water Fund – shared anecdotes of the contributions made by their organizations and Environment Northeast in securing municipal 20% by 2010 resolutions and citizen and institutional pledges to support clean energy. Finally, First Selectwoman Diane Goss Farrell of Westport confirmed that the expert guidance of the collaborators and the opportunity to receive free solar PV systems persuaded Westport to become one of the latest clean energy communities in Connecticut.

The 660 kW wind turbine in Hull, Mass. has surpassed five million kilowatt-hours of electricity generation. A delegation from the Fairfield, Conn. Clean Energy Task Force, including SmartPower’s own Bob Wall, was on hand at the turbine last week to celebrate the milestone. They received a very thorough tour inside the turbine from John McLeod of the Hull Municipal Light Plant. Afterwards, at a celebration at a local restaurant, the Fairfield visitors had the opportunity to address the crowd. Larry Kaley, the sponsor of the Fairfield resolution, led off, and Wall gave an overview of SmartPower’s 20% by 2010 campaign, tied into Fairfield's efforts. Also present were Jim Motavalli of E Magazine, who discussed how his recent cover story on wind sparked the task force's interest in the technology, and Ed Kulikowski, also of Fairfield, who spoke of using the Hull experience as part of his curriculum at a local middle school. Other wind-loving towns from Mass including Arlington and Ipswich were also there. The cross-pollination of ideas between local leaders of the two states, and the great success of the Hull turbine, made a remarkable celebration.

The long-awaited clean energy choice program for Connecticut is finally here! Starting April 1, every customer of Connecticut Light & Power and United Illuminating can sign up for a clean energy product from Sterling Planet or Community Energy. It will be easy to enroll; customers will receive an insert in their April utility bill about the choices; they will be able to visit gocleanenergy.com to see details and sign up; or they can contact their utility or one of the clean energy companies directly. SmartPower and clean energy leaders from around the state will be celebrating the program at a major clean energy summit on April 6th – see article, below.

Customers who sign up are demonstrating that clean energy is strong enough today and ready to meet their residential demand. "Undoubtedly, the more people that choose it, the more demand there will be, the more clean power will be available, and the cleaner the air will be," DPUC spokeswoman Beryl Lyons said.

SmartPower has already begun spreading the word about the program with a comprehensive marketing plan. The media plan began this week with sponsorships on public radio stations and radio advertising in Hartford and New Haven. The radio will be augmented on April 1st with television advertising on shows such as Meet the Press, Face the Nation, This Week, Larry King, and The News Hour, earned and free media, and print advertising in the Hartford Business Journal, Business New Haven, and daily newspapers. In addition, the strength of SmartPower’s collaborative structure will come into play, as SmartPower collaborators Clean Water Fund and the Interreligious Eco-Justice Network will reach out to their communities to encourage enrollment in the program. The effectiveness of the marketing activities will be closely tracked through polling.

DPUC Commissioner Anne C. George, who headed the Department’s pursuit of the clean energy option, said “The Connecticut Clean Energy Options program is exciting because it ushers in a new era. In addition to fostering the goals of electric restructuring by offering customers more options, this is a commitment to a cleaner, healthier Connecticut and New England. The Department is aware that many Connecticut electric utility customers have an interest in clean, affordable electric generation. This program provides both and makes it easy for customers to sign up.”

Details on the clean energy products are also now known. Sterling Planet’s energy sources are 33% from wind, 33% from small hydroelectric generation and 34% from landfill gas generation. Sterling Planet’s surcharge for clean energy will be 1.15¢ per kWh; for a typical residential customer who uses 500 kWh per month, the cost would be $5.75.

Community Energy’s energy sources are 60% from wind and 40% from landfill gas generation. Community Energy’s surcharge for clean energy will be 1.3¢ per kWh, which for a residential customer using 500 kWh per month will be $6.50.

Each of the companies also offers a half-strength option, allowing customers to purchase a clean energy product equivalent to half their monthly usage. The 50% options cost half as much as the full-strength options – for a customer using 500 kWh per month, the charge would be $2.88 for Sterling Planet’s and $3.25 for Community Energy’s product.

The climate for clean energy in Pennsylvania just keeps getting better. As reported last month, SmartPower has been called upon to execute a marketing plan for clean energy throughout the state. The timing was opportune, as SmartPower arrived in a state that already boasted an active clean energy industry, where new developments and expansions are steadily taking place. Just since the beginning of 2005, the state instituted a Renewable Portfolio Standard and landed a major wind turbine manufacturer.

The renewable portfolio standard requires utilities in the state to purchase a steadily increasing portion of their energy from clean energy sources. The two-tier portfolio calls for 18% of all energy generated in Pennsylvania to come from clean, efficient sources within 15 years. The rules include a 0.5% requirement specifically for electricity generated from solar. Pennsylvania is the 18th state to adopt such a portfolio standard, and its solar electricity requirement is one of the most ambitious of all those adopted so far.

The wind turbine manufacturer is the Spanish company Gamesa, the second-largest wind energy company in the world. It plans to build a high-tech plant to manufacture wind turbine blades in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles west of Altoona. The new manufacturing plant will create as many as 500 construction and operations jobs, including 236 permanent positions. Together with the construction, operation, and maintenance of its wind facilities, Gamesa's manufacturing facility and two Philadelphia offices are expected to create up to 1,000 jobs in the state over the next five years. Gamesa claims to have agreements with Pennsylvania utilities for the sale of 600 megawatts of wind power, and has set itself a target for reaching 1,000 megawatts of wind power in the state.

To take advantage of all that’s going on in Pennsylvania, the message needs to get out to the public; and what better way to do so than through the proven marketing techniques SmartPower brings? The SmartPower campaign will move public attitudes toward clean energy – away from the myths that clean energy technologies are not up to the job, and toward the reality that clean energy is a major industry capable of serving an ever-increasing portion of the state’s energy needs. By developing demand for clean energy, the entire industry wins.

What happens when state agencies, towns and universities across Connecticut pool their clean energy purchases? This was what more than two dozen state municipalities, state agencies and institutional leaders wanted to find out as SmartPower and the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF) hosted an informative Clean Energy Workshop this month to discuss the possibility of combining their clean energy purchases. Such an aggregation would effectively increase their respective buying power and reduce the overall cost of future clean energy purchases.

“Leaders from across the state are committing or looking to commit to a clean energy purchase,” stated Bryan Garcia, Director of Energy Market Initiatives, Connecticut Clean Energy Fund. “Aggregation makes it easier for the state and a growing number of cities and towns to turn their 20% by 2010 commitment into a purchase. They are doing the right thing on clean energy and we are helping them do the right thing with their budget.”

The workshop, which had representatives from Yale University, the State of Connecticut, and Milford, Fairfield, Cheshire, Middletown, Hamden, New Britain, Orange, Southington and Windsor, allowed potential clean energy buyers to maximize the success of the SmartPower/CCEF Clean Energy Communities program unveiled by the two organizations last November. Combining the Clean Energy Communities program and SmartPower’s 20% by 2010 Campaign in conjunction with the pending CT Clean Energy Options program on April 1st, demonstrates Connecticut’s role as a clean energy leader.

“The workshop participants represented over one billion kWh of annual electricity usage,” said SmartPower president Brian F. Keane. “The next step for this group is to create a formal aggregation task force. Over the next several weeks, a sub-group of these cities and towns will devise a strategy to maximize an aggregate purchase of clean energy among major institutional consumers of clean energy. This is truly remarkable and again shows that everyone at today’s workshop knows that clean energy is real, it’s here, and it’s working.”

At the beginning of March in Providence, the SmartPower Clean Energy RI campaign sponsored an exhibit booth at the Rhode Island Home Show. Area clean energy suppliers and on-site generation companies leveraged Clean Energy RI campaign's marketing program to increase visibility of clean energy in Rhode Island; it gave suppliers and on-site generation companies an opportunity to increase their access to customers.

People's Power & Light and Sterling Planet were on hand at the exhibit booth to discuss consumers’ clean energy choices, and the solar installation company Solar Wrights educated homeowners about solar photovoltaics. All three companies took full advantage of the thousands of attendees at this year's Home Show.

“Homeowners across Rhode Island need to be aware of the availability and reliability of clean energy," said SmartPower’s New England Regional Director Bob Wall. "By exhibiting at the Home Show, we are showing that using clean energy is as reliable and automatic as installing a new refrigerator or buying a picnic table for the mainstream homeowner."

Approximately 10,000 people toured the exhibit hall of the Rhode Island Home Show from March 2nd through 6th.

As part of its marketing plan for 2005, Clean Energy RI intends to make available this type of visibility event to Rhode Island suppliers and on-site generators. Similar exhibits are planned for various Earth Day celebrations across Rhode Island in April, as well as June events such as the Sustainable Living Festival on Saturday, June 4th, and a Pawtucket Red Sox game, tentatively scheduled for Thursday, June 16th.