Striking a new note on the Liberty Bell, boroughs, township and cities across southeastern Pennsylvania are right now declaring their energy independence by committing to the Pennsylvania Clean Energy Communities Campaign.  The Campaign provides 10 qualified townships, boroughs or cities located in PECO service territory in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties with a free 1kW solar photovoltaic system when they achieve the three following thresholds: 1) Pass a formal resolution committing to 20% clean energy by 2010; 2) Sign up a required number of clean energy customers within the community; and 3) The local government begins purchasing clean energy.  Upon achieving all three thresholds, the community then qualifies as an official “Clean Energy Community.”  To date, seven townships and boroughs have taken action and committed to 20% by 2010 in the hopes of becoming Pennsylvania’s first Clean Energy Community.

Representatives from the West Vincent Environmental Advisory Council with SmartPower Program Coordinator, Molly Tsongas (4th from left) commemorates the township's comittment to the campaign

SmartPower applauds the leadership of the following communities and looks forward to partnering with them in their efforts to become Clean Energy Communities:

• Lower Makefield Township, Bucks County
• Upper Dublin Township, Montgomery County
• Borough of Media, Delaware County
• West Vincent Township, Chester County
• Borough of Jenkintown, Montgomery County
• East Vincent Township, Chester County
• Swarthmore Borough, Delaware County

“The meteoric rise of the PA Clean Energy Communities Campaign reinforces that clean energy is real, it’s here, and it’s working,” said SmartPower President Brian F. Keane.  “Not only are the leaders in these communities steering their townships and boroughs toward energy independence, they are on the forefront of helping the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and indeed the entire nation achieve true energy independence."

Using a collaborative marketing approach, SmartPower has formed a coalition with the Sustainable Development Fund, the Clean Air Council, PennFuture, Community Energy Inc., Native Energy, The Energy Cooperative, Pennsylvania Interfaith Climate Change Campaign, the Recycle Bank and PECO.  On a monthly basis, members of the coalition come together to strategize how best to harmonize its efforts to create Clean Energy Communities.  “The coordination and cooperation between these groups – many of whom are direct business competitors – is both exciting and effective,” said Roger Clark, Manager for Technology Policy at the Sustainable Development Fund.

Through our innovative clean energy efforts in local communities, SmartPower and the coalition will reaffirm the state’s status as the Keystone State.

Created as a non-profit marketing organization for clean, renewable energy in 2002, SmartPower’s challenge then, as now, was to market wind, water, solar and other clean energies as if it were Coca-Cola or McDonald’s.  With funding from the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund and a number of private foundations, a “test market” was established in Connecticut.

Our business plan called for a rollout of our efforts in Connecticut and with success in Connecticut we would expand to other New England states.  And then, with success in those states, we would expand our efforts nationwide. 

And expand we did.  We currently boast operations throughout New England, Pennsylvania, South Carolina – and now, we are proud to say, Arizona.  Last week Arizona became the most recent state to become part of the SmartPower marketing effort.

With a grant from one of the major utility companies in Arizona, APS, and the New York Community Trust we will be working aggressively to market the state’s solar incentive program.  Working closely with our partner, the Clean Energy Group, we will bring the expertise and energy required to build a successful solar market in Arizona.

"With our expansion into Arizona this truly is a national movement," said Brian F. Keane, President of SmartPower.  "From Hartford to Phoenix; from Philadelphia to Charleston, people are learning that clean energy today is real, it's here, and it's working."

In the weeks and months ahead, return back to the Clean Energy Current for the latest work by SmartPower in Arizona!

Now more than ever, clean energy is real, it’s here and it’s working in Connecticut.  This month, the SmartPower 20% by 2010sm Campaign achieved a major distinction by reaching thirty city or town members in the state with the addition of Middlefield and Newtown.  The collaborative initiative is credited with increasing use of clean energy, and raising awareness of the benefits and availability of clean energy while helping to build a strong voluntary market for clean, renewable energy.

Further, with its 20% by 2010 commitment, Newtown also automatically qualified as the thirteenth Clean Energy Community thanks to a generous assist from Curtis Packaging.  The printing and packaging company, the first large business in the state to purchase 100% clean energy, structured its contract with Community Energy Inc. to help the host town earn a free 2kw solar PV system from the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF).  The town can earn additional systems for every 100 residents who enroll in the CTCleanEnergyOptions^sm program, which recently topped the 10,000 customer mark statewide in just over 18 months of existence.

(L-R) Don Droppo Jr., Curtis Packaging; Herb Rosenthal, Newtown First Selectman; Don Droppo Sr., Curtis Packaging; Bob Wall, SmartPower New England Director; Mike Forese, Community Energy Inc.

View the Fairfield Woods Middle School choir perform "Here Comes the Sun"

Another Clean Energy Community, Fairfield was also in the clean energy news recently.  Following a spirited rendition of “Here Comes the Sun” performed by the Fairfield Woods Middle School choir, dignitaries in Fairfield cut the ribbon at the first solar installation in southwest Connecticut under the Clean Energy Communities program.  The town, along with Middletown and Stamford, also became a repeat qualifier this month by reaching 200 sign-ups while Bethany, Orange and Woodbridge became the first regional school district to earn a free solar system under a new threshold offered by CCEF.

Finally, Yale University announced that it had purchased 10 million kilowatt-hours of wind energy credits from Sterling Planet. This purchase, believed to be the largest by an institution in state history, was made possible through the efforts of undergraduate students who lowered their energy consumption by 10 percent in the first year of a challenge from the university.