AUB TO OFFER GREEN POWER
OPTION TO CUSTOMERS

ATHENS, Tenn. - Athens Utilities Board (AUB) is joining Green Power Switch-a TVA program that provides electricity produced from cleaner, renewable resources such as solar, wind, and methane gas from landfills.

Developed by TVA, its distributors, and the environmental community, Green Power Switch generates electricity via solar collection systems, wind generation stations, and methane gas generation units at landfills. It is the first program of its kind in the Southeast.

“Our customers have become more environmentally conscious and are looking for choices that help protect and sustain our community's environment for future generations,” said AUB spokesman Wayne Scarbrough. “Through this program customers can make a choice about the type of electricity they buy. By partnering in Green Power Switch, customers help reduce dependency on other power sources and have a real impact on improving regional air and water quality,” he said.

AUB will offer Green Power in blocks of 150 kilowatts, which is about 12 percent of a typical home’s monthly electricity use. Each block costs an additional $4 on the customer's monthly power bill. Consumers can buy as many blocks as they like.

“Purchasing Green Power is an option entirely of the customer’s choosing. Many people participate with their children or grandchildren in mind, because they could be the people most affected by energy source options in the future,” Scarbrough said. “For an additional $48 a year, which would be one purchased block of Green Power a month, a person can make a real, positive impact on our area’s environmental future.”

Every block of Green Power taken by a customer represents 150 kilowatt hours of electricity that does not have to come from sources such as coal-fired plants. Businesses and industries also have the opportunity to buy Green Power in blocks based on their monthly power requirements.

“Businesses appreciate the option because environmental stewardship is more visible and important than ever. Some industries even count their participation in quality-assurance programs. This allows them to participate in an environmental-based program on a regular basis,” Scarbrough said.

“We find that people who support environmental causes in other ways are typical Green Power purchasers,” Scarbrough said. According to TVA, purchasing just two blocks of green power a month for one year is the environmental equivalent of planting an acre of trees in the Tennessee Valley or of not driving your car for four months.

The addition of AUB to the Green Power Switch program brings to 49 the number of power companies in the Valley that offer the renewable energy option to consumers of TVA power.

TVA generates green power at 15 solar sites, one wind park, a landfill gas facility, and a methane gas site. For more information about the Green Power Switch program, call AUB at 745-4501 or check the utility's website at www.aub.org. TVA’s Green Power Switch web site is www.greenpowerswitch.com.