October 6 , 2004 News Media Release

Austin Energy wins Green Power Program of the Year Award

Austin Energy won the Green Power Program of the Year Award this week at the 4 th Annual Green Power Leadership Awards conference in Albany, New York, hosted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Energy, and the Center for Resource Solutions.

Austin Energy was recognized for leading the country in sales of renewable energy by a utility and for its innovative strategy that locks in green power prices for up to 12 years and for promoting the development of green power sources in Texas. The organizers also applauded Austin Energy's marketing campaign that touts the environmental commitment that renewable energy purchasers are making to the community through their subscriptions and how the cost of green power is offset by Austin Energy's comprehensive energy-efficiency programs that are aimed at reducing energy consumption and lowering customer's bills.

The Utility has led the nation in green power sales for two years in a row with sales of more than 350 million kilowatt hours of renewable energy, enough to power more than 35,000 homes year-round. Austin Energy has 300 businesses and more than 7,000 residential customers that subscribe to its GreenChoice® renewable energy program. More than 270 of the business subscribe to 100% of their electricity from renewable energy. The Austin Independent School District is the largest subscriber at 45 million kWh annually - making it the largest subscription by any school district in the nation. Concordia University also was the first college in the country to subscribe to 100% of its electricity needs from green power.

Austin Energy was one of the first utilities to allow customers to lock in green power prices as a hedge against the rising costs of fossil fuels. This attractive feature that helps large electricity users better plan their energy costs into the future plus a marketing campaign that recognizes subscribing businesses on billboards, television commercials, newsletters and other media help Austin Energy lead the country in business subscriptions. In fact, more Austin businesses that subscribe to GreenChoice qualify for an EPA-sponsored recognition program than the EPA has qualified combined throughout the nation.

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For more information, contact Ed Clark, Public Information.
Phone: (512) 322-6514
Pager: (512) 802-2000