By: Anya Litvak |
Remember the Choose PA Wind campaign — the one aimed at people willing to pay more for the electricity if they know it’s coming from local green sources?
That’s no longer necessary – the paying more part, that is, according to Community Energy, Inc.
The Philadelphia-based development company that pioneered the concept a decade ago by selling local renewable energy certificates to companies such as Duquesne University and Giant Eagle and has since registered as a generation supplier, is bringing its program to Pittsburgh. It has now begun offering products in the Duquesne Light territory, boasting a per-kilowatt hour price of about one cent below the utility’s current rate. That amounts to a savings of about $6.30 for an average household that uses 700 kilowatt hours a month. That’s still on the higher side of what the other two dozen competitive suppliers in the area are offering, but while some of those companies offer renewable energy products, Community Energy is the only one with a Pennsylvania-only mix.
According to Community’s Vice President Jay Carlis, customers have two options — a 99 percent wind and 1 percent solar option or a 50-50 split between wind and hydropower. All sources are in Pennsylvania and the majority of wind comes from western Pennsylvania, including EverPower’s wind farms in the region.
