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With so many new ways to buy clean electricity generated by renewable energy resources such as wind, solar and water, why do we continue to rely so heavily on traditional fossil fuels for our energy requirements? Here’s a quick look at recent developments that may reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, as well as a few reasons why consumer interest in buying environmentally friendly “green” electricity is increasing and expected to grow at a much more rapid pace in our not so distant future.
By deregulating the electric utility industry in 2000, Maine legislators gave energy consumers a choice in electricity supply, much the same way consumers have a choice in local and long distance phone service. Even though consumer choice was intended for all classes of customers at the time, most suppliers focused only on large industrial and commercial users during the first few years of deregulation, leaving residential and small business customers with limited choice or no choice at all.
That’s about to change. While recent questions about the availability and sustainability of oil and natural gas have sent energy prices soaring, they have also created inviting new opportunities for people interested in renewable alternatives. Organizations like Maine Interfaith Power and Light, Inc. and the Maine Green Power Connection now offer a variety of clean electricity products to residential and small business customers. By the end of 2004, more than 3,000 consumers in Maine purchased some form of green power through these groups, and more products and services are on the way.
More information about clean electricity is available at www.MaineGreenPower.org. For details about purchasing renewable energy products in Maine, visit www.MeIPL.org. Thanks to organizations like Maine Interfaith Power and Light and the Maine Green Power Connection, buying electricity generated by renewable resources such as wind, solar and water is easy – and by choosing to buy electricity that is less harmful to the environment, we’re helping to make Maine a cleaner and more secure place for us and for our future.
Peter Ingraham – Recycling Committee