Montgomery County - Wind Power Purchasing

Summary

In September 2007, Montgomery County approved contracts to purchase wind energy and renewable-energy credits (RECs) derived from wind energy equal to 100% of the county government's electricity consumption. The REC portion (95%) of this purchase entailed an outlay of $293,212 over the course of the two-year purchase contract, with remaining 5% purchased from PECO Energy Company wind facilities on a month-to-month basis at $3,104 per month. The contract periods began in October 2007 and expired two years later. On October 1, 2009, the County Board of Commissioners approved additional wind energy contracts with PECO and Community Energy for 14 month terms expiring December 31, 2010. The contract with Community Energy provides for monthly payments totaling $43,543.50 and the contract with PECO provides for monthly payments totaling $8,593.62, for a grand total $52,137.12 over life of the contracts. The green power purchase ranked among the top-20 largest local government green power commitments in the country during 2009, according to the EPA Green Power Partnership Program.