3Degrees Partners With Dominion Virginia Power To Launch New Utility Green Pricing Program
New Voluntary Renewable Energy Option Is Now Available to Over 2.2 Million Virginia Residential and Commercial Customers
SAN FRANCISCO — February 2, 2009 — 3Degrees announced today that it has partnered with Dominion Virginia Power to offer a new renewable energy program, Dominion Green Power. This new voluntary program is now available to more than 2.2 million Dominion residential, commercial, and industrial customers within Virginia; the program provides an easy and affordable way for customers to support new renewable energy resources.
3Degrees was selected to help design and launch the program, deploy a consumer education campaign to enroll customers, and provide Green-e Energy® Certified Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to meet program demand.
“We are proud to be working with the largest utility in Virginia – one of the largest utilities in the country - to offer a high quality voluntary renewable energy option in the Commonwealth”, said Adam Capage, Vice President, Utility Partnerships at 3Degrees.
On behalf of Dominion Green Power program participants, Dominion will purchase renewable energy certificates (RECs) from 3Degrees sourced from newly constructed renewable energy facilities located within Midwestern and Southeastern states. Customers can enroll online at www.dom.com or by calling the Dominion Customer Service Center toll-free at 1-888-667-3000.
Dominion Green Power is offering Virginia electricity customers two affordable options to support renewable energy through their utility bill. The first option enables customers to purchase renewable energy to match 100% of their electricity usage at only a penny and a half per kilowatt-hour (kWh) above the standard electricity rate. The average household using 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month (according to U.S. EPA figures) will pay an additional cost of $15 per month. The actual rate will vary depending on monthly usage. The average participant signing up for 100 percent Green Power for one year will prevent the release of over 18,825 pounds (8.5 tons) of carbon dioxide emissions into the Earth’s atmosphere. This is the same greenhouse gases emissions savings of removing one and a half cars from the road for a year.
The second option will allow customers to purchase renewable energy certificates in fixed $2 increments representing 133 kWh of renewable energy certificates each in any number of blocks they choose. Purchasing five blocks ($10 per month) for a year is the equivalent of avoiding the greenhouse gases of one car on the road for a year.
3Degrees works in partnership with six other utilities to offer residential and business customers a voluntary renewable energy option, including partnerships in California, Oregon, Missouri and Washington State. The average participation rate across this diverse set of utility partners is 6.8%, more than three times the national average for green pricing programs.
ABOUT 3DEGREES
3Degrees enables businesses and individuals to understand their climate impact and fund renewable energy and carbon reduction projects. We do this by originating and providing high quality Renewable Energy Certificates and Verified Emission Reductions (aka, carbon offsets) from more than 200 projects around the world. 3Degrees has served hundreds of U.S. and international business customers. Beginning in 2002, the 3Degrees team emerged as an early leader in the renewable energy marketing industry and has since set the standard for turn-key climate solutions . In 2005, 2007, and 2008, 3Degrees was named U.S. DOE Renewable Energy Program Marketer of the Year serving the large commercial segment. More information is available at www.3degreesinc.com.
ABOUT DOMINION VIRGINIA POWER
Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 27,000 megawatts of generation. Dominion serves retail energy customers in 12 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's Web site at www.dom.com
