American Utilities' Green Power Sales Surge in 2008

Green power sales by American utilities continued to surge in 2008 despite the economic travails in other sectors of the economy.

Last year, the sale of green power increased by 20% over 2007, according to a new report by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).  Most of the green energy produced in the U.S. comes from wind power.  

Ranked by sales of renewable energy, the top utilities are:

• Austin Energy: 82.6 megawatts
• Portland General Electric: 77.9 megawatts
• PacifiCorp: 56.3 megawatts
• Xcel Energy: 41.3 megawatts
• Sacramento Municipal Utility District: 37.1 megawatts

Ranked by green power sales as a percentage of total retail electricity sales:

• Edmond Electric: 6.4% of load
• Austin Electric: 6.0%
• River Falls Municipal Utilities: 5.8%
• City of Palo Alto Utilities: 5.7%
• Portland General Electric: 3.9%