UPPER MERION – Though the similarity of their names often creates confusion, the fuel provided by Green Mountain Energy could never be mistaken for the caffeinated energy source dispensed by Green Mountain Coffee Company.
It was just about a month ago that the nation’s longest-operating clean energy retailer, Green Mountain Energy Company, began offering its totally pollution-free electricity honed from the sun, wind and water to Pennsylvania residents in the all-important PECO and PPL territories.
With the expansion into the Keystone state, Green Mountain and its growing customer base will foster the demand for renewable energy production while reducing the need for traditional fossil-fueled electricity, said John Holtz, director of market development, who’s been with the company for 14 of its 15 years of existence.
‘With electric shopping, the local utilities like PECO continue to be the poles and wires; they deliver the electricity and folks now get to choose from many electric suppliers,’ Holtz said. ‘We’ve always been an environmentally friendly company, but we also wanted to be people friendly. And a big part of that is educating folks about why green power renewable energy is important. Our knowledge and dedication towards renewable energy and innovation in ‘changing the way power is made’ sets us apart as a retail provider and we look forward to providing that value to the Pennsylvania communities we now serve. ‘
Those communities include the Philadelphia suburban area and Lehigh Valley, where Green Mountain’s first official Pennsylvania account was registered in Allentown.
With a regional office located in Wayne at one time, Green Mountain’s relationship with the state dates back to the late ’90s, Holtz noted.
‘We were in the Pennsylvania deregulated energy market back when the state opened the electric market to shopping by customers. Regulations at that time proved to be not the best for the competitive market because of the rate caps that were set on the utilities, so we stopped operating in Pennsylvania in 2006. But back in our first go-round in the state we had terrific response from people in your area,’ Holtz said. ‘The suburban Philadelphia area was very important to us and it is again as we’re coming back. We’re looking for ways to be in the community and part of local events.’
A spirited gesture in that direction landed the company a platinum sponsorship of Upper Merion’s Concerts Under the Stars series, in addition to the ongoing appearances of Green Mountain mascot Super Earth to help flip on the switch of awareness for alternative energy.
‘The mascot is just another way of making an electric power supply company (approachable),’ Holtz said. ‘Our green power super hero gets the attention of all ages, especially kids, and we’re able to engage them in talking about renewable energy and how it works.’
Besides Pennsylvania, Green Mountain serves hundreds of thousands of residential and business customers in Texas, New York, New Jersey and Oregon, and is no stranger to ‘celebrity’ clients: the Empire State Building came on board years ago.
The company reports that its customers have avoided more than 19 billion pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, the equivalent of every house in Pennsylvania turning off its lights for two full years.
With its month-to-month or fixed rate power choices – the basic Pollution Free, derived from regional wind and water sources, and the Pollution Free Gold, a wind and solar source – Green Mountain basically leaves its competition in the dark with its array of products, Holtz pointed out.
‘There are a half dozen or so suppliers who may be offering a product in their portfolio, but we’re very different in several respects. Where our competitors offer green products in addition to (traditional) power, we offer 100 percent renewable electricity instead of (traditional) power. That’s all we do. It’s in our DNA.
In our first go-round in Pennsylvania in 1998 there were zero utility scale wind power projects and zero wind turbines in eastern United States,’ he added. ‘We were able to break ground and help develop the first utility scale wind project in Pennsylvania and eastern United States, in Somerset County. Just to give you a sense of how mainstream clean energy power has become in the region … today in Pennsylvania alone there are 17 utility scale wind projects and 422 giant wind turbines producing pollution-free electricity – primarily because customers, individuals, businesses and institutions have chosen renewable energy. Pennsylvania has been a real leader in terms of the green power movement.’
For more information, visit www.greenmountain.com.
Follow Gary Puleo on Twitter @Mustangman48.
