The Philadelphia Phillies are still trying to close out the World Series, but the team has already been declared winners off the field. The National League Champions were among the winners cited in the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2008 Green Power Leadership Awards. The announcement was made at the the National Renewable Energy Marketing Conference in Denver, Colo.

EPA’s Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program helping to increase the use of green power among leading U.S. organizations. The program encourages organizations to purchase green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with conventional electricity use. The EPA says the program has hundreds of partner organizations buying billions of kilowatt-hours of green power annually.

According to the EPA, the Philadelphia Phillies are the first Major League Baseball team to join the Green Power Partnership. The baseball club buys 20 million kilowatt-hours annually from wind and biomass resources, enough to power 100 percent of the annual electricity use for Citizens Bank Park.

Here is the complete list of the 2008 EPA Green Power Purchaser Award winners:

On-Site Generation

• Kohl’s Department Stores
• Lundberg Family Farms

Green Power Purchasing

• City of Houston, Texas
• The Estee Lauder Companies, Inc.
• ING
• Merritt 7 Venture, LLC
• Oregon State University
• PepsiCo, Inc.
• The Philadelphia Phillies
• Powdr Resorts
• U.S. Air Force

Green Power Partner of the Year

• Bellingham, Washington Community
• Cisco Systems, Inc.
• Intel Corporation
• University of Pennsylvania
• WhiteWave Foods Company

DOE Green Power Supplier Awards

New Green Power Program or Company

• AmerenUE

Small Residential/Commercial Green Power Program or Supplier of the Year

• City of Palo Alto Utilities

Large Commercial/Institutional Green Power Program or Supplier of the Year

• 3Degrees
• Sterling Planet

CRS Market Development Awards

Green Power Beacon Award

• Portland General Electric
• Honorable Mention: Detroit Edison

Green Power Pilot Award

• Energy Action Coalition
• Honorable Mention: Green Mountain Energy

Green Power Pioneer

• Dr. Jan Hamrin

Related link:

• The Green Power Network –  U.S. government web site provides green power market information

The 2008 Green Power Leadership Awards were presented in conjunction with the National Renewable Energy Marketing Conference, held October 26-29 in Denver, Colorado.

EPA Green Power Purchaser Awards: On-Site Generation

Lundberg Family Farms is a family owned and operated farm committed to growing and producing organic rice and rice products in the Sacramento Valley of Northern California. Lundberg’s environmentally focused philosophy has made green power a natural fit for the company.

Lundberg’s annual purchase of over 4 million kilowatt-hours of California wind-derived renewable energy certificates is enough to supply more than 100 percent of the operation’s total electricity use. Lundberg’s purchase currently represents the largest U.S. renewable energy commitment by an agribusiness. In addition to this purchase, Lundberg installed two solar photovoltaic arrays on company warehouses, which produce nearly 688 thousand kilowatt-hours annually. Both systems feed into the California power grid, enabling them to contribute extra power to the grid during the summer months when the state’s power demands are the highest.

Lundberg features its purchase on product packaging and spreads the word about green power through its public web page, speaking events, newsletters and at industry trade shows. Multiple local broadcast stations have also featured stories about the company’s green power activities.

Lundberg received a Green Power Leadership Award in 2004.