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.

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

Sterling Planet delivers renewable energy, energy-efficiency products and carbon solutions to multinational businesses, universities, government agencies, utilities and individual consumers. Since 2000, Sterling Planet has offered certified RECs from wind, solar and a broad range of other renewable energy resources.

The company’s client list includes 1,460 business customers, among them the nation’s top two renewable energy purchasers and leaders in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership. Sterling Planet has also served 56 colleges and universities, 85 utilities, 156 government agencies and thousands of residential customers. The company’s annual REC sales, from June 2007 to June 2008, totaled 4.5 billion kilowatt-hours.

Sterling Planet is building a clean energy pipeline, with more than 400 megawatts of new renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction projects now under development in North America. A U.S. EPA Climate Leaders partner and founding member of The Climate Registry, Sterling Planet adheres to sustainable business practices and has committed to net zero greenhouse gas emissions from its own company operations.

Awarded a Green Power Leadership Award by the U.S. Department of Energy for the second consecutive year, Sterling Planet shares the spotlight with its many customers who have also received top environmental honors for their exemplary corporate stewardship.