December 27th, 2007 · No Comments

By John DeFore

Texans are used to viewing Austin as a left-leaning outpost planted in the middle of their pretty conservative state. Many’s the mom who has sent a clean-cut kid away to the University of Texas only to have a shaggy tree-hugger return for Christmas.

But in at least one respect, Austin’s in the vanguard of not only the state but the whole nation. This mid-sized city, it turns out, buys more renewably produced electricity than New York, Los Angeles, and other major metros — more, in fact, than any other U.S. city.

This bragging point was revived recently when the local utility, Austin Energy, announced that it would soon be doubling the amount of power it obtains from wind turbines. This latest “batch” of wind energy, which comes online in the new year, is the fifth chunk (known as “Batch 5″) to be opened up for sale since the renewable energy program launched in 2001, and is being embraced by the city government — which had given itself until 2012 to buy 100% renewably produced electricity for city-run facilities.

The city will now be able to meet that goal years ahead of schedule.

A visit to the U.S. Department of Energy’s web site verifies that Austin’s head-of-the-pack claims aren’t hot air: According to detailed rankings there, Austin sold more renewable power than any other American city in 2006 and in each prior year going back to 2002.

Portland General Electric took second place and Florida Power & Light was third for 2006.

Mark Bailey, Director of State and Local Programs for the Energy Department’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy program, points out that in addition to that ranking, which is a comparison of “actual kilowatt hours per year” sold to customers, Austin also ranks best in its pricing of green energy.

“Theirs is an interesting story,” he says, “because they don’t have a premium on green power sales — unlike any other utility.” That is, they don’t add a fee above the going rate for conventionally produced power.

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