Dominion Virginia Power Green Power program surpasses 15,000 participants

USA: More than 15,000 customers are now signed up for Dominion Virginia Power's Green Power program and are supporting renewable energy produced in this region to meet some or all of their home's energy needs.

The participating customers have packed an impressive environmental punch, too.

Since the program's inception in 2009, participants have supported more than 480,000 megawatt-hours of renewable energy. The generation of this "green" power has prevented the same amount of carbon dioxide from entering the air as removing 65,000 average cars from the road for one year, or the equivalent environmental impact of planting 8,700,000 trees that grow to maturity.

"This program is one way for all customers to have a positive impact on the planet," said Ken Barker, VP – Customer Solutions and Energy Conservation. "It's a great program and part of our effort to offer customers different options to save energy, money and help the environment."

The Dominion Green Power Program® offers customers the option to match their home electricity use with renewable energy by either usage or in fixed monthly amounts.  The fixed option starts at $2 and can be increased in $2 increments. Each $2 block supports 154 kilowatt-hours of green power.  The option based on usage adds 1.3 cents per kilowatt-hour, with a typical household using 1,000 kilowatt-hours paying an additional $13 per month on their bill.

The Dominion Green Power program is certified by the non-profit, third-party organization Green-e Energy, which ensures product quality and customer protection. Renewable energy is purchased in the form of Renewable Energy Certificates from recently-built wind, solar and biomass facilities in Virginia and the surrounding region.

In 2011, the program supported more than 26,000 megawatt-hours from Virginia facilities alone.