Peak & Prairie

Rocky Mountain Chapter's
Online Newsletter
December 1997

 

Sierra Club Joins Grassroots Campaign for PSCo Wind Power
by Linda Berti, Chapter Energy Chair

The Sierra Club Rocky Mountain Chapter has signed on with the Grassroots Campaign for Wind Power to assist Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo) in marketing its Windsource clean energy program. The decision was based on the Department of Energy's environmental assessment of the PSCo wind farm, which found that the project would not pose a significant environmental impact on the site or surrounding community. Important in the decision was the inclusion of an avian impact monitoring plan, to be implemented by PSCo once production of energy has begun. The monitoring data will be used to design mitigation measures if the project harms birds. Results of the monitoring program will be available to the public.

Our involvement in assisting the marketing campaign is based on the enormous benefits of renewable wind energy to our air quality and the reduction in greenhouse gases, as well as in mining, drilling and burning of fossil fuels. Although the electricity a customer actually gets may come from any source, the wind power that customer buys will displace an equivalent amount of power generated from fossil fuels, usually coal, providing benefits to the public as a whole. For details on the wind program, see "Public Service Company Sells Green Power" in the June/July issue of Peak & Prairie.

We encourage our members to sign up for wind power, using the form below. For a minimum commitment of $2.50 a month, it is an inexpensive way to help our environment.

The Grassroots Campaign for Wind Power is a cooperative effort among the Sierra Club, Boulder Energy Conservation Center, City of Boulder, Colorado Renewable Energy Society, Community Office for Resource Efficiency and Land and Water Fund of the Rockies. For more information call (303) 629-3323.

 

Clip off below.

____YES I'd like to sign up for PSCo's Windsource program.
Name_________________________________________ (please print)
Address______________________________________
City___________________State______Zip________
Telephone________________ email_______________________________________

Please charge me:
________$2.50 more/month for 100 kilowatt hours of wind power
________$5 more/month for 200 kilowatt hours of wind power
________All of my monthly kilowatt hours (full wind power)
________Other $________(add $2.50 for each additional 100 kilowatt hours)

I understand there is a one-year commitment to the program.

Signature________________________________________ SCRMC

Send to "Grassroots Campaign for Wind Power," PO Box 323, Boulder, CO 80306-0323 or fax to (303) 786-8054. The Public Utilities Commission has approved the use of market pricing concepts for Windsource rather than traditional regulated-rate methods. Public Service Company will add these extra charges to participating customers' bills for one year and reserves the right to remove customers from the program in the event of non-payment. Customers will not be billed until the wind farm begins generating electricity.

 

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