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October 2009 Newsletter
Leading the Way
New Jersey Reaches Higher
CEI Goes OFF The Grid
Leading the Way
Here at Community Energy, we have always prided ourselves on leading the development of renewable energy generation. At this time of year
, when many awards are handed out for commitments to environmental sustainability, we’ve had the opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of several other leaders in this field and to appreciate the ways in which they have helped us pursue our mission.
Community Energy team members recently had the privilege of accompanying several of our customers as they received awards from the Citizen’s for Pennsylvania’s Future (PennFuture) at a luncheon in Philadelphia. This was a great opportunity to celebrate their achievements and commitments to supporting wind energy.
In addition to recognition for our customers, Community Energy co-founders, Brent Alderfer and Eric Blank also received awards for their continued efforts to grow the wind and solar power marketplace in Pennsylvania!
We were also proud to have one of our utility partners, Allegheny Power of Greensburg (Westmoreland County), receive an award for launching the Allegheny Renewable Energy Program. The voluntary program is open to all residential, commercial and industrial customers, providing a option to support the development of clean, renewable wind power.
In addition, each customer listed below received a Green Power Award from PennFuture for their important leadership and purchase of wind-generated Renewable Energy Certificates:
• Yards Brewing Company of Philadelphia, for becoming the first 100 percent wind powered brewery in Pennsylvania and for continued commitment to sustainability.
• SAP of Newtown Square (Delaware County), for purchasing 19,165 megawatt-hours (MWh) of wind energy to meet 100 percent of all electricity needs and for achieving Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEEDTM) Platinum status at corporate headquarters in Newtown Square.
• BurstNET Technologies, Inc. of Scranton (Lackawanna County) for purchasing 5,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) of wind energy to become one of the first data centers to be 100 percent powered by green energy.
• Innovation Printing Inc. of Philadelphia, for purchasing 1,956 megawatt-hours (MWh) of wind energy to meet 100 percent of all electricity needs.
In other exciting news, our long time customer, EarthColor, a printing company headquartered in New Jersey, received a prestigious Green Power Leadership Award from the Environmental Protection Agency at their annual ceremony. Their purchase of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) offsets 100% of the electricity usage for their operations.
Community Energy is extremely proud of our co-founders Brent Alderfer and Eric Blank and of our customers and partners. We commend them all for the awards they received in recognition of their efforts to support the environment. They are truly leading the way in sustainability.
New Jersey Reaches Higher
The great state of New Jersey has always been a leader in supporting the development of renewable energy. In accordance with the New
Jersey governor’s Energy Master Plan, policy makers are in the process of increasing the state's energy goals. Under this new plan, 30% of the state’s electricity will come from renewable sources, like wind and solar, by 2020, up from 20% under the current law.
This is truly an admirable commitment and one that will distinguish the state as a clear-cut leader in bringing about a significant increase in our nation’s development of renewable power facilities. Currently, this commitment would place New Jersey behind only California as the state with the highest percentage of their energy coming from renewable power sources. Community Energy is proud to provide a source of renewable electricity to New Jersey from our Jersey-Atlantic wind farm, a project we developed in conjunction with our partner the Atlantic County Utilities Authority.
The state plans to increase the development of both solar energy as well as off-shore wind projects. Together it is estimated that over 20,000 GWh of clean and renewable energy will be provided to the state’s electricity grid. This is the equivalent of powering roughly 1.8 million homes! For more information on these developments please visit the New Jersey Clean Energy website. With advancements like this, it is exciting to think that other states might adopt similar plans to increase their use of renewable energy to keep up with the inspirational commitment of New Jersey.
CEI Goes OFF the Grid
Last month, CEI had the pleasure to partner with local and international
performance artists to support the first eco-theatre festival of its kind – The OFF the Grid Theatre Festival held in the heart of Old City, Philadelphia. The festival ran from September 4th – 19th and took place alongside the Philly Fringe Festival.
OFF the Grid Theatre Festival set a goal to “challenge artists’ imaginations and to re-engage audiences with performances that are fresh, inexpensive, immediate, live and down-to-earth” while powering the entire show with renewable energy. Performers used a variety of sources to generate their energy including solar panels, a bike hooked up to a generator and a Weza Foot Pump Generator. Community Energy participated in the event by donating Renewable Energy Certificates to offset a portion of the emissions.
The festival was conceived by Thaddeus Phillips and Tatiana Mallarino, co-artistic directors of Lucidity Suitcase Intercontinental, and was the first of its kind in the United States. "This festival was a great opportunity to learn how much more you can do with less and how much more engaging it was for performers and the audience,” Phillips said. “In the end, we felt the festival made the theatrics, dance and music experience richer by taking it off the grid.”
The festival consisted of performances by magician Steve Cuiffo , powered by solar panels; dance group Miro Dance Theater, powered by bicycle; a solo theater performance entitled Microworld(s) Part #1, powered by Weza; and local band The Mural and the Mint, powered by solar, bike and Weza. Community Energy hopes to be able to participate in the event again next year!
