SANTA CLARA, Calif. – November 28, 2006 – This year’s City Hall Holiday Tree will sparkle a little greener–thanks to a donation of wind and solar energy credits from Silicon Valley Power (SVP), the City of Santa Clara’s municipal electric utility, to light the tree. The power is provided by Santa Clara Green Power, SVP’s renewable energy option available to all customers.
The City’s holiday tree lighting, which takes place on Friday, December 1, at 6 p.m. at Civic Center Drive and Lincoln Street, has been a tradition for nearly 100 years, but this year, the 1,000 kWhs of electricity used to light the tree will be from 100 percent clean wind and solar power. Powering the lights with renewable energy from Santa Clara Green Power is equivalent to preserving 68 full-grown trees or preventing the release of approximately 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
“What could be a better holiday gift for our community than clean energy?” asks Joyce Kinnear, Public Benefit Program Manager for SVP. “It’s our way of helping to maintain a healthy, safe, and sustainable city.” Santa Clara Green Power energy is a mix of 97.5 percent wind and 2.5 percent solar. The wind comes from newly constructed wind farms in Northern and Southern California and the solar from photovoltaic projects located within California.
Both wind turbines and solar energy facilities do not emit harmful particulate matter (the leading cause of asthma) or greenhouse gasses (the main cause of global warming). The solar energy is generated from solar projects in the Bay Area and Santa Clara’s very own Haman Elementary School project, constructed with funds from SVP’s Neighborhood Solar program. Silicon Valley Power residential, small business and corporate customers can green their own dwellings by choosing Santa Clara Green Power, the renewable energy program launched in November 2004.
“We are very proud to use this clean, local energy option for our annual holiday tree,” says Patricia M. Mahan, Santa Clara’s Mayor. “It’s another example of how our city is a leader in environmental stewardship. We hope that community members will follow our lead and enroll in Santa Clara Green Power.”
About Santa Clara Green Power
Santa Clara Green Power is a voluntary, renewable energy program offered by Silicon Valley Power to all residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Santa Clara as a way to support energy generated from 100 percent clean wind and solar power resources at a low additional cost of 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. Santa Clara utility customers can enroll in Santa Clara Green Power by signing up through the secure website at www.siliconvalleypower.com; sending an email that includes customer name, address, account and phone number to green@siliconvalleypower.com; or by calling (408) 244-SAVE (7283). Enrollment is optional, and customers can withdraw at any time.
About Silicon Valley Power
Silicon Valley Power is the trademark adopted for use by the century-old Electric Department of the City of Santa Clara, California. SVP provides power to more than 50,000 customers, including Applied Materials, Intel, National Semiconductor and Yahoo!, at rates 25 to 45 percent below neighboring communities. SVP also offers customers a 100 percent renewable energy option through its Santa Clara Green Power program and is an active participant in the wholesale energy markets in the Western United States. Visit www.siliconvalleypower.com for more information.
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