We’ve been at this a long time.
It all started with renewable energy, more than a century ago. But we didn’t stop with clean, efficient hydropower. Avista’s forward-thinking culture encourages new ideas, and that has kept us in the forefront of renewable energy throughout our history. Our Kettle Falls generating station was the first power plant of its kind when it was built in 1983. It produces clean electricity by burning wood waste from which every single useful scrap has been removed.
Today, wind power is the world’s fastest growing renewable energy resource, along with biomass and solar. And Avista launched our Buck-A-Block voluntary rate program in 2002, and by 2006, participants were purchasing more than 56,000 megawatt hours of emission-free wind energy annually. When you sign up for Buck-A-Block, you make a voluntary payment above and beyond your normal rates. Avista makes no profit from that additional money, which goes to support the renewable energy many of our customers prefer by purchasing environmental offset from renewable energy generation.
We also offer a renewable generation incentive (RGI) for Washington customers who install their own renewable energy systems, like solar panels, wind turbines or anaerobic digesters. To qualify, your system must be on the grid. There’s also a one-time energy efficiency incentive for such projects available to both Washington and Idaho customers. Customers who want to connect to Avista’s grid may find the state and federal programs listed below helpful, as well.
Here are some helpful Websites on generating your own renewable energy:
http://www.nrel.gov
http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy02osti/31872.pdf
http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy04osti/35297.pdf
http://www.eere.energy.gov
http://www.awea.org
http://www.northwestsolarcenter.org