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U.S. EPA Names Two Northern California Schools as Top 20 Green Powered

Release Date: 10/27/2009
Contact Information: : Nahal Mogharabi, 415-947-4307, mogharabi.nahal@epa.gov

U.S. EPA Names Two Northern California Schools as Top 20 Green Powered

SAN FRANCISCO -- For the first time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership announced the 20 primary and secondary schools nationwide using the most power from renewable energy sources --including two in Northern California -- Kentfield School District and Santa Clara University.

The top Green Power Partner schools are buying nearly 113 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually, equivalent to carbon dioxide emissions produced from the electricity use of 11,000 American homes for one year.

”Our green powered schools are giving kids a brighter future in more ways than one. They’re leading the way in protecting our health and environment, and moving the country into the clean energy economy of the 21st century,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “This is a great lesson on how we reduce harmful pollution in our skies and get America running on clean energy.”

Kentfield School District, ranked No.16 on the EPA’s Top 20 K-12 Schools List, generates nearly 600,000 kWh of solar power annually, which is enough green power to meet 95 percent of the school's purchased electricity use.

The district's on-site green power generation of nearly 600,000 kWh is equivalent to avoiding the carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions of more than 80 passenger vehicles per year, or the equivalent amount of electricity needed to power more than 60 average American homes annually.

Santa Clara University increased its ranking to No. 16 on EPA’s Top 20 College & University list of green power purchasers by doubling its green power usage to nearly 23 million kWh annually, which is enough green power to meet 74 percent of the school's electricity use. Santa Clara University's green power purchase is equivalent to avoiding the carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions of nearly 3,000 passenger vehicles per year.

This purchase also qualifies the university for the EPA’s Green Power Leadership Club, a distinction given to organizations that have significantly exceeded the EPA’s minimum purchase requirements. Green Power Leadership Club members must purchase 10 times the partnership’s minimum requirement organization-wide.

Green power is generated from renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, biogas and low-impact hydropower. Green power electricity generates less pollution than conventional power and produces no net increase in greenhouse gas emissions.

The EPA’s Green Power Partnership works with more than 1,100 organizations to voluntarily purchase green power to reduce the environmental impacts of conventional electricity use. Overall, EPA Green Power Partners are buying more than 17 billion kWh of green power annually, equivalent to the CO₂ emissions from electricity use of nearly 1.7 million American homes annually.

More information on the entire top 20 list of k-12 schools: https://www.epa.gov/greenpower/toplists/top20k-12schools.htm

Information on EPA’s Green Power Partnership: https://www.epa.gov/greenpower