Tonight in Albany, New York, Montgomery County will be recognized for its outstanding achievements in the green power marketplace when it receives this year's Green Power Partner of the Year Award, the highest honor, from the U.S. Departments of Environmental Protection (EPA) and Energy (DOE). The award will be presented at the National Green Power Marketing Conference to recognize the County's wind energy acquisition in May -- the largest local government purchase in the nation. With the help of non-profit Environmental Resources Trust (ERT), the purchase sets another national precedent -- the inclusion of a wind power purchase as an ozone reduction measure in a regional pollution reduction plan.

"Montgomery County prides itself on being a leader in environmental protection," said Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan, "and this agreement to purchase five percent of our energy from wind power solidifies that leadership status. We are safeguarding our natural resources for the future and have set our course for improvements in the years to come."

Montgomery County led six County agencies, 11 municipalities, and neighboring Prince George's County in a wind energy purchase of 38,412 MWh per year, or five percent of the buying group's total electricity needs.

"We recognize the leadership action of Montgomery County's purchase of wind generated electricity as part of its air quality action plan to reduce ozone and a full range of pollutants by offsetting the emissions from fossil fuel generated electricity," said Jerry Kotas, Senior Environmental Scientist, DOE.

"The exceptional efforts of renewable energy marketers, purchasers and organizations continue to develop the market for renewable energy, and produce results worthy of national recognition," said Jan Hamrin, Executive Director of CRS. "Their contributions through innovative marketing and outreach lead to the green power transactions that stimulate renewable energy generation, grow the economy, and help clean our air."

The County is part of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, which submitted a regional State Implementation Plan (SIP) for air quality improvement to EPA in spring of 2004. The County proposed using its wind energy purchase to reduce ground-level ozone pollution towards its SIP requirements. In addition to reductions in ozone-causing nitrogen oxides, the County's wind energy purchase will displace environmentally harmful emissions of sulfur dioxide, mercury, particulate matter, and carbon dioxide, a key greenhouse gas that leads to climate change.

SIP credit has an indirect but substantial dollar value for state and local jurisdictions in "non-attainment" areas. ERT, a national environmental nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. that pioneers markets to improve the environment, produced an 'emissions avoided' report that quantified the air pollution reductions that will result from the County's wind power purchase. ERT's efforts to quantify and verify the environmental benefits from renewable energy generation ensure environmental integrity while supporting economically efficient outcomes.

"The great thing about this plan," notes Alden Hathaway, ERT's Director of Green Power Programs, "is that a marker has been laid in the Mid-Atlantic region that purchases of renewable energy by local governments provide significant value in terms of local air quality benefits." By following the Montgomery County example, other jurisdictions can now use renewable energy to obtain SIP credit, document improvements to local air quality, and protect their share of federal transportation dollars.

Montgomery County continues to promote wind energy in the region by working with other local and state governments in Maryland and Virginia. The County's goal is to double the number of participants in the wind energy buying group by 2006.

For more information about Environmental Resources Trust and their 'emission avoided' report please contact info@ert.net

Additional information regarding 2004 Green Power Leadership Award winners is available in the Awards program booklet available at www.epa.gov/greenpower.