A Greener Pennsylvania

Reuters:

Pennsylvania has doubled the purchase of green electricity to 20 percent of its needs, becoming the largest U.S. state buyer of power from sustainable sources such as wind and water, the state government said on Tuesday.

The administration of Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell modified an existing contract with Community Energy Inc., a unit of Spanish renewable energy manufacturer Iberdrola, to buy 200,000 megawatt hours of electricity a year generated from renewable sources at a rate of 34 cents a kilowatt hour.

The contract calls for electricity that is generated 40 percent from wind power and 60 percent from hydroelectric sources. That will reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by some 123,000 tons, sulfur dioxide by 951 tons, and nitrogen oxide by 271 tons, the state said.