‘Green’ energy companies offer wind-generated power credits

ORLAND – Maine-based wind energy company Endless Energy Corp. and Maine Interfaith Power and Light, an electricity aggregator, have announced that Maine consumers can now buy renewable energy credits from Endless Energy’s Orland wind turbine, to be marketed under the name FirstWind of Maine.

These renewable energy credits, also known as “green tags,” will be generated by a wind turbine located at G.M. Allen and Son blueberry plant in Orland.

Maine Interfaith Power and Light has agreed to purchase 100 percent of the available tags as part of its mission to support electricity generation that “has the least possible adverse effect” on the environment. The company will in turn resell the FirstWind of Maine tags to Maine consumers. The tags represent the first time Mainers have been able to directly support the construction of new, zero-emission wind turbines in Maine.

A renewable energy credit represents an amount of electricity generated from an energy source that is naturally produced, such as wind, hydro, solar and other technologies. Renewable energy credits are sold to consumers interested in supporting clean energy in the United States. The renewable energy credits produced by the Orland turbine provide consumers a way to offset pollution generated by burning fossil fuels.

Endless Energy Corp. installed the 100-foot turbine under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Wind Power America program in January 2001.

Consumers who purchase FirstWind of Maine energy credits help reduce fossil fuel emissions because the credits they purchase are generated from renewable energy sources and sent to the power grid, thus displacing the use of gas, coal or uranium to produce electricity. Renewable energy credits allow people who are staying on the default program, known as “standard offer,” to purchase the environmental benefits of renewable energy.