SECOND WIND.

Byline: Jeff Wright The Register-Guard

"Sorry - All Sold Out."

That's the figurative sign that the Eugene Water & Electric Board is prepared to hang as customers inquire about buying some or all of their electrical consumption from wind power.

For years, environmentally inclined ratepayers have bought up nearly half the power available to EWEB from its participation in a Wyoming wind farm. Within the past 11 months, however, EWEB has seen residential and business customers sign up for wind power at such a clip that the utility is close to maxing out on the 20 million kilowatt hours it has to offer.

EWEB officials aren't sure how to explain the sudden bump in popularity, but they do have a prime suspect: former Vice President Al Gore and his cautionary movie about global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth."

`We saw some hiccups (in wind power sign-ups) after that movie,' says Mat Northway, energy conservation manager at EWEB. "There's a greater awareness of global warming, that it's really happening. Now people are inspired to take action."

The heightened interest might seem ill-timed for EWEB, given the need to cut off subscriptions to the Wyoming wind project. But, in fact, the timing appears fortunate, on a couple of fronts.

EWEB plans to kick off a new "Greenpower" program in January that could let customers buy power from an array of renewable energy resources: wind, solar, geothermal, biomass - maybe even power harnessed from the ocean's waves.

Under the Greenpower model, money paid by EWEB subscribers will go directly to future investments in new renewable resources. Customers also may buy "renewable energy credits" or "green tags," showing that they've paid for "clean" energy instead of traditional polluting energy sources such as coal, oil or natural gas.

EWEB's march toward Greenpower also dovetails with Gov. Ted Kulongoski's pledge to make Oregon a leader in the development of alternative energy. The linchpin of Kulongoski's plan: a renewable energy standard that would require utilities to obtain at least 25 percent of their power supplies from new renewables by 2025.

EWEB's portfolio shows about 8 percent of its energy supply coming from renewable sources - primarily wind and biomass. The latter involves the burning of wood debris or other organic material for heat or electrical generation.

Back in 1999, EWEB was among the first utilities to offer customers a wind power alternative. Now, it's playing catch-up - hustling to respond to customers who want to buy "green-certified" power for their buildings or events.

"EWEB Windpower was really the best of the 20th century," says Northway. "EWEB Greenpower is going to be a 21st century product."

The maxing out of wind power has come about as a result of both unexpected demand and lower-than-expected output. In addition to residential users, EWEB has seen interest jump among commercial customers - including the city of Eugene and Lane Community College, which have committed to buying 25 percent and 10 percent, respectively, of their energy through wind power.

The lower output, meanwhile, is a result of wind turbine mechanical failures and less-than-anticipated wind volume, plus a reduction in federal tax credits.

Unexpected bonus found

In most cases, customers opting for wind power are paying a slightly higher price for the privilege. EWEB Commissioner John Simpson, for example, estimates that his monthly bill is about $15 more than it would be otherwise because he is a 100 percent wind power subscriber.

Simpson says he's not surprised EWEB has nearly sold out of wind power, even at a higher cost. "People are stepping up and taking responsibility for mitigating some of our environmental problems," he says. "I just see a turnaround in people admitting that they need to pay for the mistakes of prior generations."

Willie Knaus, owner of Pacific Winds Music in west downtown, says he signed up for wind power "from a feel-good standpoint" - and only later discovered a bonus: He's paying less than if he had opted for no wind power.

That's because EWEB has not increased wind power rates recently, or has used a tiered-rate model based on consumption levels. That will end next spring, however, when a review of wind power rates and costs is expected to produce a bump of as much as 30 percent.

EWEB officials project that the higher cost, along with the expectation that some current wind power customers will move to the Greenpower program, will free up space for EWEB customers who would like to experiment with buying just wind power.

The Greenpower program also will include a wind power component - thanks to a second wind farm, Stateline Wind, in which EWEB has an interest. The utility recently signed a contract to buy power from a third wind project, Klondike III near the Sherman County town of Wasco, beginning in 2008.

The utility also hopes to expand its renewables portfolio with a geothermal project in Idaho.

The current portfolio includes a small irrigation canal project in Washington; most hydro projects - such as EWEB's dams up the McKenzie River - don't meet the "new renewables" definition because they involve storage of water affecting fish migration. Solar accounts for less than 1 percent of EWEB's power generation.

If there are critics of the Greenpower approach, EWEB officials say they aren't hearing from them. Northway, who oversees the Greenpower program, says the biggest caution he hears is that EWEB mustn't put all its resource eggs in one basket.

The utility expects the Greenpower program to attract customers who like knowing that their extra pennies are going toward reinvestment into renewables. Every time EWEB asks customers to indicate their preferences, they invariably identify conservation and development of renewable resources as their top priorities, says Jim Maloney, an energy resources program manager.

"People are telling us, `If I pay a little more, I want that money to make a difference,' ' says Maloney, who serves on one of the governor's energy plan task forces and advises another.

EWEB may never acquire all its power from green sources, but that is the clear direction. The utility's long-term resources plan calls for greater development of renewables, with acquisition of coal-, oil- or nuclear-based energy at the bottom of the list.

For example, the utility would like to derive 6 percent of all its power from wind by 2013, compared with 2 percent today.

The Foote Creek Rim wind power project in Wyoming, where EWEB currently gets power, is not yet considered "green-certified," but expects to win that designation next year - as will the utility's Greenpower program.

Each megawatt hour of green power produced in the Northwest represents the equivalent of about 1,400 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Northwest Power Conservation Council.

Builders who want a green rating for new structures must show that green-certified power has been acquired. For example, to win a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver designation, the Slocum Medical Building under construction on Coburg Road must use green sources - wind or solar - for at least 50 percent of its power consumption.

The building's owners plan to do just that as an early customer of EWEB's Greenpower program, says Galen Ohmart, a principal in Solarc Architecture and Engineering, the firm helping to design the medical building.

"We do work all over the Northwest, and EWEB is probably the most supportive utility for assisting businesses in promoting energy efficiency," says Ohmart.

Renewable energy credits

One of the most intriguing - and, to some, confounding - aspects of Greenpower is the buying of "renewable energy credits," or RECs. The credits are based on the notion that there's an environmental benefit to generating renewable energy, because it displaces or reduces demand for conventional, polluting sources of energy.

That environmental benefit can be measured in economic terms: EWEB proposes to sell green power at $10 to $15 per megawatt/hour. The utility may even issue certificates to customers showing the source and amount of green power they've purchased.

By paying a higher price, customers can choose to "green up" a special event, or compensate for the carbon their car spews during a vacation trip, or even buy green gift certificates for friends and family - all the while knowing that part of their expenditure is going toward research and development of additional renewables.

Last August, for example, EWEB sponsored the Lane County Fair's decision to "green" the six-day fair - at an extra cost of about $400. For that price, fair officials displaced the amount of energy generated by traditional means during the fair's run.

Or did they? The question that some ask is this: Does green power truly replace traditional fossil-fuel usage, or is it merely additional consumption?

"It doesn't eliminate your car's belching exhaust," says Simpson, the EWEB commissioner. `But it's the best overall tactic to ween ourselves from fossil fuels.'

At a recent EWEB meeting, fellow Commissioner Ron Farmer imagined the view of a wealthy person who buys green power to salve his conscience: "I'm rich, so I'll continue to sin, but pay for it."

Nonetheless, Farmer says he's a cautious supporter of the REC concept - as a means to the end of greater use of renewable resources. He cautions that such a move shouldn't overshadow another important goal: continued conservation. And he notes that fewer than 5 percent of EWEB customers subscribe to any percentage of renewable power - plenty of room for growth.

"If the average user in Eugene switched to Greenpower, it would cost about $11 extra a month," he says. "That's not a huge investment to be pretty socially responsible."

EWEB WIND POWER Spike in customers pushes program to near capacity January 2006: 1,644 residential customers (including 321 at 100 percent); 100 business customers (including 31 at 100 percent) November 2006: 1,865 residential customers (including 598 at 100 percent); 218 business customers (including 77 at 100 percent)

EWEB'S NEW RENEWABLE RESOURCES Current projects Foote Creek Rim, Wyoming (wind) Stateline Wind, Oregon and Washington Tieton Hydro, Washington Future projects Klondike III, Oregon (wind) Raft River Geothermal, Idaho