On February 13th, the City of Edmond announced their designation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a Green Power Community, the first such designation to be conferred upon any city in the state of Oklahoma. The designation recognizes the use of renewable energy in both the City of Edmond’s facilities and the University of Central Oklahoma campus.
Almost 75% of the energy powering the City of Edmond’s facilities is generated by wind energy technology. The University of Central Oklahoma campus is 100% powered by wind energy, a total of more than 26 million kilowatt-hours of green energy, and received an Environmental Protection Agency Green Power Leadership Award in 2011 in acknowledgement of their commitment to renewable energy.
With 11% of residents and businesses in Edmond choosing to use green power as a portion of their electricity through the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority, the City of Edmond continues to offer reliable and affordable renewable energy through Edmond Electric’s Pure and Simple Wind Power Program. Additionally, the City of Edmond utilizes geothermal energy resources which assist in powering the brand-new Mitch Park YMCA as well as the forthcoming 70,000 square foot Public Safety Center.
With just 51 designated Green Power Communities across 14 states, Edmond is the 11th most populous city to receive the designation and ranks 13th of those communities in annual green power usage per kilowatt hours. When ranked by the percentage of green power as part of total electricity use, Edmond’s 11.3% ranks higher than some significantly larger cities such as Portland (8.6%), Santa Clara (8.4%) and Philadelphia (4.7%).
Wind power generates none of the ground-level ozone precursors (nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds) or related air pollutants (particulate matter) commonly associated with other forms of energy. Nationally, electric power plants are approximately co-equal with mobile sources such as cars and trucks in generating nitrogen oxides, a key chemical component of ozone air pollution.