One interesting renewable energy source that seems to be catching on across America is hydropower.  Hydropower is the energy we make from moving water, and it’s a great source of renewable energy.  Hydropower consumption in the U.S. increased 4% for the first eight months of 2009, according to the Energy Information Administration.

In both Washington and Oregon, which are the highest hydropower-producing states, consumption actually decreased just a bit.  Interestingly, Alabama recorded the biggest increase by 54.6%.  Kentucky came in second, with an increase of 52.1.%.

Hydropower is one of the many interesting and useful forms of renewable energy sources that IDT Energy supports as part of its “Buying Green” program.

It’s important to understand what Green Electricity is, and how it can help you to save the environment.  Green Electricity is really two different items.  It can be electricity that comes from an environmentally friendly and renewable location such as wind, hydro, geothermal or solar electric.  It can also be an arrangement between you, the electricity user, and the supplier, such as IDT Energy, who delivers the clean electricity to you.

Some people question if using Green Electricity really makes a difference.  The answer is that it certainly does.  When you sign up with a green supplier, you are telling that supplier that you want more green electricity in your package of electrical consumption.  The more people sign up for Green Electricity, the more the supplier will need to source.  As the customer pool grows and the demand increases, the supplier finds more partnerships with wind farms and other sources.  This means that less non-green power needs to be generated to meet the overall demand.

Each person really can make a difference when they choose to use Green Electricity.

According to analysis of the Renewable Energy Policy Project, 70% of the labor needed to produce both wind and solar energy is from manufacturing of the components of the machines which harness the energy, such as producing wind turbines or solar panels.

Because of this fact there is a large potential for the development of these industries to require a large work force with many new jobs being created.
According to a report published as a joint project of the United Steelworkers and Sierra Club, wind power component manufacturers have the potential of creating about 18,500 new jobs in New York State, and solar power component manufacturers could create 14,600 new jobs.

If geothermal and biomass manufacturing components are added to the equation, the total number of jobs created to supply the renewable energy industry in New York could be as much as almost 50,000 new jobs.

This re-industrialization of New York State could be enough of a reason to invest in green energy, but in addition clean energy development provides increased national security and improved climate and environmental health.

For these reasons IDT Energy offers its customers the option of choosing “Buying Green” and supporting the development of renewable sources of energy in New York State.

“Buying Green” at IDT Energy is a choice all of its customers can easily make if they want to participate in the development of clean and renewable resources for electric production.
The green choice is surprisingly inexpensive, too. According to estimates of monthly electrical use of individuals at 250 kWh and families at about 750 kWh, IDT Energy charges about 1.5 to 2.0 cents more, per kWh above the cost of standard electricity. On average this comes out to only 7 dollars more per person per month, or about $20 for an entire household. Not a lot of money to receive the following benefits.

Buying Green means:

•    There will be increased use of renewable energy resources.
•    Cleaner and healthier air for everybody.
•    Less of a need to build and use nuclear power plants.
•    Reduced dependence on foreign oil supplies
•    Increased opportunities for employment as “green technologies” develop.

Opening up the power supply industry to competition through deregulation not only allows individual consumers to choose their energy providers, but they now can also choose whether to support more environmentally friendly sources for producing electricity.

IDT Energy has a ‘Buy Green’ option for its customers. Choosing this option means that a certain amount of the electricity a consumer receives is produced from sources which use our natural resources in a way that does no harm to the environment. These sources may include wind power, running water, solar power and organic matter, which are all renewable and are relatively clean compared to the more standard sources of electricity which often include the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas.

IDT Energy is proud to say that they have joined the State to help create a center for environmentally friendly technologies here in New York. Within 10 years New York hopes to obtain 25% of its power from green sources, and IDT is playing an important role in this development.

In Rockland and Orange Counties, New York, IDT Energy is one of two providers of electricity which is generated by wind and water to consumers who are served by Orange and Rockland Utilities Inc.

The good news is that this green solution is actually coming down in price, making this alternative source for electricity production more attractive to consumers.

It is a sign that renewable energy is becoming a viable alternative to traditional forms of electricity production as business in this sector increases, while the costs goe down.

This is the first time that the green power alternative was actually cheaper than power produced by coal, natural gas, nuclear power or hydro plants.

The United States House of Representatives passed legislation in early July, 2009 creating an energy standard requiring utilities to acquire at least 15% of their electricity from renewable sources by the year 2020.

The Senate will debate in the fall similar legislation which would create demand for up to 100 GW of new wind capacity by the same year, 2020, if it passes, which is not at all certain.

“That would show that the U.S. has a significant dedication to renewables over the next decade,” says Vic Abate, the head of the renewable energy generation unit at General Electric.

It is projected that the development of wind power projects in 2009 will total less than 6,500 MW, which is about 25% than last year, and that’s according to a “best case” scenario. Although wind turbine manufacturing facilities are still being constructed many suppliers have been laying off workers as demand as flattened.

The wind industry is looking to the government for its salvation. The AWEA (American Wind Energy Association) believes that the United States needs to enact a renewable energy standard forcing utilities to create a minimum amount of their electricity from green and renewable sources.

“Tax credits are good for development but not for building the manufacturing chain long term,” says Kathy Belyeu of AWEA.

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Learn more about clean energy here at IDT Energy

The recent economic downturn has had a stifling effect on the advancement of wind power projects in the second quarter of 2009. According to the American Wind Energy Association, only 1,200 megawatts of new projects were completed in that quarter, as compared to almost 10 GW completed in the previous 12 months. That turns out to be a reduction down to about half the average of completed wind power projects.

Wind power development in the United States has made the U.S. the largest wind market in the world. This fast development was fueled mostly by 30% tax breaks which appealed to big investment banks that have a fondness for tax equity investing deals. Now that the economy is in the pits and many of those banks no longer exist and others are more cautious about their investing despite the tax breaks, the wind industry has taken its share of the economic blows.

A committee of the U.S. Senate has decided to create a bank under the auspices of the Energy Department to distribute government loans and loan guarantees for projects which promote green energy using advanced technology.

The goal of this initiative is to support technologies that are environmentally friendly which also diversifies the country’s supply of energy and also reduces dangerous carbon emissions.

The Congress will appropriate about $10 billion to this new agency/bank.

The committee is hoping to finish the wording for the energy bill before May 22, the day that the Memorial Day recess begins.