It’s Earth Month across the U.S. and in northeast Georgia, we’re seeing green – the opportunity to help the environment by using clean, green energy, that is.

Since 2001, Jackson EMC has teamed up with Green Power EMC to make available to our members green energy produced from natural, renewable resources. Georgia’s first renewable energy initiative, Green Power EMC is now one of the largest renewable energy programs in the Southeast with 38 of Georgia’s electric membership corporations as members. Like Jackson EMC, Green Power EMC is a member-owned, not-for-profit cooperative.

From the time its first renewable energy generation project was launched in 2003, Green Power EMC has generated 125 million kilowatt-hours of green energy, providing the same environmental benefits as taking 125,000 cars off Georgia’s roads, or planting 176,000 acres in trees.

Today, Green Power EMC generates green energy from three landfill gas-to-electricity facilities, a wood waste biomass plant, a low-impact hydro facility and two solar projects, including a 115-kilowatt solar photovoltaic array at an industrial building in Athens.

Plans are currently underway for Green Power’s largest solar project, a 10-megawatt solar field to consist of several acres of solar panels placed on farmland. The project is expected to be completed in 2015.

“This is a big step for Green Power as we continue to diversify our portfolio of green energy resources,” says Green Power EMC Coordinator Marty Myers. “As the first green power utility in the state, we’ve made green energy available to our members for 13 years and continue to look for new ways to meet their renewable energy needs.”

Jackson EMC offers our members the opportunity to purchase green energy as part of your monthly electricity use in 150 kilowatt-hour blocks, on average, about a tenth of household electricity consumed monthly.

“Jackson EMC is being proactive by offering its environmentally-conscious customer base the opportunity to purchase green electricity, to reduce their impact on the environment and to protect the planet by providing sustainable energy,” says Myers.

While most who purchase green energy at Jackson EMC are residential members, commercial/industrial customers also have the choice to purchase green power – in 1,000-kilowatt hour per month blocks or as a percentage of their monthly energy provided by Green Power.

“Buying green power produced from renewable resources can be a great part of a strategy to reduce your environmental impact while attracting consumers looking for green companies,” says Jackson EMC Commercial/Industrial Engineer Brittany Caison.

Green Power EMC continuously searches for new solar and wind power projects and also offers the Sun Power for Schools program, which enables students at participating schools to study solar power firsthand. Mill Creek High School in Hoschton participates in the Sun Power for Schools program with a 1.25 kilowatt solar array.

Green Power EMC is Green-e certified, signifying it meets environmental and consumer protection standards.