D.C. is America's Top Green Power Community

Here is some fun "green" news to pass along.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the communities of Washington, D.C. and Brookeville, Md. as winners of the first Green Power Community Challenge. The year-long challenge encouraged communities across the nation to voluntarily increase their use of green power generated from renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, biogas, and low-impact hydropower. By using green power, communities help to reduce their carbon footprint, improve public health, and advance the market for renewable energy. 

Washington, D.C. surpassed all other challenge participants to win the competition title for the most amount of green power used annually. District of Columbia businesses, residents, and the District Government are collectively using more than 772 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually, enough to meet 8 percent of the community's total electricity use. 

Brookeville, Md., is the challenge winner for the highest green power percentage of total electricity use. Forty-five percent of Brookeville’s local government, residential, and business electricity usage comes from green power sources.

For more information about the Green Power Community Challenge, visit the EPA website.