U.S. cities are racing to embrace measures allowing them to buy bulk power, often from renewable sources, on behalf of residents and small businesses, a practice known as community aggregation. Chicago has become the largest city in the country to authorize the consolidation of power purchases. Community choice aggregation (CCA) enables local governments to procure alternative energy supplies while maintaining the existing electricity provider for transmission and distribution services. Many states passed CCA laws as part of electric restructuring legislation in the late 1990s and early 2000s. States that have passed CCA laws include California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, and Rhode Island. Already in Illinois, 165 municipalities have made the switch to locally purchased power or have submitted requests to utilities and nearly 200 others voted recently to start aggregation programs. In Cincinnati, officials estimate the typical household saves about 25% on their kWh rate under aggregation. Read on at:
http://apps3.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/markets/community_choice.shtml
Link source: http://www.sustainablepractices.info
http://apps3.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/markets/community_choice.shtml
Link source: http://www.sustainablepractices.info
