Green Jenkintown Attends BuxMont EAC Summit

Elizabeth Boyd and Bill Ince, of Green Jenkintown, attended the BuxMont EAC Joint County Meeting, October 24, 2007. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the common challenges, opportunities, and tools for Enivornmental Advisory Committees. Notes from the meeting can be found here.

Jenkintown Leads the Way for Clean Energy Communities in PA

Thanks to a remarkable show of support from the community, Jenkintown has been named the first Clean Energy Community in the five county Philadelphia region.

The effort is part of an initiative sponsored by the non-profit group, Smart Power, which has challenged communities to achieve its Clean Energy Community designation by reaching two goals:

Committing to purchase 20% of the Borough's electrical power from clean energy sources, such as wind, methane or solar, by 2010, and having seven percent of residents sign up to purchase clean energy for their homes.

The first ten Clean Energy Communities will be awarded a 1kw solar energy system, free of charge.

Jenkintown's Borough Council did its part in October of 2006, passing a resolution committing to purchase clean power. That left the task of signing up 7% of Jenkintown's residents. As of April 30th, Jenkintown's enrollment stood at 5.81%. The campaign turned its attention to the school districts's annual Red & Blue Fair. One of the clean energy providers, Community Energy, agreed to offer an incentive in the form of a $20 contribution to the School District's planned Science Garden for each new household signed up at the fair, and a tent was set up. Unofficially, the Borough needed 25 more sign-ups to reach the 7% threshold. By day's end, 30 Jenkintown residents signed up for clean energy. According to Smart Power, this unprecedented response was the largest sign-up for clean energy ever at a single event. The enthusiastic response means that Jenkintown is the first Philadelphia area community to achieve Clean Energy Community status and will be awarded the solar energy system. In addition, approximately $600 was raised for the Science Garden project.

Jenkintown's Clean Energy Community designation remains a campaign in progress. Community Energy continues to offer a $20 incentive for each household that joins, and the current recipient is a separate solar energy project underway at the Jenkintown School District. As of October 1st, 2007, 9.78% of Jenkintown Borough households are purchasing their electricity from clean energy sources.

The effort is spearheaded locally by Jenkintown's fledgling Environmental Advisory Committee, Green Jenkintown. Green Jenkintown is a small group of Jenkintown citizens empowered by the Borough Council to advise the Borough on environmental issues. To find out more about the campaign, or to sing up for clean energy for your business or household, visit Smart Power's web site, www.SmartPower.org.

And look forward to the upcoming solar ribbon cutting ceremony!