EcoSmart Choice Website Refresh
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June 2022
By Zachary Hoffman, Manager of Communications and Publications
EcoSmart Choice launched in 2009, providing members an additional tool to bring the benefits of renewable generation to their customers. Participating communities have the option of allowing residential, commercial and industrial customers to offset up to 100 percent of their electric usage with renewable resources.
“EcoSmart Choice is a low-cost way of meeting customer demand for increased sustainability,” said Corey Hawkey, AMP director of member programs and sustainability. “It is a great tool for members who want to give their customers more choices for supporting renewable energy.”
In the years since it first launched, 12 communities have made the decision to join the EcoSmart Choice program: Bowling Green, Coldwater, Columbus, Cuyahoga Falls, Ephrata, Hudson, Jackson Center, Lebanon, Minster, Napoleon, Painesville and Westerville. For the Village of Minster, the newest community to sign up, the decision to join the program was an easy one.
“Our interest in the EcoSmart Choice program stems from our desire to offer additional renewable energy products to our customers,” said Don Harrod, Minster village administrator. “EcoSmart Choice adds another resource to our portfolio at no cost, and we can offer it to our customers who want to receive energy from renewable resources.”
On April 5, American Municipal Power, Inc. (AMP) launched a streamlined and refreshed EcoSmart Choice website.
“Back in the summer of 2020, we put together an AMP team to consider the future of green energy with a focus on how we could help members to meet increasing residential, commercial and industrial customer demands,” said Craig Kleinhenz, AMP director of power supply planning. “We wanted to look at AMP’s existing programs and how they could help members in their efforts. As part of that process, we recommended an update to the EcoSmart Choice website.”
With the launch of the updated website, customers can now view their EcoSmart Choice options with greater ease, including on mobile devices. These changes make it easier for member communities to increase participation.
Upon visiting the website, users are prompted to choose their municipality, leading to a user-friendly sign-up page. These community landing pages provide member officials with a space that will help them to better market EcoSmart Choice to residents and businesses.
“EcoSmart Choice has been a great tool for us to promote the benefits of renewable energy,” Harrod said. “The new website provides customers who want to participate in a sustainability program with an easy-to-use resource to learn about and sign up for the program.”
EcoSmart Choice is based on the purchase and retirement of renewable energy credits (RECs). Each REC that is purchased and used by the electric utility for the green-pricing program matches one megawatt-hour (MWh) of traditional (non-renewable) electric generation. Once RECs are used for this purpose, they are retired.
To the maximum extent practical, RECs used by AMP for EcoSmart Choice are Green-e® certified by the Center for Resource Solutions and/or are RECs generated within the AMP member footprint. They are typically sourced from hydroelectric, landfill gas, solar or wind facilities.
To learn more about the EcoSmart Choice program, visit www.ecosmartchoice.org or the EcoSmart Choice page of the AMP website.
If you have questions about the program or if your community is interested in signing up, please contact [email protected].
