Most of the people reading this have probably thought at one time or another, I’d love to power my home with clean energy … but …
And the “but” could be based on a number of common roadblocks. You might live in a neighborhood in a tree-canopied town like Traverse City and you’d never get enough sunshine through the leaves, or maybe your lot wouldn’t have enough room for a big solar panel, or the cost of the investment is just too big for your budget, or you rent. Now, however, for many customers of Michigan utilities, there is a way around all the “buts.”
Michigan passed a law that requires all utilities to offer a green rate: allowing customers to purchase up to 100% clean energy for their homes or businesses for a slight premium above the standard electric rate.
One of the most stellar examples of this is found right at Traverse City Light & Power. At a remarkably affordable price, both residential and commercial customers can specify how much clean energy they want to purchase for their use: 25%, 50%, 75% or 100%.
TCLP has been a leader in two important ways with its program.
One, the increased cost to customers is just $0.0085 (about 8/10ths of a penny) per kilowatt hour, which translates to about $4 a month for an average home going 100% clean energy. (That's right, 4 bucks for 100%.) This is lower than many other utilities are charging for their green rates.
Two, TCLP has also shown thought leadership by committing to use the revenue to construct local clean power generation, most likely in the form of solar arrays like the one by the wind turbine on M-72 just west of Traverse City.
When TCLP builds local power generation, the money gives back even more because it stays in the region, paying locals for construction and maintenance and other utility costs, rather than being shipped away to a distant utility.
One more big bonus to TCLP’s green rate program is it’s amazingly easy to sign up for (and you can go month to month—no contract). Just round up your TCLP account number and click on this link: https://bit.ly/2LAcmi7
In about 60 seconds, TCLP families and businesses can claim to have dramatically reduced their CO2 footprint and reduced the constellation of other airborne pollutants released when burning coal, like mercury, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and particulate matter.
Not a TCLP customer? Check out your utility's website for how to sign up for the green rate.
Powering your home or business with clean energy has never been easier or less expensive. Give it a shot! (And join Groundwork, which has both its Petoskey and Traverse City offices signed up for 100% clean energy.)
