City of Dallas will use “green energy” to power street lights

by PegNews wire

Nearly half of the street lights in the City of Dallas will soon be lit by renewable “green power,” city officials announced today. The action is a first for Dallas, and part of the city’s efforts to meet future environmental challenges.

“This is a reflection of Dallas’ commitment to using clean, renewable energy wherever and whenever possible,” said Interim Energy Manager Jesse Dillard. “Shifting to green power for our energy needs is better for the environment, and makes sense.”

Under the pilot program approved by the Dallas City Council on Wednesday, the city will purchase 30 million kilowatt hours of renewable energy credits from the Texas General Land Office, which will provide power for 34,000 of the city’s street lights, starting in mid-February. The renewable credits guarantee the power will originate from solar, wind, geothermal, biomass or low-impact hydropower sources in Texas.

Dillard said the renewable credits are intended to be retired on the city’s U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified facilities. Dallas has made a commitment that all new city facilities over 10,000 square feet will be silver certified by the LEED rating system. The credits encourage the development and use of grid-source, renewable energy technologies on a net zero pollution basis.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, conventional electricity generation is one of the largest industrial sources of air pollution. Green power is catching on as an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional electricity processes.

Source: City of Dallas