Mayor: Make Aurora city of (green powered) lights

Using the Gulf Coast oil spill as an example of what happens when humans "try to control nature," Aurora Mayor Thomas Weisner kicked off the city's Green Power Challenge to encourage residents and businesses to ditch ComEd for renewable energy sources.

The six-month challenge, which kicks off Monday, teams the city with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and BlueStar Energy Solutions, Illinois' only independent residential provider of green power.

As part of the program, the city has made a commitment to purchase at least 3 percent of its annual electricity consumption as green power.

Green power is electricity that is generated from environmentally preferable renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, biomass or low impact hydro rather than from traditional sources, such as through the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil which, according to the EPA, is the nation's single-largest industrial source of air pollution.

"We are committed to utilizing green power in city operations and we are committed to trying to bring in 2,600 or more residential households to buy green power in partnership with the city so we can become the first Green Power city in Illinois," Weisner said. "We have shown leadership throughout the last several years and we hope that given recent events (in the Gulf) that the families in our community recognize that we cannot continue down the path that we have followed."

Jack Darin, director of the Illinois Sierra Club, praised the city's efforts to reduce pollutants being drained into the Fox River and the building of an environmentally friendly police station. Becoming the state's first Green Power City, he said would be a nice addition to the list.

"With clean, domestic, renewable energy powering Aurora's homes and businesses, Aurora citizens will be doing their part for a better energy future - reducing air pollution and creating jobs in the industries of tomorrow," Darin said. "When Aurora chooses clean power, we all win."

Since Illinois' electricity market is deregulated, consumers and businesses can purchase power through both their electric utility and competitive suppliers. Both the utility and the suppliers in turn, purchase power from the same wholesale market, and in most cases, some of this power is designated as green power.

A list of these suppliers can be found on the EPA's website at epa.gov/greenpower/. More information on purchasing green power is also available on a special website developed for Aurora's Green Power Challenge at gogreenaurora.com.

The website walks consumers through the process of leaving ComEd for Blue Star where they would sign a 12-month contract guaranteed to cost 5 percent less than their current energy rate at ComEd.

ComEd spokesman Jeff Burdick declined to comment on the program Tuesday night, saying doing so would violate laws that cover independent distributors.