There is a strong Biblical tradition that underlies our concern for environmental justice, but it's not always clear how to turn that concern into practice. People in the Lehigh Valley now have the option to choose wind-generated electric power for home, church and business use. It is easy to sign up and does not require you to change your electric company (PPL for many folks in the Lehigh Valley, and PECO in the Philadelphia area.)

Under the current price structure, the costs are slightly higher for wind-power, but the long-term benefits are substantial--especially since utility rates don't reflect the huge environmental cost of conventional power-plant emissions.

(See CleanYourAir.org for more about power plant emissions, or links for information about Global Climate Change / Global Warming.)

Scientists continue to document the long-term detrimental effects of our gluttonous consumption of fossil fuels, including rapid extinction of plant and animal species, rising waters inundating South Pacific Islands, bleaching (extinction) of coral reefs, glaciers rapidly disappearing world-wide, new insect infestations in Alaska's forests devastating three of the four primary species of trees, more frequent occurrence of extreme weather conditions -- such as the "1000-year" rainstorm that flooded parts of the U.S. East Coast in July 2004. (See, for example, Sept. 2004 issue of National Geographic on "Global Warning.")

Lehigh Valley folks have a choice -- we can continue to "wait for the experts" -- as some folks in the petroleum industry are betting we will do -- until disaster strikes home; or we can accept responsibility for our own habits and choose to honor God's creation in very practical ways. The primary supplier of wind-generated electricity in Pennsylvania is Community Energy Inc. The wind-generated power is distributed to local electric customers by companies such as PPL and PECO. Besides commercial wind power, it is also possible for home or business owners to set up their own solar or wind generation for clean electric power and security from commercial power interruptions. There are comprehensive resources on the web (see the links below) -- including details about how to sign up for wind power; glossaries which explain the meaning of technical terms used to describe wind and solar power. And for anyone who wants to explore do-it-yourself clean power, there are extensive charts, tables, and discussion of legal requirements for home wind and solar systems.

For folks who are customers of PP&L, there are currently three choices for "clean energy." Community Energy Inc. offers 100% wind-generated electric power. Native Energy offers electricity created from burning the methane generated by farm animals (much cleaner than coalbed and landfill methane), and also offers 100% wind power. Greenmountain Energy offers two options with either 10% or 15% wind-generated power. This is an overview of how the process works; details may be found at through the links below, or you may call the toll-free numbers for further information.

When you sign up for wind-generated power provided by Community Energy, you may choose to replace PP&L-generated electric power in units of 100 kilowatt-hours (kWh) each month -- up to the full amount of your consumption. PP&L will continue to bill you at the standard rate, including power transmission and various other charges. In addition, you will pay a monthly charge of $2.50 for each 100kWh of wind-generated power that you wish to purchase.

Because many different electric generation sources are attached to the electric grid (the wires that bring power to your home), one cannot say precisely where the electricity that enters your home originated. But for every 100kWh that you purchase, more wind-energy is connected to the grid, and less comes from other pollution-generating sources owned by PPL.

Under the current system of cost allocation, wind-generated power costs more than other "conventional" sources of power generation -- since the current billing system does not account for the damage caused by power-plant emissions. PPL customers pay the additional charge directly to Community Energy (which can be billed monthly to a credit card -- or other arrangements for payment can be made), and PP&L will continue to bill you monthly at its standard rates. The difference for PP&L is that a portion of your monthly payment to PP&L (the amount for energy usage) will go to Community Energy as well to support the construction and maintenance of more wind generation capacity.

A residential customer who uses about 500 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity every month would pay an additional $12.50 per month to convert to 100% wind energy.

Native Energy wind farms are under construction in South Dakota. Look for more information here later about purchasing electric power from Native Energy, or see the contact information below.

Note that PECO customers in the Philadelphia area can now request Community Energy wind power and be billed directly through PECO (see www.pecowind.com or call 1-866-WIND-321).

For Green Mountain Energy,the arrangements for payment are similar to those for Community Energy; however, Green Mountain supplies a maximum of 15% wind-power, and includes other sources of power that produce greenhouse gases.

• Pennsylvania Wind Energy chart (www.awea.org/projects/pennsylvania.htm) shows areas of the state which have sufficient wind for efficient electrical generation.
• Home energy generation and net metering in PA (www.awea.org/smallwind/pennsylvania_sw.html)
• American Solar Energy Society (www.ases.org) has resources and links to a number of other renewable energy organizations.

Local Organizations Interested in Renewable Energy Issues

• The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has launched a Pennsylvania Wind Power (www.awea.org/pennsylvania/) website in cooperation with the Mid-Atlantic Renewable Energy Coalition’s Pennsylvania Wind Campaign (www.pawindcampaign.org).
• PennFuture (www.pennfuture.org) is leading the "Green Power: Turn it On!" campaign to ensure that in 10 years, 10% of PA's electricity will come from renewable energy sources.
• The Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network (www.eere.energy.gov/state_energy/contact.cfm) maintains a list of state contacts.
• In Pennsylvania, The Interfaith Climate Change Campaign (www.pachurhes.org/climate_change.htm) works with the Pennsylvania Council of Churches.
• In Bethlehem, PA, Agshen (www.agshen.org) provides some resources related to clean renewal energy.

• Glossary of renewable energy terms.
• Resource Page for Global Climate Change and related issues.