A team effort in supporting renewable energy: launching the Blue Sky Community Challenge
In April 2003, Utah Power and the City of Moab teamed up and challenged five percent of the Moab area electricity customers to sign up for Blue Sky and become the region’s first Blue Sky Community. With the help of Utah Clean Energy, the City (led by Mayor Dave Sakrison) and Utah Power, Moab met that goal in a little more than a month.
The challenge was born when Sarah Wright and Susan Innis of Utah Clean Energy began brainstorming ideas with Mayor Sakrison to get more Moab businesses and residents behind Blue Sky. Utah Power Community Manager Deb Dull was then contacted to help shape the initiative. Through the combined efforts of Sakrison, Wright, Innis and Dull, the City of Moab became the cornerstone of the challenge in February 2003, when it agreed to purchase the equivalent of 50 percent of the City Hall building’s electricity use through Blue Sky blocks.
From an Earth Day 2003 event that launched the Moab Blue Sky Challenge to print ads, mail appeals, press releases—even a goal tracking sign for City Hall—Utah Power provided Moab with the tools to be successful in their quest.
“Becoming the first Blue Sky community was outstanding,” Sakrison said. “It really shows the love we have for Moab and our environment. Not only are we one of the most beautiful communities in the country, we now can proudly proclaim that we’re one of the most environmentally conscious.”
“Mayor Sakrison’s leadership role in the Moab Blue Sky Challenge is an inspiring example of how a
community can band together to create positive change,” said Sarah Wright of Utah Clean Energy.
To add to the achievement, the City of Moab was selected by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy as a 2003 Green Power Leadership Award winner, for its commitment to renewable energy.
Making the Moab area the nation’s first EPA Green Power Community
After meeting the initial Blue Sky goal, the community decided to take the challenge a step further. In summer 2004, a group of local businesses, individuals, Moab and Castle Valley mayors worked with the EPA to create a Green Power Community Partner designation for communities that buy a meaningful percentage of their energy usage from renewable energy. This includes purchases made through our Blue Sky program.
The Moab area hit (then passed!) their target of three percent and, in October, became the first-ever EPA Green Power Community in the U.S.
“Being the first in the nation to achieve this designation is a huge coup for a little community like ours,” said Andy Nettell, spokesman for the local group in a Moab Times-Independent article. “Any consumer who’s conscious of the energy problems of the country will recognize businesses that are forward thinking in this regard. It makes sense to use renewable energy resources. It’s a no-brainer.”
As owner of Arches Book Company, Nettell was among the first group of businesses to sign up for the Blue Sky Community Challenge in 2003.
“The Moab Community is pioneering a collaborative effort between businesses and residents to increase the area’s green power usage,” said Matt Clouse, Director of the EPA Green Power Partnership Program in a Salt Lake Tribune article.
Today, more than 14 percent of area customers are participating, and are buying nearly four percent of their energy from renewable resources. These percentages are significantly higher than any other community Utah Power (or sister company, Pacific Power) serves—and well above the national average.
Grand County’s wind energy purchases are helping make a difference—supporting hundreds of thousands of kilowatt-hours of wind energy on the power system and offsetting more than 3,740 tons of carbon dioxide a year (this is as good as planting nearly 750,000 trees or taking 640 cars off the road). The community’s purchases over a year are equivalent to the output of one megawatt wind turbine.