City of Boston - Green Power Purchasing

Summary

In April 2007, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino issued an executive order that established a green power purchasing goal of 11% for the city government, effective immediately, and a goal of 15% by 2012. The executive order also requires all existing municipal properties to be evaluated for the feasibility of installing solar, wind, bio-energy, combined heat and power (CHP), and green roofs. (The executive order updated an announcement by Mayor Menino in 2006 that the city government would purchase 8.6% of its power from renewable energy sources as part of its EPA Green Power Partnership.)

The executive order also contains goals for greenhouse gas emissions reductions, recycling, green building, vehicle fuel efficiency, biofuels use, and the development of the Boston Energy Alliance, a non-profit corporation dedicated to implementing large-scale energy efficiency, renewable energy, and demand response projects citywide.

In April 2008, Mayor Menino announced that the city will install over $1 million of solar thermal and PV on four municipal buildings by 2009. This announcement is part of the Solar Boston program to promote the development of large-scale solar energy market growth throughout Boston, and to position the city to increase the amount of installed solar capacity from 500 kilowatts (kW) at the time of the announcement to 25 megawatts (MW) by 2015.