Amid today’s all-things-green consciousness, it can be hard to think back to the days of “Smokey and the Bandit” when Burt Reynolds had everyone in America wanting to jump into a black Trans Am and peel rubber down the highway. A gallon of gas was just 62 cents in 1977. Most of us had never heard of Three Mile Island. And Elvis had just left the building for the last time.
The Environmental Protection Agency was still in its infancy and going green was far from mainstream for much of the country. Consumption was good for the economy and the “greenhouse effect” was how a person started growing tomatoes before spring banished the threat of frost. But, in many ways, that’s why we are where we are today — in a carbon emissions crisis.
Yet it also was in the mid-’70s when the City of Seattle approved two bold, new ventures for Seattle City Light: the launch of its environmental affairs and conservation divisions.
“Most utilities spend too much time fighting environmentally friendly policies rather than doing the right thing,” Seattle City Light Superintendent Jorge Carrasco said. “Seattle thinks differently on this issue.”
That’s one of the reasons the City of Seattle is a leader in tackling the issues of global warming. In the three decades since City Light made environmental protection an official part of its operations, the pioneering, municipally owned utility has established a proud record of stewardship that continues to build partnerships and encourage others to join.
Among the recent accomplishments by Seattle City Light are: the achievement of zero net emissions of the greenhouse gases that are causing climate changes, dramatic gains in energy conservation, and joining the largest demonstration project of plug-in hybrid vehicles in the country.
“Seattle City Light is certainly a tremendous story in making these improvements and in being a catalyst for others to make positive changes,” said K.C. Golden, policy director for the nonprofit Climate Solutions. “In climate circles, that came as a breath of fresh air where there had been a lack of leadership.”
Since 2005, City Light has been the only large utility in the country to operate with zero net greenhouse gas emissions. The utility achieves this carbon emission neutrality by first promoting conservation, then using renewable sources of electricity, including hydroelectric and wind power. Any remaining emissions, such as from contracts with other utilities or trucks and travel, are then offset by reducing pollution elsewhere.
Examples of those offset efforts include converting the city’s diesel vehicles to biodiesel and working with the Port of Seattle to provide shore power for cruise ships. Seattle was the first city outside Alaska to jump on board this latter innovation.
“For us, as a working model, it’s been great to just shut down and keep one engine on standby,” said Erik Elvejord, director of public relations for Holland America Cruise Lines. “It does mean that you’re saving quite a bit of fuel and emissions, reducing your carbon footprint. At the end of the day, that’s our goal.”
The setup has been so successful that Holland America and Princess cruise lines are now designing their new ships for shore power connections and working to obtain shore power in all the other ports they visit.
“It was a partnership to get this off the ground and moving,” Elvejord said. “That’s a great approach.”
Seattle City Light had a similar impact with its investment in biodiesel and wind power. City Light’s support for biodiesel was a contributing factor in Seattle Biodiesel’s decision to build a production plant in the Emerald City and the utility’s commitment to purchase half the wind power from the Stateline wind farm helped solidify development of Washington’s first wind power project.
On the road, Seattle City Light is participating in the country’s largest plug-in hybrid vehicle demonstration project, which is designed to test the performance of plug-ins in the Seattle area. Because plug-ins have a longer-lasting battery that can be charged from an ordinary electric outlet, plug-ins can travel up to 40 miles powered solely by the rechargeable battery and at a cost equivalent to less than $1 per gallon of gasoline.
The utility also supports federal legislation that would create a cap and trade system for limiting greenhouse gas emissions. And when it comes to meeting future energy needs, conservation is Seattle City Light’s first resource of choice. By reducing the amount of electricity that existing customers use, the utility is able to reduce the pressure to build new power plants or purchase additional energy on the open market.
Conservation programs currently reduce the utility’s electricity load by 11%, which avoids 620,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
“Many organizations have great policies but what happens on the ground is something different,” Lynn Best, City Light’s director of environmental affairs, said. “What makes me proud is that City Light has made it happen.”
Among the utility’s key climate-change-related goals for 2008 are:
- Continuing the utility’s carbon-neutral operations;
- Assessing smart-charging possibilities for plug-in hybrid cars;
- Using the California Climate Registry to certify the utility’s greenhouse gas emissions and offsets; and
- Working with the Port of Seattle to expand Port electrification.
Achieving these goals, while continuing to provide reliable, low-cost electricity, will be a challenge.
The cost of pollution offsets is rising, making it more expensive for the utility to remain carbon neutral. Likewise, finding alternative energy sources in the “new renewable” category, mandated by voters in 2006 with Initiative 937, is another challenge. Many utilities are competing for renewable energy and there aren’t a lot of low-cost, new renewable resources available. Encouraging greater use of plug-in hybrid vehicles also creates a need to plan for providing the electricity that a large number of those vehicles might need in the near future.
Those challenges have not diminished Seattle City Light’s commitment to sound environmental practices and advocacy. Rather, they are seen as opportunities for finding creative solutions that encourage others to take a greener approach as well.
“Many people, from front-line employees to policy makers have played important roles over the years in building Seattle City Light’s reputation as an environmental champion,” Carrasco said. “It’s taken the equivalent of a generation to get to where we are now. Our job today is to build on that and make it even better.”
Go Back