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Progress Towards Federal Goal - March 2004

When the federal goal, Executive Order 13123, was established in June 2000, it represented about 1,355 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity. At that time, agencies were obtaining more than 170 GWh, or about 13 percent of the goal, from renewable resources.

This pie chart, updated with March 2004 data, reveals that the federal government is using a total of approximately 1067.02 GWh of renewable energy. The pie is divided as follows: 527.19 GWh of renewable energy is obtained from renewable energy purchases/credits, 25.62 GWh is obtained from PV, 178.54 GWh is obtained from ground source heat pumps, 106.36 GWh is obtained from biomass fuels, 9.37 GWh is obtained from solar thermal, 92.44 GWh is obtained from biomass power, 108.48 GWh is obtained from biomass thermal, and 19.02 GWh is obtained from wind.

Now, we're more than three quarters of the way to the goal! March 2004 data reveal that the federal government is using approximately 1,067 GWh of renewable energy, or about 77 percent of the revised goal of 1,384 GWh. The new goal takes into account recent increases in overall federal electricity use.

A big success story this quarter includes renewable energy purchases and purchases of renewable energy credits, which increased from 310 GWh to more than 527 GWh. Fairchild Air Force Base, in the second largest renewable purchase by a federal agency, signed a renewable contract with the Bonneville Power Administration for 100% base load, or approximately 65 million kWh. This purchase, like most renewable power purchases by federal facilities, involves buying electricity from wind sources.

Another success story includes the Department of Energy (DOE). DOE Headquarters sites, Forrestal and Germantown, with the assistance of the General Services Administration (GSA), recently increased their annual renewable purchase from 6.1 million kWh (17% of site total electricity use) to 14.0 million kWh (40% site electricity use). This purchase advanced DOE from the 28th largest consumer of renewable power in the nation to the 12th largest consumer.

The EPA is also contributing to progress towards the goal. With purchases of 11.2 million kWh/year for its Georgia sites and more than 35 million kWh/year for its largest laboratory complex (the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina), the EPA now uses renewable power for 44 percent of its total electricity needs. This is the highest percentage of any federal agency.

It is important to remember that the total of 1067 GWh includes only renewable energy from projects or power purchases that were signed after 1990, because Executive Order 13132 was enacted to encourage the use of new renewable energy. Pioneering projects in federal renewable energy use actually began in the 1980s. Many small biomass projects and thousands of solar systems were installed before 1990. While they cannot be counted toward the 2.5 percent renewable energy goal, they certainly paved the way for today's renewable energy projects.

Guidance (PDF 1.5 MB, 37 pp) has been issued to assist agencies in fulfilling the federal renewable energy goal established in response to Executive Order 13123. Download Adobe Reader.