Going green can cost too much green
— -- Going green isn't easy, especially during a recession.
For two years, the city of Durango, Colo., bought electricity for all its government buildings from wind farms. The City Council ended that program this year, reverting to electricity derived from coal-burning plants and saving the cash-strapped city about $45,000.
"It's very hard for us to lay off an employee to justify green power," City Manager Ron LeBlanc said. "Those are the tradeoffs you have to face."
Across the country, government agencies are either cutting or shrinking programs that use or fund renewable energy projects. Green power — from wind farms, solar power or other renewable energy sources — remains more expensive than traditional power sources.
As budgets shrink, some people have had to scale back their green ambitions.
Pennsylvania passed a comprehensive energy plan last July that included a $100 million program to encourage people to invest in solar energy. The Pennsylvania Sunshine Program would provide reimbursements to homeowners and small business owners who installed solar electric and solar hot water projects.
The program has yet to begin, and the state will start with only $30 million in grants, according to Scott Dunkelberger, executive director of the Commonwealth Financing Authority, which administers the funding of Pennsylvania's economic development programs. "We just want to take on the debt that we need," he said.
That has left some in Pennsylvania waiting.
Barry Moore opened a solar panel business last year after learning of the Sunshine Program. He has customers waiting for the state program to begin before buying their solar panel systems.
In Georgia, several large customers lobbied Georgia Power to reduce prices for green power.
"They told us, 'We're interested in renewable energy but you've got to lower the price,' " Georgia Power spokeswoman Lynn Wallace said.
The utility, which provides power to several government agencies, negotiated with "large volume" clients to lower the costs.
