cool news from the "Nasty"

*from an Ohio Citizen Action email I received this weekend--saves money and lessens environmental impacts . . . who knew such things could be done?!

I have a very exciting announcement. Cincinnati has just become the first major U.S. city to offer 100% renewable energy power to electric customers. Cincinnati City Manager Milton Dohoney, Jr. just announced he selected FirstEnergy Solutions with a 100% renewable energy contract as the provider for the new electric aggregation program in Cincinnati. Ohio Citizen Action’s members have their fingerprints all over this victory with a long history of working on community electric aggregation in Ohio. The organization worked hard to successfully include the program in the 1999 Ohio deregulation bill. I testified before city council committee last year encouraging the members to allow voters the chance to vote on the issue just like dozens of other communities in the region had done. We compiled a report of all the local communities in the Cincinnati area that already had an aggregation program for electricity and were saving money. Along with Greenpeace members and volunteers, we worked tirelessly to explain the issue and inform voters about the November 2011 vote, as well as turning out dozens of participants in the two public hearings held in February. Voters passed the issue last November allowing the city to create a system that allows the city to buy electricity in bulk, which would offer to opportunity to reduce costs for customers as well as influence the source of the electricity. According to the City Manager’s office, the average eligible household will save approximately $133 per year on their electricity bills.