General Services Buys 100% Wind Power for DC Offices

The District of Columbia Department of General Services (DGS) has signed a one-year contract for 100 percent CleanSteps WindPower from Herndon, Va.-based Washington Gas Energy Services.

The new contract stipulates that Washington, DC government agencies will use 100 percent wind power for their electricity needs. This builds upon the prior contract between the District of Columbia with Washington Gas Energy Services for 50 percent WGES CleanSteps WindPower.

As part of the contract, DGS will leverage its improved data acquisition program with services from Lucid Design Group and Honest Buildings. Lucid Design Group will deliver cloud-based dashboards for facility managers to identify and fix inefficiencies and anomalies in energy consumption, while Honest Buildings will provide a dynamic public interface for the public to see energy performance in DGS facilities.

The US Environmental Protection Agency has recognized Washington, DC as the leading Green Power Community for the last two years for using the most green power annually, with more than 1 billion kWh.

Washington, DC also is home to more than 200 LEED- and Energy Star-certified buildings. The District recently released the energy benchmarking results for more than 200 government facilities, managed by DGS, with new or updated results for fiscal years 2009 through 2012. And the District published final regulations to implement a new requirement that all large private buildings benchmark their energy and water performance annually.

In the District of Columbia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, businesses, organizations, government entities, institutions and individual residents can purchase their electricity and natural gas supply from retail energy providers. Customers in Virginia may purchase natural gas and customers in Delaware may purchase electricity from retail energy providers such as Washington Gas Energy Services.