State-owned buildings get all power from renewable sources (Maine)

[jpak]

http://www.amny.com/news/local/wire/connecticut/ny-bc-ct--greeneststate0513may13,0,1957043.story

RUMFORD, Maine -- The Androscoggin River's heavy springtime flow cascades down falls at the side of a brick hydroelectric plant not far from the middle of this western Maine papermaking city.

The view from below is more than scenic. You might say it's electrifying, considering the dam's output accounts for much of the power running the lights 50 miles away in the Capitol, in transportation garages, prisons and other state-owned buildings across Maine.

And while the water roars through the falls, Maine is quietly assuming a nation-leading role as the only state in which 100 percent of the electricity used in state-owned buildings comes from renewable sources. Those green, non-fossil power sources also include wind, solar and geothermal power, and power from municipal waste generators.

"Our state government purchases of renewable energy are indicative of our willingness to take direct actions to reduce global warming," said David Littell, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection.

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