The purchase makes Santa Clara University a national leader in green power purchasing, and secures SCUs position as the largest purchaser of Santa Clara Green Power.

Santa Clara, CA â€" This month Santa Clara University doubled its commitment to renewable energy by supporting the generation of 22,512 megawatt hours of Renewable Energy Certificates through Santa Clara Green Power. This amount is equal to the annual output of seven utility-scale wind turbines. This decision prevents the emission of over 17,821 tons of carbon dioxide each yearâ€"the carbon emissions equivalent of taking 2,961 cars off the road for one year. Based on the current rankings by the U.S. Department of Energy, SCUs purchase will put them in the Top 20 nationally for college and university purchasers of renewable energy.

The purchase makes Santa Clara University a national leader in green power purchasing, and secures SCUs position as the largest purchaser of Santa Clara Green Power. This purchase is above and beyond Silicon Valley Powers contracts for renewable energy, which constitute over 30% of SVPs electricity mix. The purchase will be supplied from Green-e Energy certified renewable energy certificates sourced from wind farms around the country.

"Santa Clara Universitys sustainability plan includes the objective of increasing our support of renewable energy over time, while keeping our utility costs stable. Silicon Valley Power has been a great partner in understanding our needs and providing environmentally-friendly and affordable solutions." said Lauren Granlund, Assistant Director, Facilities at Santa Clara University.

"Since the origin of our renewable energy program, Santa Clara University has been a leading participant. We appreciate their ongoing and active participation in supporting renewable energy." said Larry Owens, Manager of Customer Services at Silicon Valley Power, the City of Santa Claras municipal electric utility.

About Santa Clara University

Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located in Californias Silicon Valley, offers its 8,377 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, and engineering, plus masters and law degrees and engineering Ph.D.s. Distinguished nationally by one of the highest graduation rates among all U.S. masters universities, Californias oldest operating higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. The University is also a member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) Green Power Partnership through its commitment to renewable energy. Please visit www.scu.edu for more information.

About Silicon Valley Power

Silicon Valley Power is the trademark adopted for use by the century-old Electric Department of the City of Santa Clara, California. SVP provides power to more than 50,000 customers, including Applied Materials, Intel, National Semiconductor and Yahoo!, at rates 25 to 45 percent below neighboring communities. SVP also offers customers a 100 percent renewable energy option through its Santa Clara Green Power program and is an active participant in the wholesale energy markets in the Western United States. Visit siliconvalleypower.com for more information.

About Santa Clara Green Power
Santa Clara Green Power is a voluntary renewable energy program offered by Silicon Valley Power to all of its residential, commercial and industrial customers as a way to support energy generated from 100 percent clean wind and solar power resources at a low additional cost of 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. Santa Clara utility customers can enroll in Santa Clara Green Power by signing up through the secure website at www.siliconvalleypower.com/green or by calling (408) 244-SAVE (7283).