“Two years ago, a small group of Western students in an Associated Students club set a goal of having Western obtain all of its electrical energy from a 100-percent renewable source. To meet that goal they proposed a student initiative to implement a fee that would offset the cost of purchasing renewable energy.

As a result of their efforts and significant research into renewable energy, Western recently moved to the forefront of the renewable energy field, becoming the first university in the country to implement a student fee for the purchase of green energy. The student initiative passed in a spring 2004 election with 84.7 percent approval. The WWU board of trustees on June 10 approved the student fee, which went into effect fall quarter and which allows the university to purchase all of its electricity from renewable energy sources.”

Western has committed to acquire over 38,000,000 kWh of electricity annually from wind, biomass, solar and other renewable sources. This is equivalent to the annual electrical consumption of over 3,100 homes and by being green power, it avoids over 4,600 tons of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere each year. “In 2006, this purchase is anticipated to make up approximately 30 percent of the total green power bought by the current 14,700 plus customers participating in PSE’s Green Power Program.”

(WWU Receives National Green Power Award Western Honored for Environmental Commitment, Student Initiative,   http://west.wwu.edu/ucomm_news/articles/988.asp)