Choose Renewable Energy Program

Creating the Choose Renewable Energy Program (CRE) was not an easy task. It took over two years of groundwork and false starts before the first students were signed up in the spring of 2006. With a small group of Clark Sustainability Initiative (CSI) students at the helm, multiple approaches were tried to bring renewable energy to the Clark campus. Ultimately the approach that led to the implementation of a CRE was a unique collaboration between CSI and the administration. Now in its second year, the CRE is still in its infancy and needs continued nurturing in order to grow to the robust program the Clark community is certainly capable of sustaining.

In the 2003-04 academic year progressive campuses around the nation were beginning to purchase some percentage of their energy from renewable sources and CSI was eager to get Clark involved. In the spring of 2004 CSI conducted a poll in the Higgins University Center lobby to gauge student willingness to pay for renewable energy at Clark. The results indicated that students supported an additional fee to purchase renewable energy and that many of them would be willing to pay $30 or more per semester. Sure of the support of the student body, CSI began discussions with Provost David Angel and Physical Plant Director Paul Bottis on the appropriate method to establish a renewable energy fee and where to purchase our energy. During the fall of 2004 CSI and Bottis met with four renewable energy marketers. An issue that concerned the administration was whether Clark would be able to purchase actual electricity generated from renewable sources or only Renewable Energy Credits (RECs). There was some resistance to the idea of purchasing a credit, which is the added value of the environmental attribute of renewable energy, as opposed to an actual supply of electricity.

In the spring of 2005 CSI launched a campaign to raise student support for an additional fee of $3 per student to be added to the student activities fee for the purchase of RECs. The $3 fee was voted on in a student council referendum, and 65 percent of the students who voted, voted in favor of it. Despite the majority vote, the Student Council declined the referendum on the grounds that its constitution states a majority of the student body must vote in favor in order to increase the student activities fee. The judiciary committee of the Student Council interpreted this to mean that a majority of the entire student body was needed, not simply a majority of those voting. Despite strong protest from CSI, the Student Council refused to recommend that the Board of Trustees (who has final authority over fee increases) add the $3 renewable energy fee.

After the disappointing defeat with the Student Council referendum, CSI changed strategies and, in the fall of 2005, collaborated with Angel and Residential Life and Housing to set up an optional fee to be added to students' housing bills. This strategy would allow students to participate at their own discretion, instead of creating a Universitywide fee. Eventually a program was agreed upon by the administration and CSI set out to choose a REC provider. After considering a number of options, Massachusetts Energy Consumer Alliance (MECA) was chosen because it would allow Clark to participate in the Massachusetts Technological Collaborative's (MTC) Clean Energy Choice program (www.cleanenergychoice.org). The Clean Energy Choice program provides two matching grants for all purchases of renewable energy, effectively tripling the impact of Clarks renewable energy program. In addition, MECA was the only REC marketer exclusively dealing in RECs generated in Massachusetts. Because there was a shortage of Massachusetts generated RECs, MECA had partnered with MTC to establish the New England Wind Fund (www.newenglandwind.org/wind/home.php), a unique program in which money was held in escrow by MTC until such time as MECA could get a wind farm online, at which point the funds would be used to purchase RECs generated by the new wind farm. By participating in the New England Wind Fund, Clark would be helping to secure local generation of renewable energy-an important goal in the eyes of CSI.

With all the groundwork complete, the remaining task was to actually sign students up to participate in the Choose Renewable Energy program. This was done at the Residential Life and Housing lottery in the spring of 2006. CSI volunteers staffed a table at the end of the housing sign-up process. As students passed we informed them about the program and asked them to sign up. Some students already knew about CRE, having read about it in the Scarlet or heard about it through word of mouth. Others had no idea it was possible to purchase renewable energy, or what RECs were. Approximately 30 percent of the students who went through the housing process signed up for CRE. Most students made their decision to participate or not in the moment, and as such, salesmanship on the part of the CSI volunteers made a great deal of difference. The final number of students who participated in the first CRE was 344, for a total of $10,320 of RECs purchased.

The most important lesson learned by the CSI students working to bring renewable energy to Clark was that persistence pays. Educational institutions, like society at large, will always move slower than eager students would like. The key is to keep backing your issue, do your homework, change your strategy when necessary, and keep working toward your goal. The CRE program will only be as strong as the dedication of the students advocating for it.