Oberlin College Recognized by EPA as 2017-18 College and University Green Power Conference Champion

OBERLIN, OHIO — Oberlin College announced today that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized it as Champion in the 2017–18 College and University Green Power Challenge. Oberlin College currently uses more green power than any other school in the North Coast Athletic Conference.

Since April 2006, EPA’s Green Power Partnership has tracked and recognized the collegiate athletic conferences with the highest combined green power use within the program. The Conference Champion Award recognizes the school that uses the most green power in a qualifying conference.

Oberlin College beat its conference rivals by using nearly 16 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power. Oberlin College is procuring a utility green power product from Oberlin Municipal Light & Power and also is generating green power from several on-site renewable energy systems using solar resources. This commitment to green power demonstrates a sustainable choice that helps to reduce the negative health impacts of air emissions including those related to ozone, fine particles, acid rain, and regional haze.

According to the U.S. EPA, Oberlin’s green power use of nearly 16 million kWh is equivalent to the electricity use of more than 1,000 average American homes annually.

In the 2017–18 challenge, the 38 collegiate conferences and 109 schools competing collectively used nearly 3.6 billion kWh of green power. EPA’s Green Power Challenge is open to any collegiate athletic conference in the United States. To qualify, a collegiate athletic conference must include at least two schools that qualify as Green Power Partners, and the conference must collectively use at least 10 million kWh of green power. EPA will restart the 13th season of the College and University Green Power Challenge in fall 2018 and conclude it in spring 2019. For more information, visit: www.epa.gov/greenpower/college-and-university-challenge.

“We are very honored and proud to be designated conference champion in EPA’s College and University Power Challenge” said Meghan Riesterer, assistant vice president for campus energy & sustainability. “As a preeminent liberal arts college with a storied history of leadership in inclusion and sustainability, Oberlin College strives to educate and inspire a multi-disciplinary way of thinking about the world that incorporates an ethic of environmental care, social equity, and financial responsibility. The advanced energy and power solutions of our physical campus result in a more resilient, de-carbonized operations that help us use our campus as an educational tool for student learning as well as acts as a model to higher education and beyond.”

About EPA’s Green Power Partnership

The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that helps increase green power use among U.S. organizations to advance the American market for green power and development of those sources as a way to reduce air pollution and other environmental impacts associated with electricity use. The Partnership currently has more than 1,600 Partners voluntarily using more than 48 billion kWh of green power annually. Partners include a wide variety of leading organizations such as Fortune 500® companies; small and medium sized businesses; local, state, and federal governments; and colleges and universities. For additional information, please visit www.epa.gov/greenpower. 

For more information about EPA’s College and University Green Power Challenge, visit the Challenge website at https://www.epa.gov/greenpower/college-and-university-challenge.