Madison College receives EPA’s Green Power Leadership Award

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has presented Madison College with its 2020 Green Power Leadership Award. The college is one of only six organizations nationwide to receive a Leadership Award for direct project engagement. The program recognizes EPA Green Power Partners that distinguish themselves through projects using a variety of financing structures to access renewable energy-based green power. 

Madison College’s Truax campus is currently generating nearly 2.4 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually from an on-site solar photovoltaic system, which is enough green power to meet 23 percent of its electricity use and is equivalent to the annual electricity use of more than 200 average American homes.

"By constructing solar installations on our campus facilities the college is improving our environmental footprint, while also preparing students for careers in the fast-growing field of renewable energy technology,” said Ken Walz, Madison College’s science and engineering instructor and Renewable Energy Program Director. “We are committed to generate even more green power in the years ahead and remain eager to expand on our work with the renewable energy industry."

Green power is electricity that is generated from environmentally preferable renewable resources, such as wind, solar, geothermal, biogas, biomass, and low-impact hydro. Using green power helps accelerate the development of those sources in the United States and advance the American green power market.

Madison College's photovoltaic system is the largest rooftop solar installation in Wisconsin. The school has also created a virtual tour of the Madison College solar PV system that is part of a new Solar on Schools Toolkit that is available at the CREATE Energy Center's website (www.CreateEnergy.org).  

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 1,400 Partners voluntarily using more than 61 billion kilowatt-hours 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 http://www.epa.gov/greenpower.

About the Green Power Leadership Awards

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) co-sponsors the annual Green Power Leadership Awards with the Center for Resource Solutions. Now celebrating its 20^th year, the Green Power Leadership Awards allow EPA to recognize winners in the following award categories: Green Power Partner of the Year; Sustained Excellence in Green Power; Direct Project Engagement; Excellence in Green Power Use; and Green Power Community of the Year. The program recognizes the exceptional achievement among EPA Green Power Partners who distinguish themselves through green power procurement, market leadership, overall green power strategy, and overall impact on the green power market. For additional information please visit www.epa.gov/greenpower/green-power-leadership-awards.