The Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) in Fort Worth, Texas, recently became the first water utility agency in the state to join the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Green Power Partners program and go "green."
The district purchased 11,700,000 kilowatt hours of renewable energy in the form of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) from Strategic Energy in Houston. Over the next three years that amount will offset more than 16 million lb of carbon emissions from being released into the environment.
The certificates are valid through 2010. Texas has 165 organizations in the EPA partnership currently using "green power."
TRWD is one of the largest raw water suppliers in the state, providing water to more than 1.7 million people in 11 North-central Texas counties. Led by a publicly elected five-member board, it owns and operates four major reservoirs in the area, including Lake Bridgeport, Eagle Mountain Lake, Cedar Creek and Richland-Chambers Reservoirs. Its wholesale customers include the cities of Fort Worth, Arlington, Mansfield, the Trinity River Authority and others. TRWD also maintains 150 miles of pipeline used for water transport, more than 40 miles of Trinity River Trails and a 260-acre wetland water reuse project aimed at increasing future water supplies for the area.
