Kinko's has become Oregon's largest green power purchaser by agreeing to buy renewable energy for 10 Oregon branches served by Pacific Power and Portland General Electric. The total purchase is expected to be 1.5 million kilowatt hours (kwh) annually — about the same energy required to power 125 average Pacific Northwest homes for a year.

A purchase of this size offsets carbon dioxide emissions as much as not driving the average car more than 180,000 miles during the same period. The same amount of CO₂ — if already in the atmosphere — would take more than 11,000 trees a full year to convert to harmless gases.

Three stores served by Pacific Power will purchase 20 percent of their power through the utility’s Blue Sky wind power program. Green Mountain Energy Company, the nation’s largest retail provider of cleaner electricity, will fulfill a substantial portion of the renewable power demand for many of the participating Kinko’s locations.

The new agreement increases Kinko’s estimated annual renewable power purchases nationwide by 30 percent to 6.5 million kwh. Oregon’s 10 participating branches are located in the Portland area as well as in Medford, Corvallis and Bend. Three stores served by Pacific Power will purchase Blue Sky wind power, placing Kinko’s at the program’s "Champion" level. Seven locations will switch to Green Mountain Energy^SM electricity, which is available to Oregon customers under the state’s new electric restructuring law. This 100 percent renewable power product is offered by both Pacific Power and PGE, is comprised of a mix of geothermal and wind energy, and is 99 percent pollution free.

"With its purchase of Green Mountain Energy and Blue Sky, Kinko’s is bringing cleaner energy into the power grid that otherwise would have to be generated by less environmentally friendly sources," said Bill Edmonds, environmental policy manager for Pacific Power. "Kinko’s is leading 316 Oregon businesses and 8,467 Oregon households using Pacific Power who are investing in a more sustainable future."

According to a 2001 survey of retail power purchasing trends in the Pacific Northwest by Renewable Northwest Project (RNP), green power demand in the four-state region was at 47.1 million kwh per year, and expected to reach more than 160 million kwh this year.