PORTLAND, Ore. — The First Congregational United Church of Christ believes part of its mission is to help preserve the environment, and part of its outreach is making a significant purchase of renewable energy from Pacific Power’s Blue Sky program.

“Part of our faith is that we care about God’s creation, and we need to take care of it any way we can,” said Patricia Ross, senior minister. “In addition to purchasing renewables, we are changing to more efficient light bulbs, heating some areas of the church less, and doing whatever we can to put less stress on our environment.”

The First Congregational Church of Christ, located at 1126 SW Park Ave, is supporting clean energy as a visionary-level Blue Sky partner. By buying 410 blocks of Blue Sky Block, it is offsetting  41 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, which has the environmental benefit of taking seven cars off the road for a year or planting 8,000 trees.

“This is just the first installment of more Blue Sky purchases we intend to make,” Ross said. “We’re also asking our members to become more involved in reducing their environmental impact by riding public transportation or bikes when possible. We’re talking with our children about turning lights off and using less energy.”

People can participate in Blue Sky at very low cost. Buying just one, 100-kilowatt hour increment of Blue Sky Block costs as little as $1.95 per month. Oregon customers can also choose Blue Sky Usage (in which customers receive their equivalent energy usage from renewable resources) or Blue Sky Habitat (in which customers buy renewable energy, plus make a $2.50 monthly donation to The Nature Conservancy of Oregon to preserve native fish habitat). Large customers can buy renewable power in bulk at a discount through Blue Sky QS.

While Pacific Power already buys renewable energy for its customers, Blue Sky brings even more wind power into the system and encourages wind farm development. Pacific Power’s Blue Sky customers added two new wind farms to the voluntary program’s renewable portfolio, buying energy from Nine Canyon Wind Project near Kennewick, Wash., and from the Pleasant Valley Wind Energy facility near Evanston, Wyo.

Customers can sign up for Blue Sky renewable power by calling Pacific Power at 1-800-769-3717 or by visiting  www.pacificpower.net/bluesky .

Media inquiries: newsdesk@pacificorp.com