GRANTS PASS, Ore. — For six years, Cary’s of Oregon has soothed many a sweet tooth with its boxes of English-style toffee. Now, the southern Oregon candy maker is doing its bit to sweeten the development of renewable energy.

"The idea of helping to develop more renewable energy is very appealing to me," said Cary Cound, managing member and co-founder. "I come from an engineering background and the idea of energy efficiency and being able to support alternative energy in a practical way really resonates."

Blue Sky enables customers to purchase and help bring more renewable energy into the region. Energy generated from wind, biomass, solar and geothermal helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Cary’s is buying 10 blocks a month (1,000 kilowatt-hours) of Blue Sky Block renewable energy, which represents 12 percent of their average monthly usage. Over the course of a year, its Blue Sky purchase reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 12 tons, which has the same environmental benefit as planting more than 2,357 trees or not driving nearly 25,710 miles. Buying just one, 100 kilowatt-hour increment of Blue Sky Block costs only $1.95 per month.

Cound is trained as a mechanical engineer and holds patents on a wide range of devices. The toffee recipe comes from his wife’s family. "I used to make it with my daughter for the holidays," said Cound, who moved to Grants Pass from California 18 years ago. Friends and family who got the crunchy treat in their stockings urged him to go into business.

"People ask me how an engineer becomes a candy maker," he said. "They are very different professions, but when you need to figure out how to go from making one-pound batches in your kitchen to 50-pound batches commercially, the engineering part comes in handy."

Cound used to design automated devices for clients. With his namesake company, he keeps busy designing energy-and labor-efficient machines to help his own production process. For example, he reworked an old roaster to be more efficient roasting nuts used in the toffee.

He now oversees an 8,000 square-foot-facility that employs as many as 40 workers in the fall when the company is filling holiday orders. At that time, Cary’s produces 1,000 pounds of toffee a day. Besides the Blue Sky commitment, Cary’s also recycles packaging materials and donates its nut waste to a local shelter that helps wild game animals recovering from injuries.

"Cary’s customers will be proud to know that that their delicious treats are manufactured with clean renewable power," said Paige Prewett, southern Oregon outreach consultant for the nonprofit Renewable Northwest Project. "By purchasing Blue Sky, Cary’s is demonstrating how other businesses and homes can reduce their own environmental footprints with Northwest generated renewable energy."

Oregon Pacific Power customers also can choose Blue Sky Usage, which allows customers to buy their equivalent energy usage from renewable resources, or Blue Sky Habitat, which allows customers to buy renewable energy and make a donation to The Nature Conservancy of Oregon to preserve native fish habitat.

Pacific Power’s Blue Sky Quantity Savings program allows large business customers to buy renewable energy for less, provided they purchase at least 101 blocks of Blue Sky per month over a period of 12 months (or 121.2 megawatt-hours) The price under this option can range from $0.71 cents to $1.94 per block depending on how many blocks are purchased.

Enrollment in Blue Sky is optional, and customers can change their participation or withdraw at any time. For more information or to sign up for Blue Sky, go to www.pacificpower.net/bluesky or call 800-769-3717.

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About Pacific Power:

Pacific Power strives to promote innovation by working with customers and communities to increase the visibility of clean, renewable, distributed energy generation technologies through education and community outreach. Pacific Power is headquartered in Portland and provides electric service to more than 713,000 customers in Oregon, Washington and California. It is part of PacifiCorp, one of the lowest-cost electricity producers in the United States, providing approximately 1.7 million customers with reliable, efficient energy. The company works to meet growing energy demand while protecting and enhancing the environment.