Pennsylvania is coming to be the renewable energy capital of the East, according to Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, which honored several organizations and individuals Thursday for their efforts in championing renewable energy. The second annual Green Power Awards, which coincided with the celebration of America Recycles Day, were given out during luncheon ceremonies at the Omni William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh. “Large businesses and small, educational institutions and churches, governmental agencies and community leaders – all are Green Power Heroes, and we are delighted to publicly salute them,” said John Hanger, president and chief executive of PennFuture, a non-profit energy and environmental policy advocacy organization. “With their leadership, Pennsylvania is building wind farms and solar power plants at a record pace.” Among the award winners were: Carnegie Mellon University, Penn State University, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Suburban Co. and Giant Eagle, who are the five largest wind energy customers in the nation; Classic Video of Oakland, a small business that buys and promotes green electricity; St. Peter’s Church of Philadelphia and the Allegheny Unitarian Universalist Church, who purchase green energy; Exelon Power Team, honored as the Green Dealmaker of the Year for becoming a major player in wind energy development; Terri Taylor, who reports on renewable energy for WQED; IKEA Pittsburgh, which recently installed a solar energy generating facility on the roof of its Robinson Township store; Ebara Solar and Siemens Westinghouse, as renewable energy businesses of the year; State Rep. Frank Tulli Jr. of Hershey, chairman of the state House renewable energy caucus, as the Green Policymaker of the Year. Melisa Crawford of the Heinz Endowment, which has sponsored several renewable energy projects, received the Green Philanthropy Award. Bill Hopwood, president of Springhouse Energy Systems in Washington, received the Winds of Change Award for his 22 years of working to promote, develop and construct renewable electricity generation.

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