I love reading stuff like this. It makes me believe that we are truly doing something significant to save our earth. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that their "Green Power Partners" program (in 2009) increased their green power commitments by over 1.5 billion killowatt-hours.

So what's the Green Power Partners program?

The Green Power Partner program includes Fortune 500 companies as well as local and national government agencies, universities and colleges. According to the EPA.org website "Their annual green power purchases help reduce the environmental impacts of electricity use and support the development of new renewable generation capacity nationwide."

Overall, the Green Power Partners are buying 18 billion KWh, "equivalent to the annual carbon dioxide emissions from electricity use of more than 1.6 million average American homes" according to the EPA.

So the following are the top 10 green energy partners in 2009:

1. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) – 51% of its total electricity comes from clean energy sources (1.4 billion KWh come from green power).

2. Kohl's Department Store (NYSE:KSS) – 100% of its total electricity comes from clean energy sources (1.3 billion KWh come from green power).

3. Pepsi Co. (NYSE:PEP) – 100% of its total electricity comes from clean energy sources (1.2 billion KWh come from green power).

4. Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ:WFMI) – 105% of its total electricity comes from clean energy sources (790 million KWh come from green power).

5. City of Houston Texas – 34% of its total electricity comes from clean energy sources (438 million KWh come from green power).

6. Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) – 129% of its total electricity comes from clean energy sources (431 million KWh come from green power).

7. The Pepsi Bottling Group (NYSE:PBG) – 100% of its total electricity comes from clean energy sources (426 million KWh come from green power).

8. Cisco Systems ( NASDAQ:CSCO) – 46% of its total electricity comes from clean energy sources (400 million KWh come from green power).

9. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania – 40% of its total electricity comes from clean energy sources (400 million KWh come from green power).

10. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) – 34% of its total electricity comes from clean energy sources (386 million KWh come from green power)

So why should your company become a Green Power Partner?

Here are a few of the benefits offered by the EPA to their Green Power Partners:

Expert advice – Save time and money cause the EPA will help your company identify the types of green power products that best meet your organization’s goals.

Credibility – Pretty clear that when you partner with EPA you gain credibility for your green power purchase.

Publicity and recognition – Visibility. Who doesn't want that? EPA Partners gain positive attention and are able to differentiate their company and brand from their competition.

So check EPA's Green Power Partner program out. It's the right thing to do!