U.S. environmental officials say Connecticut is the first state in New England to join the federal government’s Green Power Partnership.
The partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency encourages the purchase of alternative energy to help reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. According to the EPA, Connecticut is the second largest buyer of green power among its state partners.
Gov. Jodi Rell says about 12 percent, or 84 million kilowatt-hours, comes from alternative energy and the goal is to increase that to 20 percent use by the year 2020.