HOUSTON, July 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Clean energy was in the spotlight today
as The Upper Kirby District Foundation, Green Mountain Energy Company and Nuon
teamed up to harness the power of the sun to generate pollution-free
electricity. The city's newest solar facility, known as Green Mountain
Energy(SM) Solar at the Upper Kirby District, was dedicated today. The
facility is a commercial scale 43kW solar array and takes up approximately
6000 square feet of the roof making it slightly larger than a professional
basketball court.

The array is owned and operated by Nuon Renewable Ventures LLC and is
located on top of the Upper Kirby District Foundation building on Richmond
Avenue in Houston. Electricity generated from the installation will be
delivered to the Texas electric grid thanks to the support of Green Mountain
Energy Company's Big Texas Sun Club(TM) members.

"The production of electricity is the No. 1 cause of industrial air
pollution in the nation. This new, clean energy facility is a symbol of the
growing interest Texans have in pollution-free electricity, since it is a
direct result of our Big Texas Sun Club," said Gillan Taddune, Texas region
president for Green Mountain Energy Company. "Our Big Texas Sun Club
customers choose to provide monetary support for solar facilities and
education in Texas, and it is their commitment to clean energy that made this
project possible."

In addition to signing up for the company's 100 percent wind power
electricity, Green Mountain Energy electricity customers in Texas can also
join the Big Texas Sun Club to help construct, develop and maintain new solar
facilities in Texas as well as promote statewide education about solar energy.
Each year, making electricity causes billions of tons of CO2 to be
released into the air, which leads to global warming. This array will avoid
the production of approximately 45 tons of CO2 annually. This CO2 avoidance
is equivalent to not driving a car almost 100,000 miles or driving roundtrip
from Dallas to Houston about 200 times. It would take about 6,100 trees one
year to remove the same amount of CO2 from the air.

The solar array is on the rooftop of the Upper Kirby District Association
building. This building is an important part of the community and is home to
such groups as The Upper Kirby District Foundation, The Houston Intown Chamber
of Commerce, Crisis Intervention, and Citizen's Environmental Coalition among
others.

The facility will be owned and operated by Nuon, the Netherland's largest
utility and a leader in renewable energy development. Nuon is rapidly making
a name for itself in the U.S. as a builder and owner of clean energy
facilities. Green Mountain Energy Company and Nuon also recently dedicated a
57kW solar facility in Dallas as well as a solar array near Cleveland.
"As a company dedicated to improving the environment and investing in
sustainable energy technologies; Nuon is proud to participate in a project
that provides clean energy and educates the public at large," said Matt
Cheney, chief operating officer of Nuon Renewable Ventures USA. "We feel that
there is a bright future for projects like these in the State of Texas."

BP Solar, the world's largest manufacturers of photovoltaic equipment, was
responsible for the design and installation of the solar facility. The array
is made up of 440 BP Solar MSX-120 panels with a total of 31,680 individual
multicrystalline solar cells.

About Green Mountain Energy Company and The Big Texas Sun Club
Green Mountain Energy(SM) electricity is the leading brand of cleaner
electricity in the states where Green Mountain Energy Company
(http://www.greenmountain.com ) does business. The company provides less-
polluting electricity generated from sources including wind, solar, water,
geothermal, biomass and cleaner burning natural gas. Nearly half a million
people in seven states: California, Connecticut, New Jersey Ohio, Oregon,
Pennsylvania and Texas have chosen Green Mountain Energy(SM) electricity. The
Austin, Texas-based company was founded in 1997 with a mission to "change the
way power is made."

Green Mountain Energy customers in Texas can also join the Big Texas Sun
Club(TM) to help construct, develop and maintain new solar facilities in Texas
as well as promote ongoing statewide education about solar energy. Customers
can find out more about the Big Texas Sun Club by visiting:
http://www.greenmountain.com/sunclub .

About Nuon
Nuon is a prominent, independent, multinational oriented enterprise in the
marketing, sales and distribution of energy and water, and related products.
Nuon is one of the biggest investors in photovoltaic solar energy in the
world, with expenditures in 2002 of greater than 30 million euros
(approximately US$27 million). Nuon has more than 500 solar power plants in
the Netherlands with a total capacity of more than five megawatts supplying
electricity to its "green energy" customers. In the U.S., Nuon owns and
operates PVUSA, located in Davis, California and is developing new solar sites
under its partnership with Green Mountain Energy.

About The Upper Kirby District Foundation
The Upper Kirby District Foundation represents a community of residents,
businesses and organizations united to preserving and improving the quality of
life in the Upper Kirby District.

About BP Solar
BP Solar is one of the world's largest solar electric companies with over
44 years of collective experience in the manufacture and marketing of
photovoltaic (solar electric) products and systems. With nearly 20% of global
market share and more than $240 million in revenues, the company operates
manufacturing plants in the U.S., Spain, Australia, and India. A full service
company, BP Solar manufactures, designs, markets, and installs a wide range of
crystalline silicon and new generation thin film solar electric products that
are well suited for residential, commercial, and industrial remote and grid-
connected applications. BP Solar has product deployed in over 160 countries.

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SOURCE Green Mountain Energy