Green Mountain Energy Company is donating $50,000 to the Riverside Park Fund to help install a solar array at Riverside Park on the Hudson River. The solar array will be part of the Green Outlook renovation project which will transform an abandoned parking lot into a scenic destination for the park’s visitors. Green Mountain presented a check to Mark McIntyre, executive director, Riverside Clay Tennis Association, for the first $5,000 installment at a fundraising event held at the home of NYC council member, Gale Brewer, guest hosted by CNN’s Fareed Zakaria. This is the first official corporate donation made to the Green Outlook project. The solar photovoltaic (PV) system will help reduce the park’s carbon footprint, as well as educate visitors about the benefits of solar energy.
“Green Mountain Energy Company is especially proud to donate these funds towards a solar array system to the Green Outlook project at Riverside Park,” said Paul Markovich, president of residential services, Green Mountain Energy Company. “Green Mountain has been giving New Yorkers the choice of pollution-free electricity for their homes and offices since 2009. Donating funds towards solar installations like this one helps us give back to the communities where our customers live, work, shop and play, while supporting our mission to change the way power is made.”
Green Mountain is making this donation through its Green Mountain EnergyTM Sun ClubTM — a unique program in which Green Mountain’s customers can choose to support solar donations to worthy non-profits by contributing an additional five dollars on their monthly electricity bill. The mission of the Sun Club is to fund, build and promote solar power while assisting organizations with a socially responsible focus to reduce their environmental footprints. For more information please visit http://www.gmsunclub.com.
"We are very excited about being one of the first Sun Club projects in New York state and we are very grateful for Green Mountain’s generous financial support,” said McIntyre. “As a provider of clean energy, Green Mountain shares our values and goal of reducing our collective carbon footprint. Additionally, they have been a great partner as a sponsor of our free concerts in the park. I look forward to continuing to work with Green Mountain in the future — a green future."
About the Green Outlook Project at Riverside Park
The Riverside Park Fund and the Riverside Clay Tennis Association (RCTA) have launched a $6 million capital campaign to transform an abandoned parking lot south of the 96th Street Red Clay Tennis Courts into a landscaped Hudson River overlook with a wildflower meadow, a sustainable park maintenance building and a carbon-neutral public restroom, using compost toilet technologies, green roofs, solar energy, rainwater and recycled materials. The Green Outlook is an off-grid, self-contained, sustainable complex that will serve thousands of bicyclists, joggers, strollers, picnickers and tennis players. It will:
- Replace an abandoned asphalt parking lot with a native wildflower meadow
- Create an overlook with stunning views of the Hudson River
- Provide Riverside Park and Hudson River Greenway users with a public restroom that employs solar energy, composting toilets and a green roof
- Include on-site waste treatment and use, and storm water management
- Build a green maintenance facility for the busy red-clay tennis courts and surrounding parkland and gardens
- Be entirely carbon-neutral
- Serve as a model for future park improvements
For over 25 years the RCTA has maintained the ten world-class public courts near 96th Street in Riverside Park, one of New York City’s eight officially designated scenic landmark parks. With your support, it can provide much needed facilities that will benefit all users of the Hudson River Greenway and become a beacon of sustainability for New York City and beyond. Riverside Park Fund is a 501(c)3, tax-exempt organization. All donations are tax deductible. For more information or to make a donation, please visit http://www.greenoutlook.info.
About Green Mountain Energy Company
Green Mountain, the nation’s leading competitive retail provider of cleaner energy and carbon offset solutions, was founded in 1997 to “change the way power is made.” The company is the longest serving green power marketer in the U.S. Green Mountain offers consumers and businesses the choice of clean electricity products from renewable sources, such as wind, as well as a variety of carbon offset products. One of Green Mountain’s largest customers is the “world’s most famous office building,” the Empire State Building in New York City. Green Mountain customers have collectively helped avoid over 14.8 billion pounds of CO2 emissions. As a wholly owned subsidiary of NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG), Green Mountain is back by one of the nation’s largest renewable power producers. For more information, visit GreenMountain.com.
