The Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas (HBA Dallas) and Green Mountain Energy, Texas' only green-devoted electricity provider, are sponsoring the first ever Green Built Parade of Homes in North Texas, Sept. 22 through Oct. 7. The event will be open to the public in order to better educate consumers on the benefits of a cleaner and more energy-efficient home.

Utilizing green standards in place from HBA's Green Built North Texas program, the event will feature area builders as they showcase the latest innovation in green building technology. The guidelines set forth by the HBA include improving energy efficiency, water efficiency, indoor air quality, material usage, site management, waste recycling and cleaner electricity.

Green Mountain Energy is contributing renewable energy credits to the parade homes in order to offer an alternative to carbon-dioxide emissions, widely attributed as a leading cause of global warming. Green Mountain is Texas' only electricity provider that is entirely devoted to utilizing cleaner electricity alternatives.

"Purchasing pollution-free electricity from Green Mountain Energy Company is one of the easiest ways for North Texans to make their homes greener," said Paul Markovich, senior vice president of residential services, Green Mountain Energy Company. "We hope that residents from all over the Dallas-Metropolitan area will attend the Green Built Parade of Homes to learn about simple steps they can take to make their homes more environmentally-friendly."

The Parade will be held at the Forest Hills subdivision in the town of Crossroads, Texas—just minutes east of Denton—with events from 10 am - 8 pm.

For more information on the parade and other educational events, please see the HBA web site

Green Mountain Energy Company and the Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas (HBA Dallas) have again joined forces for the 16th annual Parade of Homes™, which will showcase upscale, high performance and environmentally-friendly custom homes at Shaddock Creek Estates in Frisco, Texas. This year's event will take place Saturday, May 19, through Sunday, June 10.

This marks the third year for Green Mountain Energy Company to serve as the title partner for the Parade of Homes event. As part of its partnership with the event, Green Mountain is offsetting the Parade of Homes™ electricity-related carbon dioxide (C02) emissions to make the event carbon neutral. Carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, has been identified as a major cause of global climate change.

The Parade of Homes is an open house event, where area builders get to present the very latest innovations and building technologies directly to the public. Each home will feature state-of-the-art amenities and luxurious decor. Discount tickets will be available at Tom Thumb stores throughout the metroplex.

"The Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas is very proud and excited to continue its working relationship with Green Mountain, promoting clean electricity for this year's Parade," said Bob Morris, executive vice president of HBA Dallas. "Since there is an ever-growing interest and demand from homebuyers for environmentally-preferable products and services, Green Mountain, and the pollution-free electricity products it offers to residential customers in Texas, is a great addition to the Parade of Homes."

Green Mountain Energy Company and the HBA are offering attendees some new attractions during this year's Parade of Homes. First, the participating homes will be either meeting or exceeding the rigorous green building standards in advance of Frisco's full city-wide enforcement in the summer of 2007. Second, Green Mountain will make a presentation about the environmental benefits of clean electricity on the demonstration stage. Green Mountain representatives will also be available at the Parade site to answer questions about, and sign up people for competitively-priced Pollution Free^SM electricity.

"Green Mountain is sponsoring the Parade of Homes and offsetting the carbon emissions associated with the event's electricity usage to educate homebuyers and event attendees about the benefits of pollution-free electricity," said Paul Markovich, senior vice president, Residential Sales, Green Mountain Energy Company. "We are pleased to partner with a great organization like the Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas, especially since these homes are built to green building standards."

For more event details, visit the HBA Dallas Parade of Homes page.

Green Mountain Energy Company has been selected for the inaugural PLENTY 20 list. The list, which appeared in PLENTY magazine's February/March issue, recognizes the top 20 eco-forward companies that are making a difference and redefining what it means to be green in the marketplace. Green Mountain ranks No. 12 on the list and received its award from PLENTY at a celebratory event in New York.

"Green Mountain Energy Company is thrilled to be among the top 20 green companies receiving this prestigious recognition from PLENTY magazine," said Gillan Taddune, chief environmental officer for Green Mountain Energy Company. "The award recognizes Green Mountain's ongoing efforts the last ten years to bring innovative products and solutions to the marketplace that help reduce and offset carbon emissions."

Green Mountain Energy Company offers residential, business, institutional and governmental customers the choice to support cleaner renewable resources. These cleaner energy sources help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted into the air. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming. Since its inception, Green Mountain and its customers have been responsible for helping to deliver more than six billion kilowatt-hours of renewable energy into the market. Additionally, the company has helped spur the development of 13 new wind and solar facilities across the nation, which are producing pollution-free power.

Earlier this year, Green Mountain introduced BeGreen^SM Carbon Offsets, an easy way for consumers nationwide to reduce their impact on global warming. The innovative product provides consumers across the U.S. with a simple solution to offset their household's carbon footprint and take steps towards becoming carbon neutral.

"Green Mountain was selected for the PLENTY 20 because of the company's leadership efforts in supporting the development of new renewable facilities and introducing innovative products like BeGreen Carbon Offsets," said Mark Spellun, editor of PLENTY Magazine. "Green Mountain is pushing the eco-envelope and helping to change the world in 2007 and the years to come."

For more information, check out The Plenty 20.

Green Mountain Energy Company and Sustainable Waves, a national provider of mobile solar powered sound and staging solutions, recently announced Eco-Tunes^SM, the first comprehensive program for carbon neutral music tours and events, which includes the availability of solar powered stages and sound systems.

This initiative also includes the option for concert-goers to purchase a Be Green Ticket^SM for these events, which will be the nation's first green ticket program certified by Green-e, the nation's leading independent certification and verification program for renewable energy.

"As a musician, I am so excited to be involved with Green Mountain and Sustainable Waves. Anytime I can do something positive for the environment, I'm always ready to jump in," says G. Love, front man for the band G. Love and Special Sauce. "By making our tours carbon neutral, we embrace alternative, renewable energy sources and a cleaner, healthier future for our children. I'm down with the 'green' for sure."

"Eco-Tunes is unique because it offers fans, musicians, and promoters a one stop shop for greening up their concert experiences," said Mark McLarry, Chief Executive Officer of Sustainable Waves.

Green Mountain Energy Company and Sustainable Waves are partnering with several innovative ticketing agencies, such as In Ticketing and All Access Today, to offer the new Be Green Ticket option to concert-goers nationwide. When a Be Green Ticket is purchased, event goers are provided with up to 1,000 kilowatts (kWh) of Green-e certified renewable energy certificates to offset approximately 1,300 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2,) a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming. These offsets can be applied towards the concert-goer's emissions that were generated in traveling to the event or other household emissions. For example, offsetting 1,300 lbs of CO2 is the equivalent of not driving a car about 1,500 miles for one year.

"This is an exciting opportunity for music fans who want to help fight global warming by supporting new forms of renewable energy resources such as wind, solar, and biomass energy," said Gillan Taddune, Chief Environmental Officer of Green Mountain Energy Company. "Upgrading to a Be Green Ticke makes it almost effortless and the Green-e certification process makes the purchase process both transparent and verifiable."

The Be Green Ticket is available now and is initially being offered to about 500,000 fans nation wide through In Ticketing and All Access Today. Green Mountain expects the availability to ramp up significantly throughout the year as other ticketing agencies and artists join the program.

Look for the Be Green Ticket through these artists, venues and festivals: Steve Kimock, Sound Tribe Sector 9, Perpetual Groove, Orpheum Theater and Pine Mountain Amphitheater in Flagstaff AZ, Tree Sound Studios, Harmony Festival, Boom Boom Room, 12 Galaxies, Catalyst, and Sunset Promotions (provided through In Ticketing) along with Willie Nelson, Pat Green, Cross Canadian Ragweed, and Jake Shimabukuro (provided through All Access Today), The Joshua Tree Music Festival and Camp Bisco.

For more information, check out the Green Mountain Energy press release.