CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

Boulder-based wind-credit broker Clean and Green "has suspended all business activities until further notice." At least that's what its Web site says, but if you want more information, don't bother calling -- the phones are disconnected.

The company, owned by local Gerry Dameron, has sold renewable energy credits to individuals and businesses across Boulder County -- including Illegal Pete's, the Boulder Bookstore, Izze and Pharmaca -- to allow the companies to offset their electricity use with clean renewable energy.

One renewable energy credit is generated every time a kilowatt hour of renewable energy is added to the grid. People who don't have direct access to renewable energy can buy the same number of credits as kilowatt hours used and claim to be "100 percent wind-powered."

Because it's difficult for a customer to know if the money they pay companies like Clean and Green actually make it back to the wind farms, most reputable brokers are certified by a third party.

Dameron decided last fall not to renew third-party certification for his company's wind credits or file the proper annual paperwork with the Colorado Department of State.

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