Wind broker Clean and Green goes belly up 

Owner closes one business, registers two more

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.

“I am speaking with other larger REC marketing companies to see if we can revive the ‘grassroots’ and ‘community wind’ REC marketing approach that Clean and Green was attempting to support,” Dameron wrote in an e-mail last week. “Until then, Clean and Green is not a going concern. All of our members have been notified by mail of our status.”

Dameron did not return phone calls from the Camera last week.

Clean and Green’s Web site, www.cleanandgreen.us, says customers will be contacted “soon” and promises not to process any incoming payments.

Some customers buy a lump sum of wind credits, and others pay by credit card monthly.

But all of the half-dozen customers contacted Friday by the Camera – including Invironments, The Word is Out, the Brewers Association and The Middle Fish – said they had not yet received any notification.

“I hadn’t heard,” said Jeff Richey, co-owner of Farfel’s Farm. “We just do ours on a credit card every month. I knew there were some issues. It seemed like they were reputable people.”

Besides acting as president of Clean and Green, Dameron is also president of Patriot Wind, another local company with the goal to “deliver 50+ successful wind-energy projects to progressive communities in the U.S. over the coming 10 years,” according to the company’s Web site.

On Friday, the answering machine at Patriot Wind answered, “Hello, you’ve reached Village Power.” Other companies registered at one time to either that same phone number, Dameron’s name or his address include Wind and Solar Hybrid Compression, Suncor-Patriot Medicine Bow Wind Farm II, New Energy SVC and Gourmet Coffee Shops, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.

Susan Liehe of the Boulder-Denver Better Business Bureau said that, in general, an individual with excessive businesses registered to his name is cause for concern.

“From my point of view, of course it’s a red flag,” she said. “It’s the antithesis of branding. If we exhibit values of quality and service and good taste, we would do everything we could to reinforce that name. When you have someone with a whole bunch of names, you can only assume they have something to hide.”

By Laura Snider
Camera Staff Writer

The other LLCs

The owner of the now-defunct wind-credit provider Clean and Green has several other companies registered to his name and address. Gerry Dameron registered two of the LLCs less than two months ago.

Here’s a list of Dameron’s LLCs over the years:

Village Power

Suncor-Patriot Medicine Bow Wind Farm II

Wind and Solar Hybrid Compression

Clean and Green

Patriot Wind

New Energy SVC

Gourmet Coffee Shops

Source: Colorado Secretary of State

Tracking Clean and Green

Last we knew: Clean and Green, a wind-credit broker in Boulder, decided last fall not to renew its third-party certification, saying the process was too expensive.

Wind credits allow people without direct access to wind power to subsidize the energy by buying credits. They help make wind power more competitive, but it’s difficult for consumers to be sure how much of their money is going to the wind farms.

Latest: A message on Clean and Green’s Web site says the business is closed until further notice.

Next: Clean and Green says it will notify customers of its status, and the Web site promises not to process any incoming payments.

Boulder Daily Camera

13 April 2008