PORTLAND, OR – Miller Paint Co. has elected to participate in the Smart Energy program from its natural gas supplier, NW Natural, to offset the natural gas usage at its Portland, OR, headquarters and retail outlets around the city. With 19 locations in the metro area, Miller is one of NW Natural's largest participating customers in the program.

 

"The employee owners of Miller Paint take pride in our participation in NW Natural's Smart Energy program," said Paul Sawyer, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Miller. "We believe that renewable energy is a responsible way to help keep Oregon and Washington great places to live and work."

 

Smart Energy is designed to support projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These projects include a biodigester at a farm in Boardman, OR, that captures methane gas from cow manure and keeps it out of the atmosphere, where it is a 21-times more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. The biodigester is expected to be up and running in the spring of 2009 and the captured methane will be used on site as a renewable energy source.

 

Paying a little extra each month to participate in Smart Energy is only part of Miller Paint's sustainable leadership plan. The company removed all solvents in 1996 from its main interior product line, manufactures low-emitting paints and coatings that help builders earn points and credits under environmental building programs such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), recently underwent an energy audit from the Energy Trust of Oregon to find how it could most efficiently reduce energy costs, and works with the City of Portland's Metro Regional Government body for sound paint disposal practices.