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D.C. Groups Pooling Electric Buying Power

WASHINGTON (AP) -- More than 100 religious, community, labor and low-income housing groups in the Washington area say they are joining forces to buy clean power and save money.

Organizers of the Groundswell alliance say the effort started last year when 11 institutions joined together, cutting their power
bills by 15 percent and saving hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Those joining them this year include a charter school, a D.C. mosque and a nonprofit housing group.

The 119 institutions, which include churches, synagogues, and mosques, plan to announce who they will buy from on March 20.

Groundswell spokeswoman Elizabeth Seaberry says the groups are expected to buy more than $5 million in power, mostly from regional wind farms, as well as a small amount of solar energy.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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