It seems like everyone wins with the university's new adoption of wind power.

Last week in an announcement at the Somerset Wind Farm, state officials announced that Penn State's five-year contract to provide the University Park campus with wind-generated electricity represents the second biggest retail purchase of its kind in the country.

Under the agreement, wind turbines in Somerset and Mill Run, a small town in Fayette County, will supply 5 percent of the main campus's electrical needs, or about 13.2 million kilowatt hours a year.

The University of Pennsylvania signed the largest contract of 20 million kilowatt hours annually.

After the Indicators Report, a 2000 Green Destiny Campaign publication that evaluates the university's sustainability efforts, called for Penn State to use more renewable, non-polluting sources of energy, the administration listened.

"I can say without a doubt that the many faculty, students and staff members who have worked to produce the Indicators and Mueller Reports strongly applaud Penn State's commitment to buying clean energy," said Tressa Gibbard, who manages environmental affairs for the Undergraduate Student Government.

This environmentally friendly way of generating electricity benefits everyone, from utility companies to environmentalists to institutions such as Penn State, and also energy consumers. Most importantly, the adoption of wind power will have long term benefits for the country and the world. If Penn State shows that it can function without only using traditional forms of energy, the rest of the state, country and, perhaps even the world, will have a model to follow.

It's good that the administration is listening to the wishes of the Green Destiny Council and also making efforts to be conscious of the environment. According to Fred Stryker, the manager of the university's environmental stewardship strategy, Penn State will be helping itself by agreeing to this contract because it can reduce its reliance on coal and other fossil fuels that run the university's facilities. This is a wonderful step in making this campus more efficient.