Charles Warner|Daily Times These electric vehicle charging stations at Timken Sports Complex are part of an effort by the City of Union Utility Department to promote green energy. An overwhelming majority of the participants in an on-line poll conducted by The Union Daily Times favor utility departments making greater use of green energy.

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Utility companies should get more of their power from renewable resources according to an on-line poll conducted by The Union Daily Times.

The poll, posted on The Union Daily Times website (www.uniondailytimes.com), asked readers “Should more utility companies generate electricity from renewable resources like Lockhart Power’s hydroelectric system?”

Lockhart Power generates 99 percent of its electricity from renewable, environmentally-friendly resources including hydroelectric facilities such as Lockhart dam as well as a landfill gas-to-power facility in Wellford that converts methane gas generated by decaying garbage into electricity. The company’s largest wholesale customer in Union County is the City of Union Utility Department which purchases 47 percent of the electricity generated by Lockhart Power. The city is also working to promote a greener, more environmentally-friendly future through the four electric vehicle charging stations it has established at the City of Union Municipal Building, Timken Sports Complex, USC Union, and the Union County Advanced Technology Center. Electric vehicles, which operate off of lithium batteries, produce zero emissions.

Lockhart Power has two electric vehicle charging stations at its main office at 420 River St., Lockhart. In addition, the company has a modified Toyota Prius, a plug-in, hybrid electric vehicle. The company uses the Prius for trips to and from its Wellford landfill power facility. The vehicle primarily operates off its battery which is charged at the charging stations in Lockhart and Wellford.

It is this kind of green, environmentally-friendly future that an overwhelming majority of the participants in the online poll voted for. Of the 28 readers who participated in the poll, 93 percent answered yes, more utility companies should generate electricity from renewable resources.

This week’s online poll asks, “Did Union County Council make the right decision when it voted to reduce the number of clerks in the Union County Magistrate’s Office from three to two?”