London Grove, for example, is the latest Chester County township to sign up for the Pennsylvania Clean Energy Communities Campaign.

This month, the township will making a big push to enroll residents. "May is a big month for us for environmental awareness," said Rhona Klein, township recycling coordinator and open-space manager.

Of the 22 municipalities that have signed up for the Pennsylvania Clean Energy Communities Campaign, seven are in Chester County.

The endeavor is an incentive-based program to encourage townships to be leaders in signing up for renewable energy, explained Molly Tsongas, state director of the campaign. In return, townships can earn a free solar panel that can produce a kilowatt of energy, or $10,000 towards a solar-energy system for a township building.

In addition to London Grove, the other participating members in the county are East Bradford, West Vincent, East Vincent, South Coventry, Tredyffrin and Schuylkill.

On that list, East Bradford, West Vincent and Tredyffrin are now considered Clean Energy Communities. They've reached their goal of having the municipal government buy 20 percent of its electricity from clean-energy sources and at least 7 percent of the residents have signed up for a clean-energy program. Enrolling is as easy as checking a box on the electric bill.

Vickie Laubach, head of the Environmental Advisory Council in West Vincent, said the town will use their $10,000 towards a 10-kilowatt solar energy system for their maintenance building.

"The new panels are higher efficiency and smaller. I want to trade in the ones I have at home," she said.

East Bradford plans to put a solar panel on a building in East Bradford Park, said Tenley Adams, township services coordinator.

John Hoakstra, who's leading the East Vincent effort, said they need more than 80 people to sign up to go Clean. "We need to wean ourselves from fossil fuel," Hoakstra said.

Choosing renewable energy certainly increases your electric bill. The Pennsylvania Clean Energy Communities Campaign estimates that a consumer's electric bill will increase by $7.62 per month.

"People might see $7 more a month in their service charges," Hoakstra said. "The price is nominal compared to cable TV or satellite-dish bills. People spend a lot more money on luxury items rather than basic things," such as electricity.

In South Coventry, only 25 more people need to sign up for it to become a Clean Energy Community. Currently, the township is purchasing 10 percent of its power from clean energy and pledges to buy 20 percent by 2010.

Schuylkill Township already buys 25 percent of its power from clean energy but they need 80 more people to make it a Clean Energy Community.

Besides individual townships, the county as a whole is battling climate change.

In January, the county formed a task force to reduce greenhouse gases throughout the region. One of the first goals is to measure Chester County's carbon footprint, said Stephen Fromnick, county director of facilities who's leading the task force.

Meanwhile, "green" buildings are sprouting all over the county. Last Sunday, TMG Homes held an open house for the first LEED-certified home in the county. It's a 4,100-square-foot, four-bedroom house in Chester Springs, going for just under $1 million.

(LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the highest standard for environmentally-friendly building construction.)

Other organizations, such as Energy Star and National Association of Home Builders, also have "green" standards.

The company also has other "green" homes in West Chester and Downingtown, which sell from $399,000 to $699,000.

In Kimberton, Earth Rising Homes plan to build a "green" condo complex.