MADISON, Wis. -- Implementing green power has traditionally come at a cost, but one program aims to make green energy more affordable for customers.

Madison Gas & Electric's "Green Power Tomorrow" is an expansion of a previous program, in which customers can choose to offset carbon emissions from electricity use.

And while the cost of going green is still higher than traditional power, customers said the savings come as a long-term investment.

Madison Cutting Die CEO David Boyer said that the company willingly pays more, about $10,000 a year, to use green power in their manufacturing operations.

"We are a large user for our size of manufacturing for MG&E, and that's another responsibility that I think you have. You can make a greater impact here than you can at an office," Boyer said.

Several years ago, the company invested 5 percent of its electricity on wind power. MG&E's new promotion will allow Madison Cutting Die to generate half of its electricity from renewable sources, WISC-TV reported.

"The price of renewable resources has gone down significantly. Back in 1999, it was about 3 cents for a kilowatt hour to purchase. Now we're down to only a penny. So it has become affordable," said Steve Kraus, spokesman for Madison Gas & Electric.

MG&E said the program offers a chance for homeowners and businesses to assess their carbon footprints and do their best to help the environment.

"We're asking customers to make a commitment to use enough renewable resources to be able to become carbon neutral so that all the electricity that's being produced would not have any carbon emissions at all," Kraus said.

"We sometimes have an illusion that the fossil fuel costs less because we don't take into account what it's doing in terms of our air quality, in terms of our environment that we live in. So I could say it's already the best long-term economic solution, taking quality of life into account," Boyer said.

For an average household, the cost to offset 100 percent of carbon emissions from electricity use is an extra $6 a month, WISC-TV reported.

MG&E said that more than 4,000 customers have signed up since the utility offered green energy in 1999.