SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Governor Jay Inslee of the U.S. west coastal state of Washington on Tuesday announced the largest purchase of green power, which will meet nearly one quarter of electricity demand required for state agency operations, or an equivalent power need of more than 6,000 homes.

He said eight state agencies will buy over 100 million kWh of electricity by 2021 from wind and solar projects built in Washington State.

The green power program could save those state agencies more than 15,000 U.S. dollars on their yearly electricity bills and cut emissions by 22,000 metric tons annually, he added.

"When it comes to stepping up to the challenge of reducing emissions across state government ... One way we are doing this is by purchasing clean, renewable energy from projects built right here in Washington state," Inslee said.

He signed an executive order in January this year requiring the agencies with the largest share of statewide greenhouse gas emissions to ramp up emission reduction.

The Department of Enterprise Services will be the first state agency in Washington to buy 39.8 million kWh of solar and wind power starting next year.