KNOWLEDGE CENTER

What are Renewable Energy Certificates?

Renewable energy certificates make it easy for households and businesses to choose clean renewable energy. A Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) represents one megawatt hour (MWh) of renewable electricity generated and delivered somewhere on the power grid. Each MWh of clean renewable electricity results in one less MWh of dirty power. Therefore a Renewable Energy Certificate also represents the environmental benefits of replacing dirty power with clean power.

How does the green power reach my home or business?

Actually, it doesn't. Renewable electricity does not need to reach your home or building to benefit the environment.When renewable electricity is delivered to the power grid it can go in many directions just like conventional electricity because that is how the grid works.What matters is how the electricity is generated and what impact on the environment it has.

So how does my purchase make a difference?

The Renewable Energy Certificate allows you, the buyer, to claim credit for the environmental benefit of each MWh you buy. Each Renewable Energy Certificate is unique and tracked so that each MWh of renewable electricity is claimed by only one buyer. Renewable Energy Certificates also represent a green premium paid to renewable generators to help them compete with lower cost but dirty power. At the end of the day, the more Renewable Energy Certificates are sold, the more renewable electricity is made.

I'm starting to get it, can we recap what a Renewable Energy Certificate is?

One Renewable Energy Certificate equals one MWh of renewable electricity delivered to the grid and the environmental benefits of displacing an equivalent amount of dirty electricity. A Renewable Energy Certificate ensures that only one customer claims credit for the each MWh of renewable electricity, generates additional funds that improve renewable energy project economics, making them more competitive with other fossil fuel sources, like coal and natural gas.

With renewable energy, you not only generate power for your home or business, you generate social power. The power to choose the kind of environment we all want to live in.

What impact does conventional electricity generation have on the environment?

Conventional electricity, from coal or natural gas, generates more air pollution than any other industry. In fact, America's power plants produce two-thirds of the pollutants that cause acid rain, one-half of our nuclear waste, one-third of our global warming pollution, and one-third of the air pollutants chiefly responsible for respiratory difficulties in our children and senior citizens.

What is renewable energy?

Renewable energy or "Green Power" is generated by the sun, the wind, the earth, and the water; resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, and low-impact hydro facilities. These resources replenish themselves naturally, never run out and are brought to you by the most powerful generator of clean energy: Nature.

TAKE ACTION NOW!

Visit our Carbon Footprint Calculator or contact us to get started with a REC purchase today!