admin answers:

New renewable power projects built in the United States don't just produce electricity — they also produce Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs).

Each of these RECs represents one megawatt-hour of electricity generated from wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, or other renewable resources.

Renewable energy projects sell the RECs they generate, producing income that is additional to the revenues they receive from the sale of electricity. By increasing project revenues (and profits), RECs help renewable energy compete economically with traditional energy generation, like coal and natural gas.

Therefore, by matching your electricity use with Renewable Energy Certificates, you are able to green your electricity, and demonstrate your demand for renewable energy.

Also, please note that given the way the electric grid works, if you do not have solar panels or other renewable energy infrastructure at your home, or a direct power purchase agreement with a wind farm or other renewable energy facility, RECs are basically the only way for you to "green" your electricity.

This is because when renewable electricity is delivered to the power grid it can go in many directions just like conventional electricity. That is how electricity and the grid works. On the grid there is no physical way to "tag" an electron as green or produced using renewable resources.

This is one of the reasons that RECs were invented in the first place. By creating a REC when a MWh of renewable energy is first generated, and then matching this REC with a MWh when it is consumed, RECs allow you to create a connection between renewable energy generation and the electricity you use every day.

RECs are recognized by government and many environmental organizations as an effective pathway to increasing renewable energy development. A few key quotes:

"EPA regards REC purchasing as the simplest way for organizations and institutions to affect the United States' electricity generation mix at a national scale." – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

"RECs represent an investment in future renewable energy generation projects…purchasers of RECs ensure that renewable facilities deliver clean energy into the grid and displace nonrenewable energy sources." – Natural Resources Defense Council

"Retail, commercial, and industrial energy users can meet voluntary renewable energy goals and support the deployment of green power through the purchase of RECs." – World Resources Institute

For more information on RECs, I highly recommend you check out the sources below.

And — for full disclosure, please note that I work in marketing at 3Degrees (www.3degreesinc.com), an environmental commodities firm. We help utilities, corporations, non-profits and green building professionals buy, sell and market environmental commodities like Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs).