Have you ever wondered, when you turn on your
lights, where that electricity is coming from?
In the United States, most electricity comes
from coal, natural gas, and nuclear; and some
renewable sources, like hydropower, wind,
and solar.
No matter where electricity is generated,
it is mixed together on the shared electricity
grid.
When you turn on your lights or TV, you pull
some of that electricity out.
Once electricity is put on the grid, there
is no way to know where it came from or how
it was generated, all electricity is the same.
If you want to green your power, though, you
can do that with renewable energy certificates.
These certificates are created each time one
megawatt-hour of renewable energy is generated
and put on the grid, about what an average
home uses in a month.
The wind turbine spins, or the solar panel
collects sunlight, and when enough electricity
is generated, a certificate is created.
This certificate proves that one megawatt
hour of renewable energy was generated, and
it embodies all the green, environmental benefits
of that megawatt-hour—including lower amounts
of smog-causing pollution and greenhouse gases,
like carbon dioxide.
All of these benefits are included in the
certificate.
Whoever owns the certificate owns that megawatt-hour
of renewable energy.
Certificates are used by states and the federal
government to track use of renewable energy.
They’re also used by utility green power
programs to track which customers receive
green power, because certificates provide
the only means to know that one megawatt hour
of renewable energy was generated on their
behalf.
When an individual or business buys a certificate,
they are buying renewable energy, and can
claim all the environmental benefits of that
megawatt-hour.
Certificates also allow wind and solar developers
to build wherever the resources are, knowing
they will be supported by customers from across
the country.
Renewable energy certificates work because
cleaner air and water are worth something
extra to all of us, and certificates allow
us to buy these environmental benefits no
matter where we live.
They help bring us that much closer to true
energy independence—power from the sun,
wind, and water.
And that makes the future brighter for all
of us.
