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Product Considerations
Buying Green Power
Green power products are available from a variety of different vendors, including utilities, renewable energy certificate (REC) marketers, on-site system integrators, and non-profit organizations. You should consider the following issues when selecting a green power product:
- Purchase Scope: Determine the breadth of your purchase. Will it be for a single facility, for a logical aggregation of facilities, or organization-wide? Do you have budget or geographical constraints?
- Contract Length: Consider the length of your purchase contract. Longer-term contracts can result in significantly lower procurement costs for your organization.
- Type of Contract: Seek a fixed-price contract when the product is bundled with the commodity electricity. Fixed-price contracts hedge against future electricity price volatility.
- Resource Mix: Depending on your organization’s goals (financial, environmental, or other) you may seek a specific resource mix. You might also base your purchase on the cost, geography, or carbon benefit afforded by the product mix.
- Ownership: Ensure that your purchase conveys all the environmental benefits of the generation source. On-site system owners should retain all associated RECs of the system.
- Incentives: Many states offer financial incentives for installing on-site generation. On-site systems also afford the benefit of a fixed and predictable energy cost for the life of the system.
- Price: The cost of green power can vary from product to product. Price can be influenced by resource, fuel type, geography, and vintage.
- Percentage of “New” Renewables: To support the development of new generation capacity nationwide, EPA requires that a specific percentage of eligible resources come from generation sources that were placed into service after January 1, 1997. Your organization will need to meet its minimum purchase requirement with “new” renewables to qualify for the Green Power Partnership.
- Certification and Verification: We strongly encourage you to purchase green power products that are certified and verified by an independent third party. Buying certified and verified products helps ensure the quality of your purchase and protect the integrity of the green power industry.
- Shop Around: It pays to look at a number of green power suppliers and product options. You should shop around when making a green power purchase to find the best option to meet your goals. EPA can assist Partner organizations in identifying products and navigating the purchase process. Become an EPA Green Power Partner today!