Background

Green pricing/marketing programs allow electricity customers to voluntarily pay the additional costs for renewable energy through direct payments on their monthly bills.  In return, the electricity provider guarantees that it will provide either directly or by contract that amount of renewable-based electricity.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) collects information about green pricing programs on the Form EIA-861, “Annual Electric Power Industry Report,” which is a survey of electric industry participants.[1] All respondents, except independent power producers and qualifying facilities, are asked to report their number of customers in green pricing programs by state and customer class. 

Net metering programs usually permit customers - typically residential - operating very small generators for some of their needs to purchase extra electricity when needed and to sell back any excess power to the utility. Provisions vary by state and utility and often apply to solar or wind energy.  In addition, pricing schemes vary by individual utility and customer circumstance.  This system facilitates the ease of operating intermittent generators, such as those using solar and wind energy, and improves their economics.  The EIA collects information on net metering on the Form EIA-861 in much the same manner as it does green pricing.

2006 In Review

After three years of gains (2003 through 2005) in which the number of electric industry participants and participating customers in green pricing programs all increased, 2006 was a year of relative decline (Table 4.H1).  While the number of electric industry participants increased, the number of participating customers fell. 

The total number of electric industry green pricing program participants increased from 442 in 2005 to 484 in 2006.  However, the total number of customers enrolled in green pricing programs decreased by almost 32 percent, falling from 942,772 in 2005 to 645,167 in 2006. 

The number of participating customers decreased in nine states, most notably in Ohio, which lost over 400,000 customers (Table 4.1).  This loss was the result of Green Mountain Energy Co., a green power marketer, discontinuing service in Ohio.  Citing regulatory hurdles and unexpected transmission charges, Green Mountain terminated its agreement to supply the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council program.  This program, which served residential and small commercial customers in northeast Ohio, was the largest retail electric aggregation program in the country.[2]

The state with the biggest increase was Oregon with a net gain of almost 17,000 customers, followed closely by New York, with a net gain of almost 16,000 customers.   

Net metering programs have proliferated over the years.  Electric industry participants and participating program customers have increased each year during the 2003 through 2006 period (Table 4.H2).

The total number of electric industry participants increased from 188 in 2005 to 232 in 2006.  The total number of participating customers was 34,469 in 2006, an increase of 63 percent over 2005.  Of this total, 31,323 or 91 percent, were residential customers.  Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia reported gains of net metering customers, with the largest gain - 8,705 customers - reported by California (Table 4.2).[3]

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