What are Renewable Energy Certificates (AKA “RECs” or “Green Tags”)?
Renewable energy has two components: the energy commodity and the corresponding green power attribute. The Energy Commodity is the actual electricity produced at facilities that generate the renewable electricity. The electricity generated is sold by the renewable generator as conventional/generic (market) power stripped of its environmental benefits, or attributes. No environmental claims can be made on this power, because it is separate from the associated environmental benefits that are embodied by the Renewable Energy Certificate. A REC acts like a claim check on each MWh of renewable electricity delivered to the grid by, for example, a wind farm or a landfill gas facility. The purchaser of a REC owns a claim to the environmental savings (such as CO2 reduction) that results from the production of that electricity. A REC verifies the source of electricity is renewable in nature. RECs allow their purchasers to support renewable energy projects even if the purchaser does not use elect
