As renewable energy becomes an increasingly important part of America’s energy portfolio, a number of federal and state initiatives are underway to contribute to the growth of renewable power. As a result of this growing interest in renewable power, energy markets have begun to market electricity from renewable power as two distinct commodities – the electricity generated by renewable energy projects and the positive environmental attributes associated with renewable generation.

A new market is emerging in the latter. Renewable energy certificates (RECs) represent the environmental attributes of the power produced from renewable energy projects and are sold separate from the actual electricity itself. Customers can buy RECs whether or not they have access to green power through their local utility or a competitive electricity marketer. Customers can purchase RECs, also known as green certificates, green tags, or tradable renewable certificates, even without switching electricity suppliers. Typically, one REC is equivalent to the environmental attributes of one megawatt-hour of electricity from a renewable generation source.

An important aspect of the financing of renewable energy projects is the potential ability to sell RECs that are generated once the project is operational. The sale of RECs thus is an important consideration in renewable energy projects developed by Citizens Energy. In addition, Citizens Energy is exploring potential ways to market and sell RECs to consumers and businesses.

Businesses that are developing projects that will produce certified Renewable Energy Certificates and are interested in partnering with Citizens Energy to offer these to consumers and businesses are encouraged to reach us at 617-338-6300. Similarly, we welcome inquiries from brokers or companies looking to acquire RECs from Citizens Energy-developed projects.