Renewable Energy Credits
Taking care of the environment can benefit a company's bottom line. With CPower managing a company's environmental assets, clients capture the full value of their energy efficiency efforts. Through the creation and monetization of environmental credits, CPower makes sure energy efficiency and renewable energy projects generate revenue beyond savings at the meter. CPower monetizes the benefits of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects by creating Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) and Energy Efficiency Certificates (EECs). Clients that earn RECs and EECs are eligible to participate in current and emerging environmental asset markets.Renewable Energy Credits (RECs), also known as Renewable Energy Certificates, are tradable, non-tangible energy commodities, each representing one megawatt-hour (1MWh) of electricity generation from an eligible renewable energy source. Such sources may include solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, wind, hydroelectric, tidal, wave, ocean thermal, geothermal, biomass and/or fuel cells, depending on the regulatory construct within which the generating facility is located. Among the benefits of renewable energy generation, and included in the value of RECs, are the avoided emissions of pollutants (particularly carbon dioxide), avoided construction and operating costs of conventional power plants, reduced reliance on fossil fuel imports, and increased grid reliability through distributed generation.
Renewable energy generation facilities must be certified, usually by state agencies, and must then register with the applicable regional tracking systems to start generating RECs. As RECs are generated over the useful life of the facility, they may be retained, sold, or traded, with asset ownership indicating the purchase of renewable energy. RECs may be purchased and sold in compliance markets or voluntary markets.
Compliance markets are the result of Renewable Portfolio Standards, by which some percentage of all electricity purchased and then resold by electric distribution companies in a given year is required (by applicable law or regulation) to come from renewable sources. Currently, 31 states and the District of Columbia have Renewable Portfolio Standards, with four more states having voluntary goals. By creating a demand for renewable electricity, Renewable Portfolio Standards subsidize renewable generation projects and incentivize their development, similar to the promotion of low-carbon technologies through added value from carbon emissions trading programs.
In voluntary markets, customers purchase RECs, either out of a desire to use renewable energy (usually to reduce their carbon footprint), or for trading purposes. REC prices tend to be lower in voluntary markets than in the compliance markets. Besides utility companies that purchase RECs in the compliance market, voluntary buyers include corporations, private investors, government organizations, and households. RECs can also be bought and sold on the Chicago Climate Exchange.
CPower assists clients and partners in identifying potential opportunities to monetize renewables, registers RECs on behalf of renewable generators, and provides turnkey REC management, including quantification, registration, banking and ultimately sale of RECs.
CPower works with clients and business partners across North America and the United Kingdom, including the major energy markets of New York, New England, California, the mid-Atlantic states, the Midwestern states, Texas and Ontario. Our clients range from medium to large-scale energy users, and span the industrial, commercial, retail and institutional markets.