Search For Green Power On And Off Of The Grid
A wind turbine - A growing number of companies are offering customers a chance to buy green power, a combination of electricity from the local grid combined with renewable energy credits from wind farms. Above, a wind turbine in Harris, Iowa. (John Poole / NPR)
This story is part of a series called How Green Is It? that is airing throughout August on All Things Considered. The series examines some of the things Americans are doing — and buying — to help the environment and whether those steps really are as "green" as they seem.
When David Bell turned a dilapidated 1880s townhouse into an office for his architectural firm, he took the opportunity to display environmentally friendly technologies, like a touchless faucet.
"It has a little turbine inside: The flow of water regenerates power to the battery itself. It's a little hydroelectric plant right here," Bell says.
(Elizabeth Shogren/NPR)
And when an entrepreneur offered Bell a chance to buy clean electricity for his office — and save money on power — he saw it as another chance to practice what he preaches.
"This allows us to have 100 percent wind power energy, which is good for the environment, and allows us to reduce our costs, which is good for our bottom line," Bell says.
Hundreds of utilities around the country — and a growing number of companies — are offering customers a chance to buy green power. These programs are especially popular with businesses, which use them to promote their environmental consciousness. Packaging for all kinds of products now includes claims that producers use renewable power. But where does the power come from?
Tracing Electricity
Bell didn't know, but Gary Skulnik, who sells electricity to Bell, did.
"It's a combination of electricity from the local grid combined with renewable energy credits from wind farms," says Skulnik, president of Clean Currents.
In Bell's local grid, the electrons still come primarily from coal-fired power plants. Clean Currents buys that power for less than what the local utilities charge, then combines it with what's called renewable energy credits or certificates, and sells it to Bell.
Renewable energy certificates give customers the right to claim the environmental benefits of the clean power, even if it's used 2,000 miles away. Skulnik gets his certificates from wind farms in Texas and Oklahoma.
"It's like taking a glass of water and adding green food coloring to it," says Skulnik, who has about 4,400 residential and business customers. "You're greening up the power."
Defining What's Green
But is it really clean electricity?
"Well, it's termed green power," says Skulnik, who is also a former Greenpeace activist. "It doesn't mean the actual electrons are coming from a wind farm thousands of miles directly to this particular business."
It may sound dubious, but the Environmental Protection Agency promotes these programs as ways to buy renewable electricity and fight global warming.
"We get a constant stream of calls asking, 'I've read about climate change, what can I do?' And green power is really one of the tremendous and compelling opportunities that's available to everybody," says Blaine Collison, who directs an EPA program that encourages companies to buy green power.
So far, roughly a million companies and residents have signed up. A few utilities offer customers electricity that is actually generated by nearby wind farms or other renewable sources. But most just charge a small premium for renewable energy certificates.
Collison says this voluntary market has created a major incentive for building new renewable power.
"The collective purchases from all the consumers and other businesses participating in this market absolutely drive new supply," he says.
Princeton University researcher Michael Gillenwater says these programs do not cut nearly the volume of greenhouse gas emissions — or displace as much dirty power — that most customers expect.
"You would think that the total amount of investment they're making is all going to build new wind turbines that would not have been there anyway. And that's not true. They're probably causing a little bit of new generation and new investment," Gillenwater says.
For instance, he says, if a customer buys 10 megawatt hours of renewable energy certificates, he might have caused one extra megawatt hour to be generated from a new wind turbine. But the other nine megawatts would have been produced anyway because of government tax incentives.
"So really, what you're doing is you're subsidizing green power," Gillenwater says.
Frustrations Over Certificates
That's not good enough for David Wright, a member of the commission that advises the Ann Arbor, Mich., city government on energy issues.
Ann Arbor wants to buy wind power. But there is only one utility that services the area, and it will only sell coal and nuclear power combined with renewable energy certificates.
"A certificate is not a renewable energy purchase. For the utility and for others to make those claims, I think it's highly misleading," Wright ways. "I'm quite frustrated with the current situation."
Wright complains that when you buy certificates, you don't get the same protection from unpredictable fossil fuel prices that you can get if you buy renewable power.
"If we were able to buy electricity that's generated from renewable resources like a wind turbine, we would be able to know over a long time what our costs are — and they would most likely be fixed," he says.
Wright raised his concerns with the Federal Trade Commission, which is investigating green power claims.
But so far, the efforts of Wright and Gillenwater to expose the shortcomings of renewable energy certificates are a lot like tilting at windmills.
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Read NPR's series Power Hungry: Reinventing The U.S. Electric Grid
MELISSA BLOCK, host:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.
ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
And I'm Robert Siegel.
Hundreds of electric companies are offering the chance to buy green power. The utilities are touting energy from renewable sources, such as wind or solar. But do you know what exactly you'd be buying?
For our series "How Green Is It?" NPR's Elizabeth Shogren decided to find out.
ELIZABETH SHOGREN: David Bell is an architect in Washington, D.C. He's turned an old townhouse into his office with all kinds of environmentally friendly technologies, like a self-charging, automatic water faucet.
Mr. DAVID BELL (Architect): It has a little turbine inside. It's a little hydroelectric plant right here.
SHOGREN: So when an entrepreneur offered him a chance to buy clean electricity and cut his power bills, Bell signed up. But is that what he's really getting?
Do you know where the power comes from that actually powers your lights and the other electrical appliances here?
Mr. BELL: No.
SHOGREN: Is it green power?
Mr. BELL: I've been told it is, yes.
SHOGREN: Not exactly. Turns out the electrons that power the lights and air-conditioning in Bell's office still come primarily from old-fashioned, coal-fired power plants. So, what is the clean power that Bell and so many other consumers are being sold?
Mr. GARY SKULNIK (President, Clean Currents): Well, it's termed green power.
SHOGREN: I asked Gary Skulnik, the entrepreneur who sells electricity to Bell.
Mr. SKULNIK: It doesn't mean that the actual electrons are coming from a wind farm thousands of miles directly to this particular business.
SHOGREN: A lot of people buying clean energy think that's exactly what they're getting. And if you listen to pitches from power companies, you can't blame them.
(Soundbite of advertisement)
Unidentified Man: You know, if my calculations are correct, signing up for pure power means I can prevent over 18,500 pounds of greenhouse gas from entering the atmosphere.
Unidentified Woman #1: Now, that's pure genius. How...
SHOGREN: But listen carefully to advertisements like this one, from a company called AmerenUE in St. Louis, and it's a lot more complicated.
(Soundbite of AmerenUE advertisement)
Unidentified Woman #2: When you enroll in pure power, AmerenUE purchases renewable energy certificates equal to 100 percent of your electric usage. That means more reliance on renewable sources, such as wind power, and less on fossil fuels. Plus...
SHOGREN: Did you catch that part about renewable energy certificates? For each unit of power a wind farm sells, it can also sell a renewable energy certificate. In other words, customers aren't actually buying electricity from windmills; their dollars are subsidizing renewable energy to encourage power companies and other businesses to build more windmills and solar plants.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Energy Department promote these programs. Gary Skulnik says it's a way to replace dirty power sources with cleaner ones, and fight global warming.
Mr. SKULNIK: It's like taking a glass of water and adding green food coloring to it. You're greening up the power.
SHOGREN: Some researchers, like Michael Gillenwater at Princeton University, think this is all a bit of a shell game.
Mr. MICHAEL GILLENWATER (Researcher, Princeton University): You would think that total amount of investment they're making is all going to build new wind turbines that would not have been there anyway. And that's not true. They're causing probably a little bit of new generation and new investment.
SHOGREN: He says the payoff is pretty small. Customers aren't cutting greenhouse gases nearly as much as they think.
Mr. GILLENWATER: If I buy 10 megawatt hours' worth of green power certificates, maybe I've caused one extra megawatt hour to be generated because of a new wind turbine was built. But nine of those were just there anyway because of government tax incentives and other things.
SHOGREN: So it's there any way you can go out and buy real, actual windmill-generated power?
Mr. DAVID WRIGHT (Commissioner, Ann Arbor Energy Commission): I'm quite frustrated by the current situation.
SHOGREN: David Wright tried to for the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan. He's on the local energy panel there that wanted to buy wind power. But there's only one utility in the area, and all it's selling is coal and nuclear power coupled with those renewable energy certificates.
Mr. WRIGHT: A certificate is not a renewable energy purchase. For the utility and for others to make those claims, I think it's highly misleading.
SHOGREN: If you want to know for sure that the power you're using comes from a windmill, about the only option right now is to put one in your backyard.
Elizabeth Shogren, NPR News, Washington.
SIEGEL: And you can find the other stories from our series, "How Green Is It?" at npr.org. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.
