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Offering a renewable energy choice to consumers now In order to help utilities large and small navigate their way through the green power market, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has published the Green Pricing Resource Guide, designed to introduce power providers to all the concepts they need to be aware of to create a successful green pricing program. The guide is being released on the first day of the Ninth National Green Power Marketing Conference being held in Albany, N.Y. Organized by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Center for Resource Solutions, this conference features experts from the field exploring strategies to increase the development of renewable energy resources through customer choice. "The green power market is raising awareness of the benefits of using more renewable energy to customers across the U.S.," said AWEA Executive Director Randall Swisher. "Already half of the electricity customers in America have access to a green power program, and with this guide and other efforts to educate utilities on the ease of creating a green power program, hopefully the number of programs will expand further still." The guide was funded through the Department of Energy and written by Ed Holt and Merideth Holt. Ed Holt is an independent consultant on green power marketing issues and an advisor to AWEA. "Green pricing programs are good for utilities because it gives them a chance to learn about how to offer renewable energy to their customers. It is good for customers because it allows them to exercise a choice in their electricity sources. And, of course, it is good for the community because it reduces the air and water pollution and global climate impacts from electricity generation," said Holt.
Although utilities have a public responsibility to develop
cost-effective renewable energy projects as part of their
rate-based electricity supply, in order to
jump-start the market for new renewable
technologies, market leaders have pioneered the creation of programs -
usually referred to as green pricing programs - where above-market
renewable projects are developed for environmental and educational
reasons and the difference in price is charged to a voluntary core
of program subscribers. More than 500 utilities
in 34 states now offer green pricing programs,
according to the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL). The guide provides the case for why a utility would want to create a green pricing program, including satisfying customers and shareholders, educating customers and utilities themselves, improving environmental performance, and promoting electricity price stability, as well as meeting state requirements. It then goes through the nuts and bolts of creating a program, examining how to acquire the renewable supply, then how to price and market it, and finally, how to retain customers and evaluate the program. It looks in detail at what has worked - as well as what hasn't - for other green pricing programs. The main focus of the guide is on green pricing programs, although most of the insights apply or can be adapted to green power marketing in restructured markets, and to a lesser extent to renewable energy certificates.
The guide is now available on the association's Web site at:
http://www.awea.org/greenpower/greenPricingResourceGuide040726.pdf
. ### AWEA, formed in 1974, is the national trade association of the U.S. wind energy industry. The association’s membership includes turbine manufacturers, wind project developers, utilities, academicians, and interested individuals. More information on wind energy is available at the AWEA web site: www.awea.org |
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©
2004 by the American Wind Energy Association. |
