Why People Buy RECs – And Why You Should, Too
Basically, there are three reasons why people buy RECs:
- RECs give them a way to do what they believe is the right thing to do.
- RECs make them look good.
- They have to.
If you are an individual, then you are probably buying them for the first reason. If you are a business, then you are probably buying them for the second reason.
If you are a utility, you are almost certainly buying them for the third reason.
One great reason to buy RECs: your kids will think you’re cool. RECs set a great example to the next generation.
Whatever your reason, your purchase is helping to set right something that, up to now, has been all wrong: America has dropped the ball on global warming, and has dropped the ball on green energy.
As a country, we have spent the past decade actively working against international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And despite being the technological leader of the world…in fact, we were once the technological leader in green energy, before government support of research was redirected back in the 1980s…we lag behind virtually every other developed nation in green energy.
The reality of greenhouse gases is that the world continues to emit more every year. The Kyoto Protocol aimed simply to slow this advance, and it is still a long way from succeeding at even this humble goal.
When it comes to emitting greenhouse gas, we ARE the leader. China is doing its best to catch up with us (neither country has ratified the Kyoto Protocol), but America is still far and away the number one emitter of greenhouse gas.
It will take a concerted effort and considerabe sacrifice to undo the damage we have already done. Every passing year brings more evidence that climate change is already happening. The effects may not fully come to pass within our lifetimes, but there is little doubt that they will happen within our children’s lifetimes, and almost no doubt that they will happen within our grandchildren’s lifetimes.
Our government has not shown the resolve to confront this issue. Instead, it has thrown it to the free markets.
Think of RECs every time you hit the ON switch. The goal for an individual is to match 100% of their electric use with an equal number of RECs. You may not be able to run a power line from your outlets to a wind farm, but RECs are the next best thing.
Which means your voluntary REC purchase is more than an expression of your personal beliefs. It also makes a powerful political statement and sets a powerful example. There are many who doubt that this country is ready to make the sacrifices that will be necessary to make green energy a reality. With your REC purchase, you are saying: I’m ready. I’m ready to support green energy not just with my words and my thoughts, but with my wallet as well.
When wallets talk, government listens. So does business and industry. Cap and trade, the system which will make fossil fuels pay for the damage they cause, is stalled in Congress because they don’t believe America’s ready to pay more for the same energy. Voluntary REC purchases tell them a very different story. When enough people speak this way, it will be impossible not to listen.
And remember, green energy isn’t just about greenhouse gases. It’s about clean air, clean water, less drilling, less mining, new jobs, new opportunities and an energy source produced right here in the United States.
This is how RECs allow you to have a meaningful impact on green energy right now.
The business community, meanwhile, is still on the fence when it comes to green energy. Business interests convinced the government not to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, and they are pushing hard to keep a national cap and trade system off the table. That is to be expected of businesses: they want to maximize profits and minimize expenses. Voluntarily agreeing to pay more for energy goes against the basic nature of capitalism.
On the other hand, businesses will do anything to meet the demands of the consumer. Businesses know that, to succeed in the market, they must stay one step ahead of popular opinion. If consumers demand green, businesses will meet that demand, at whatever cost is necessary.
Businesses are realizing the importance of marketing their support of green energy. RECs are one of the easiest ways for them to start doing this.
So they push back with one hand while they pull forward with the other. Radical steps are rebuffed; gradual steps are embraced.
The move to “go green” is gradually picking up steam. Some businesses are making the move because they recognize their corporate responsibility; others because they recognize the economic necessity. But everyone recognizes the need to get on board, and to get the message out through their marketing that they are going where consumers want them to go.
What they want, more than anything else, is a way to do this without taking radical steps.
This is easier said than done. Facilities will need to be updated or replaced; outmoded technologies will need to be revamped; long-established practices will require a reboot. Gradual steps on the path to green seem to be in short supply.
Enter the REC.
Any business can purchase RECs. All they have to do is calculate their electric usage and write a check. RECs don’t tie up a lot of funds or staff hour, and they don’t disrupt production. They don’t involve new processes or procedures. They don’t change business as usual. Yet RECs are a meaningful step in the green direction, because they directly support green energy and are certified and verified. They are flexible, too, because they give businesses the choice to match a certain percentage of their electric usage, all the way to 100%. For a big business, that’s a lot of RECs!
Business moves incrementally, but business moves relentlessly. As more businesses get on the REC bandwagon, the marketing angle changes. The first REC buyers could claim to be trendsetters. The next group were the cautious visionaries. Soon, REC purchases will be considered business as usual. After that, businesses who haven’t bought RECs will be behind the curve. And then the businesses who want to gain a marketing advantage will have to look past RECs and take a deeper step into green. And so the cycle continues…this time, in the right direction.
This is how RECs allow businesses to do what makes them look good, and have a positive impact on green energy.
In the end, what is most important isn’t why people buy RECs…it’s that we do what is necessary to help green energy grow.
Utilities still buy more RECs than anyone else. And utilities buy RECs because they have to.
Utilities buy RECs to meet standards set by their state governments. Thirty states and the District of Columbia have already established Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), which we discussed in What The HEC Is a REC? (click here if you’d like to read it) An RPS requires that utilities buy a certain percentage of their electricity from green power sources. The utilities prove they’ve met the percentage mandated in the RPS by buying RECs.
Legislators who favor green energy have found that America’s voters, like America’s businesses, prefer gradual steps. Renewable Portfolio Standards give them a way to gradually increase our commitment to green. A few points added to an RPS don’t seem like much of a sacrifice, but it gives legislators a way, little by little, to ratchet up the amount of green energy in America’s energy mix. Right now, it is the most effective legislative tool we have to actually regulate our way to a greener America.
RECs give the free markets a way to support green energy. They also give governments a way to legislate in support of green energy through the power of free markets. Markets and government working together: that’s America at its best.