Competitive Green Power Products

Explore the sections below to learn more about competitive green power products.

What Are Competitive Green Power Products?

Competitive green power products allow customers in competitive retail electricity markets to procure bundled electricity and renewable energy certificates (RECs) from a competitive electricity supplier that is not the customer’s default utility supplier. Participating customers pay for their renewable electricity via their monthly bill from their utility company, which then passes the payment through to the competitive electricity supplier. Participating customers usually pay a per-kilowatt-hour premium through an additional line item on their monthly electric utility bill. Prices for competitive green power products are generally higher than prices for traditionally sourced competitive products, as the competitive green power product includes both the REC and the electricity bundled together.

Eighteen states and Washington D.C. have introduced retail choice, which allows residential and/or commercial consumers to choose their own electricity provider and generation options, including renewable energy. In these competitive markets, municipally owned utilities may not offer their customers retail choice. It is important to note that the market is not always divided clearly between traditionally regulated markets and competitive market states. Some states, like California, are partially restructured markets and only permit certain consumers to engage in retail choice.

How Do Competitive Green Power Products Work?

In a competitive retail electricity market, customers are able to choose to purchase from various electric supply companies, each of which might offer different renewable electricity packages. These products could differ in their percentage of renewable energy (e.g., 30 percent, 50 percent, 100 percent), in their resource mix (e.g., wind, solar, biogas), and the geographic locations from which the renewable electricity is sourced. In most states, the utility still provides monopoly transmission services to deliver the electricity through established power lines. This means that when a customer chooses a competitive green power product, the renewable electricity will be supplied by the company of choice, but the default utility is still responsible for the delivery of the power and billing to the customer. Competitive green power products are generally purchased through short-term contracts, six to 36 months long.

The below infographic depicts how a typical Competitive Green Power Product works.

GPM Competitive Green Power Products
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How Do I Find Competitive Green Power Products?

Depending on where you live, there may be several competitive green power products available to you. Many states or state public utility commissions have consumer information websites to help their residents and businesses find and compare green power products and make informed decisions about their electricity supplier. Below is a list of resources offered by states with a competitive retail electricity market:

Table of States Offering Competitive Green Power Products
California California Public Utilities Commission's List of Registered Electric Service Providers
Connecticut Energize Connecticut's Tool to Compare Generation Rates
Delaware Delaware Public Service Commission's Customer Electric Choice webpage

List of Certified Providers (pdf) as of 6/29/18

Questions to Ask Potential Suppliers (pdf)
District of Columbia DC Department of Energy and Environment's Energy Choice DC webpage

Explanation of Energy Choice in DC (pdf)
Illinois Illinois Commerce Commission's Plug In Illinois webpage

Advantages and Challenges of Competitive Green Power Products

Advantages:

  • Easy procurement transaction requiring little expertise.
  • Consumers can shop around and find products matching their preferences.
  • High flexibility, as most contracts are short term.
  • Competition between utilities and other suppliers should improve service and drive down the price of electricity.
  • Some suppliers may offer innovative value-added services, such as advanced virtual net metering for apartments, electric vehicle charging, and sophisticated energy efficiency/energy management services.

Challenges:

  • Consumer awareness—many consumers do not realize they have choices and remain with default service provider.
  • May be difficult for customers to evaluate and compare products without guidance.
  • Price premiums are generally higher than buying unbundled RECs.

Additional Resources

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Last updated on November 12, 2024