What is a Renewable Energy Credit (REC)?
Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) are associated with energy generated from clean, sustainable sources of energy. One REC is granted for each megawatt-hour of electricity generated from a renewable energy facility and delivered into the power grid. Every megawatt-hour of clean, renewable energy in the local, regional or national electricity grid means that one less hour of traditional fossil fuel-based or other traditional energy generation is used.

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What does it mean to retire a REC? What are the benefits of retiring RECs?
By retiring RECs using a certified REC tracking system, each REC may be issued and claimed only once. That way, you can be sure that the project owner selling the REC only did so once. In addition, as RECs are retired, new resources must be built to meet future renewable energy requirements.

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Where does the Renewables Program get its RECs?
PPL EnergyPlus acquires RECs primarily from the owners of renewable projects, such as wind farms and landfill gas projects. These owners may already have a contract with PPL EnergyPlus or one of its affiliates. In addition, PPL EnergyPlus may acquire RECs for the Renewables Program from renewable projects developed by PPL affiliates, like our sister development company PPL Renewable Energy.

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What do you do with my payment?
PPL EnergyPlus primarily uses your payment to purchase RECs and then retire them. We also use payments to cover the cost of administering and running the program. However, any money not used to cover our overhead for the program goes to purchasing RECs.

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What are mandatory or compliance markets?  What are voluntary markets?
Mandatory markets, also known as compliance markets, are those markets where buyers and sellers offer and purchase Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) to meet states’ regulatory requirements. Many states established regulations that create a minimum amount of renewable energy in their electricity supply.

Voluntary markets for RECs are markets created not to meet states’ legal requirements, but to satisfy consumer preference. The voluntary market allows consumers to choose to do more than state governments require in order to reduce the environmental impact of electricity use. Voluntary markets help support the development of additional renewable energy projects beyond the support that the mandatory markets provide.

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What is a carbon footprint?
A carbon footprint is an estimate of your impact on the environment, in terms of carbon dioxide (CO2) released into the atmosphere as a result of burning fossil fuels for energy you use. Carbon dioxide results from everyday activities, from heating and cooling your home or business, to driving your car, to flying for business or pleasure.

Click here to use our Carbon Footprint Calculator.

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Does renewable energy cost more?
In many cases, yes. Costs to construct new renewable energy generating facilities like wind farms and solar energy systems are often greater than costs for conventional power sources.

Voluntary programs, such as the Renewables Program, are opportunities for you and others like you to invest in the development of renewable energy projects, increasing the amount of cleaner, renewable energy that is generated.

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Can I get a tax credit for participating in the program?
PPL EnergyPlus recommends that you consult your tax professional; tax laws change frequently and applicable rules will be different in each customer's state.

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Who can sign up for the Renewables Program?
The Renewables Program offers a broad range of renewable energy choices tailored to energy consumers. Currently, the program is open to residential customers and small businesses in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, with annual energy consumption less than 500 kilowatts or facilities less than 100,000 square feet.

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Can I still participate if my utility offers a similar program?
Yes. Customers can sign up with the Renewables Program whether or not their local utility offers a renewable program, and without having to switch electricity suppliers.

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How does participating in the Renewables Program impact my energy use?
It does not directly affect your use, but it does impact the amount of renewable energy that is used in the electric grid. Each time one megawatt-hour of clean, renewable energy is used in the local, regional or national electricity grid, it means that an equivalent amount of power from fossil fuel-based or other traditional generation sources was not used. Your support for this program and the financial benefit it offers to renewable energy projects results in less fossil fuel energy being generated.

For more information, visit How it Works and Reduce Your Impact.

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Why are programs like this one so important?
The Renewables Program gives you a way to support renewable energy. You can choose to support the development of new renewable energy generation projects on a local or regional level, and help support the growth of renewable energy projects in our electricity grid. Or you can choose to help sustain the viability of existing national renewable energy projects. At the end of the day, your choice to participate in this and other programs is an investment in a greener future.

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How new are "new" renewable resources?
For the Renewables Program, “new” renewable resources means those that have not produced electricity for the grid prior to 2008. In Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the Mid-Atlantic region, our program supports only the creation of new renewable resources. When one of our programs cannot guarantee that RECs are sourced from new renewable resources, as with our national program, we let you know.

However, other companies’ voluntary programs may use “new” to describe older programs. The federal government has issued an order that allows companies to use the term “new” for any resources built during or after 1999. So their “new” projects could be almost a decade old.

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Why is investing in new projects so important?
When you choose to support new renewable energy generation projects through the Renewables Program, you will be helping to limit reliance on energy generated from traditional fossil fuels, and increase the amount of renewable energy in the electricity grid.

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What is GATS certification?
The Renewables Program certifies its Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) using the nationally recognized Generation Attribute Tracking System (GATS). GATS is a centralized registry and accounting system that regulates, monitors and verifies the environmental attributes of each generation unit that enters the Mid-Atlantic electricity grid (PJM), and the activities of suppliers to the renewable energy market in the same region. GATS creates unique certificates that guarantee each REC is claimed only once.

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Does renewable energy come directly to my home?
It depends. Energy generators send electricity to the grid, which connects all our homes and businesses together. All the electricity, whether renewable or not, is then distributed, and it is very difficult to pinpoint exactly where each individual watt of energy ends up.

What is certain is that every time renewable energy is produced, one megawatt-hour of renewable energy enters the electricity grid instead of power generated from fossil fuels or other traditional generation resources. So, while the renewable energy produced may or may not end up at your home or business, it does ensure that it ends up in the grid instead of energy produced by fossil fuels.

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Will my current electric bill be affected by my purchase of renewable energy?
No. When you sign up for the Renewables Program, the cost will be billed to you separately from your current electric bill, according to your choice of credit card or bank account. You will still pay your electric bill through your electric utility or retail energy supplier.

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How do I renew my participation once I’ve signed up?
The Renewables Program is based on an annual schedule, set to automatically renew customers each year; however, you may easily change your status once you enroll by logging in to your program portal and clicking the “My Green Energy” link. From there you can choose to decline to be automatically enrolled on the anniversary of your purchase. PPL EnergyPlus will send you a confirmation e-mail upon enrollment, which also provides these instructions. In addition, you will receive a reminder e-mail one month before your enrollment anniversary date, informing you of your renewal status and providing details on how you can make changes.

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Who are your partners in developing new renewable resources?
PPL EnergyPlus has worked with the following companies to help develop new renewable energy resources that harness wind, landfill gas, and solar energy.

• PPL Renewable Energy
• Iberdrola Renewables
• Shell WindEnergy Inc.