Have you ever wondered where your power comes from? If you’re in California, 58% of your electricity comes from a combination of natural gas, large hydro, nuclear, coal, and oil. California has aggressive mandates to increase the percentage of renewable energy sources. Want to make sure your home or business runs on, or at least supports, clean energy? Here are four great ways to get closer to 100%:
- Install renewables on-site.
- Purchase your own solar system or a small wind turbine (whatever will do best at the site in question). Find a locally owned installer or use a site like EnergySage make it easy to compare installers.
- Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)
- Allow a company to put solar panels or wind turbines on your property and in return, you’ll gain a lower rate on your electricity, with nothing or close to nothing down, and you’ll know that you’re adding clean power to the grid! PPA’s are also beneficial for non-profits and government as the company installing the system can pass along the tax savings that you wouldn’t qualify for otherwise.
- CCA/Utility Options
- Check with your local Community Choice Aggregator to see if they have a 100% renewable option
- Check with your local investor-owned utility to see about their 100% renewable option, for example, PGE’s Solar Choice and SCE’s Green Rates
- Offsets/Renewable Energy Credits
- Offsets provide the ability to mitigate any/all emissions you or your business produce directly or indirectly. This includes your purchases, transportation, natural gas use, and electricity). There are many sources of offers and many calculators to help you/your business determine your scope 1-3 emissions and offset them. Carbon offsets should meet “additionality” criteria before they are certified giving purchasers peace of mind that the project wouldn’t have taken place without the offers playing a role in financing.
- Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) are able to reduce/eliminate the emissions from your electricity that isn’t already sourced from renewables. Buying these RECs may encourage more renewable energy installation.
If you’re interested in pursuing cleaner energy options for your business or home, contact us for a no-fee consultation.