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Voluntary Green Power Procurement

NREL has tracked status and trends in the voluntary green power market since its inception in the 1990s. This work can help corporate purchasers, utilities, and others selling renewable energy products understand available renewable options and move renewable energy forward. Voluntary green power is separate from renewables used to meet state renewable portfolio standards (RPSs).

Pie chart depicting the voluntary market share of non-hydropower renewable generation. And, chart depicting the voluntary market share of non-hydropower renewable generation over time, from 2006 to 2015.

Voluntary market share of U.S. non-hydropower renewable generation

Featured Publications

Status and Trends in the U.S. Voluntary Green Power Market (2016 Data)
The latest version of NREL's annual tracking of the voluntary market found that the U.S. voluntary green power market grew to 95 million megawatt-hours sold to 6.3 million customers in 2016. The report covers trends in utility green pricing programs, utility renewable contracts, competitive suppliers, unbundled renewable energy certificates, community choice aggregations, power purchase agreements, and community solar.

Charting the Emergence of Corporate Procurement of Utility-Scale PV 
This report examines the benefits, challenges, and outlooks for large-scale off-site solar purchasing in the United States. It features case studies of an aggregate power purchase agreement, a corporation exiting their incumbent utility, a utility offering large scale renewables to corporate customers, and a company with approval to sell energy into wholesale markets. [presentation and summary]

Policies for Enabling Corporate Sourcing of Renewable Energy Internationally: A 21st Century Power Partnership Report
This report explores the policy and regulatory enabling environment for corporate sourcing of renewables. The authors find that policy certainty is essential to creating vibrant markets for renewable energy, that policymakers may need to adjust policy mechanisms over time as markets go through different stages of maturity, and that policymakers must also consider the economic decisions that end users make in evaluating projects. [summary]

Renewable Electricity Use by the U.S. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Industry
This analysis examines renewable electricity use by 113 ICT companies in the United States using data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Green Power Partnership and the Carbon Disclosure Project Worldwide. The 113 ICT companies examined collectively consumed more than 59 million MWh of electricity in 2014, which represents 1.5% of the total U.S. electricity consumption. Of the 59 million MWh, 14% (8.3 million MWh) was sourced from voluntary renewable electricity.

Utility Green Pricing Program Ranks

NREL has evaluated utility green pricing programs and published annual lists of top ranked programs.

Green Power Procurement Library

For articles and reports on green power, green pricing, and related topics, browse NREL’s Green Power Procurement Library, categorized by year of publication.

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Contact

Eric O'Shaughnessy

eric.oshaughnessy@nrel.gov | 303-275-4904