How to buy green power in Maryland

First: dirty power. Making power is typically a very nasty business involving the combustion of fuels like coal. You breathe the pollution and the atmosphere accumulates it, adding to the global warming problem. To see how much and what kind of pollution we are breathing from power plants in Maryland, go to Clear the Air¹- according to this site, power plants generate 40 percent of all CO2 emissions nationwide, plus many dangerous air pollutants that make people sick.

Green power is renewable and creates minimal pollution. You can either buy green power from your energy provider (if you are lucky and they offer it) or, you can pay for a green energy certificate from a third party. When you pay for green power, you pay your energy provider a premium to invest in green energy in their portfolio of energy sources. The energy you get is the same energy everyone gets, but your dollar gets invested in the green power portfolio. If you buy a green energy certificate, also known as green tags or renewable energy certificates, you pay a third party a premium per kilowatt hour to produce green energy. The third party does not have to be connected to your energy provider, though some energy providers do offer green tags. The outcome with green power and green energy certificates is the same- you may get your energy from dirty coal but you are paying someone to produce clean energy that you can lay claim to. With some green tags you can also offset your carbon emissions². The U.S. Department of Energy has an excellent website³ that breaks down what your options are for buying green power in Maryland⁴, and provides a big fun Christmas list of providers of green energy certificates⁵. A lot of Craggers are not interested in offsets because they want to primarily reduce carbon emissions. There are also a lot of offsets that have undesirable secondary effects, like how the capture of methane from confined animal feeding operations indirectly supports this awful form of farming. Carbon offsets have been compared by some to Papal Indulgences- I think the point here is to reduce what you can and consider offsets as an option for what you have not reduced at the end of our carbon year. I bought carbon offsets for myself and my boyfriend as birthday presents. As for buying green energy tags, if you pick a certified provider that is providing the type of energy you want (say wind power as opposed to hydoelectric or municipal landfill gas burning) then I think the tags are an excellent choice.

Let’s talk shop. Right now my electricity costs about 9 cents per kilowatt hour (it’s on my electricity bill, along with my usage). If I buy green power certificates, I will voluntarily add 0.8 cents to 3 cents per kilowatt hour on top of what I already pay. Or I will pay a flat rate of $5 to $10 per ton of carbon (CO2) emissions that I want to offset (My lifestyle causes the emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas pollutant. I can calculate the emissions using a carbon footprint calculator). I can choose what type of power I want and look at the different costs to see which provider of green energy certificates is best for me. Many of these certificates are certified by programs like Green-e and Environmental Resources Trust. I probably would want one that has been certified to make sure it is actually investing where it says it is and that it will provide me the greenness that I desire.

I am not lucky enough to live in a place where my energy provider offers green energy in its portfolio. If you do, then you can pay extra to invest in a green energy product; for example, Baltimore Gas & Electric/ Pepco⁶ charge 12.89/13.69 cents respectively per KWh for a 100% “green energy” product; this product includes landfill gas and municipal solid waste burning, so look carefully at the contents of the portfolio to make sure it fits your needs for greenness. They also offer a wind energy product for 13.59/14.59 cents per KWh. If you have Allegheny like I do, your best bet is to choose an alternate supplier⁷ that offers the green power option or buy the green power certificates from a third party. I looked for alternate suppliers and so far I haven’t found any that offer anything in their portfolios so I may be going with the green power certificates.

Maryland Passed the Healthy Air Act⁸ last year. This law sets aggressive emissions targets for air pollutants like nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, and mercury; however it does not specifically regulate greenhouse gas emissions, though it does require Maryland to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)⁹. RGGI is a regional cap and trade program aimed at reducing CO2 emissions from electricity generators. I talk to many people who would like the government to regulate greenhouse gas pollutants (my most conservative friends included, because they want to be forced to do it and think they won’t make the right decisions on their own- I know this sounds crazy but it is true). I agree that the government should but it’s best not to wait.

Maryland also has a renewable energy standard but it is minimal. See Environment Maryland’s report¹⁰ on Maryland’s renewable portfolio requirements:

“In 2004, Maryland adopted a renewable electricity standard (RES) that will require a gradual increase in the amount of renewable energy supplied to Maryland electricity consumers. Beginning in 2006, 1 percent of the power sold in the state came from clean renewable sources. The target level increases every other year. The law was amended in 2007 to increase the total amount of electricity that must be generated from renewable sources. By 2022, 9.5 percent of Maryland’s electricity must come from clean renewable power.80 Eligible sources of electricity include wind, solar, geothermal, some biomass, methane from landfills or wastewater treatment plants, wave energy, and small hydropower. To spur the development of solar power, the law includes a requirement that an increasing amount of energy come from solar, reaching 2 percent of total electricity sales in Maryland in 2022.”

You know what you need to know to invest in green power and you don’t have to wait for Maryland to catch up. It seems like a small price to pay. Have fun shopping!