The Clean Energy Shell Game

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Uncover the players, the power and the
possibilities of renewable energy.

By Lisa Cohn

Large-scale solar energy facility in Daggett, California.

Across the United States, buyers may now purchase "clean" kilowatt-hours from wind turbines perched atop ridges in Wyoming and Colorado, solar panels that cap parking structures in California, or geothermal power plants that harvest 500-degree underground temperatures.

According to the American Wind Energy Association in Washington, D.C., more than 140 utilities in the U.S. are now offering "green" power from renewable energy sources, while some unregulated energy companies are already operating in some states. Just look for power labels like Blue Sky, Wind for the Future and Salmon-Friendly Power, whose names are intended to evoke images of pure air, waste-free water, and rivers that nurture fish and wildlife.

LET'S MAKE A DEAL

Paul Komor, research director for E Source, a private energy information provider in Boulder, Colorado, says that the good news about the fledgling green power industry is that renewable energy is being developed all over the country. "Buying green power is the single best thing you can do with your money to help the environment," he adds.

Nevertheless, buyers may feel they need advanced degrees in environmental studies and economics to wade through an energy company's befuddling list of electricity alternatives, energy mixtures, pricing terms and sometime questionable claims about which kinds of power are truly "clean."

In fact, Kirk Brown, assistant director of San Francisco's Center For Resource Solutions (CRS), one of a handful of organizations that "certify", or guarantee, that clean power is truly clean through meeting given environmental standards, says that blindly choosing any kind of green power program isn't the best thing to do. "A green power program may not be delivering any renewable energy," he says. "That's the tricky issue."

Just look at GreenMountain.com , which is based in South Burlington, Vermont, and is the largest green power marketer in the United States. They offer a product that includes renewable energy mixed in with more conventional sources of power in an effort to keep the price down. However, others do sell 100% renewable energy while offering to build new clean power plants in the process. The cost may be higher for the individual, though much lower for the environment. For a price about 80% higher per unit of energy than electricity from traditional sources, PacifiCorp in Portland, Oregon, says it will build new wind turbines to provide customers with 100% renewable energy.

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