In January 2009, American Municipal Power, Inc. (AMP) began offering its EcoSmart Choice® green-pricing program, which provides the benefits of renewable generation directly to Member communities and their customers.
Program Basics
EcoSmart Choice allows participating municipal electric system customers the option of offsetting up to 100 percent of their electric usage with renewable resources. AMP is excited to offer the EcoSmart Choice option, as national statistics show a strong correlation between overall customer satisfaction and programs that allow the customer to choose renewable energy.
Green-pricing programs such as EcoSmart Choice® are based on the purchase and retirement of RECs. One REC is equivalent to one megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity generated from renewable resources. Each REC that is purchased and used by the electric utility for the green-pricing program matches one MWh of traditional (non-renewable) electric generation. Once RECs are used for this purpose, they are retired. The buying and selling of RECs through green-pricing programs such as EcoSmart Choice® enables electric utilities to deliver the benefits of renewable energy to more customers, regardless of their power supply mix.
Customer Sign-up
EcoSmart Choice is available to the customers of participating AMP Member communities. Customers can contact their local utility to see if the program is being offered, and to sign up for the EcoSmart Choice program. Customers may also visit www.ecosmartchoice.org to sign up online.
Resources
To the maximum extent practical, RECs used by AMP for EcoSmart Choice® are within the AMP Member footprint and come from a variety of sources, such as hydroelectric, landfill gas, solar or wind facilities.
For more information, please contact Corey Hawkey, Director of Member Programs and Sustainability, at 614.540.6932 or [email protected].