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Renewable energy certificates (RECs), also known as green certificates, green tags, or tradable renewable certificates, represent the environmental attributes of the power produced from renewable energy projects and are sold separate from commodity electricity. Customers can buy green certificates whether or not they have access to green power through their local utility or a competitive electricity marketer. And they can purchase green certificates without having to switch electricity suppliers.

Each unique certificate represents all of the environmental attributes or benefits of a specific quantity of renewable generation, namely the benefits that everyone receives when conventional fuels, such as coal, nuclear, oil, or gas, are displaced. What you pay for when you buy renewable energy certificates is the benefit of displacing other non-renewable sources from the electric grid.

RECs typically cost a few dollars per megawatt-hour (MWh) for voluntary purchases and are sold by renewable power generators to utilities and other brokers, which in turn sell them to customers.

Demand for RECs has exploded. Given how abstract renewable energy certificates are, verification of their attributes is essential. The best-known program with arguably the largest national impact is the Green-e Renewable Energy Certification Program of the San Francisco-based nonprofit Center for Resource Solutions. Green-e® verifies RECs with extensive criteria, such as:

* that the provider purchased enough renewable electricity or RECs in quantity and type to meet its customer demand for each product;
* that the electricity or RECs were purchased from eligible renewable generators, as defined in the Green-e National Standard;
* that the information provided to customers on the product's annual Product Content Label is accurate;
* that the company did not make any specific purchases of nuclear power;
* that the renewable electricity or RECs purchased and sold by the provider were not sold to more than one customer;
* that the provider has purchased no electricity or RECs from fuel sources for which negative marketing claims were made; and
* that any non-renewable portion of the product meets the emissions requirements set by the Green-e National Standard.