Washington DC aims to be the greenest city through initiatives like Sustainable DC. It already sources 11.4% of its electricity from green power, ranked #1 by the EPA. Individuals and businesses can purchase renewable energy certificates (RECs) to support renewable energy production, though it does not directly reduce local emissions. RECs incentivize renewable installation by representing the environmental benefits of 1 MWh of renewable generation. While RECs provide a simple way to contribute, their impact is limited and a carbon tax may better distribute the costs of fossil fuels.

1. Moving to Renewable Energy in Washington, DC, USA
Climate Literacy: Navigating Climate Change Conversations
Washington, DC
Washington, DC is the capital of the United
States, with a population of 632,323 in 2012,
making it the 24th most populous place in the
United States. As a city, it is unique in that is is
within the District of Columbia, which is not part
of any U.S. State. It is under the exclusive
jurisdiction of the United States Congress.
The city has endured decades of population
decline, with a peak of 802,178 in 1950, to a
low of 572,059 in 2000.
With the District’s population growing steadily, with 30,600 residents since 2010 ( a 5 %
increase) Mayor Vince Gray announced in 2011 that he wanted to make the District “the
healthiest, greenest, most livable city in the nation,” which included the launch of
Sustainable DC and these as a few milestones:
“...more than 300 LEED certified projects with another 700 in the pipeline and we have
just announced plans to adopt a new green building code that will dramatically reduce
the future environmental footprint of our built environment. Across the city, residents and
businesses have installed more than 750 solar energy systems and the District
government now purchases 100% green electric power.”
Renewable Energy and Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs)
For the purpose of this assignment, I am focusing on renewable energy and the impact
it could have on climate change.
Washington, DC is already ranked #1 in the US Environmental Protection Agency Green
Power Community Challenge1 with 1 billion killowatt-hours or 11.4% of electricity
supplied by green power.
The green power purchased by the Washington, DC Community is listed as
“Washington Gas Energy Services*, Various, Constellation*, Clean Currents*”, which
are certified by the Center for Resource Solutions’ Green-e Energy Program.2
1 http://www.epa.gov/greenpower/communities/gpcrankings.htm
2 http://www.green-e.org

2. A Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) is not the same as a carbon offset. Instead, it is
an “attribute” of renewal energy generation that includes information about the energy
created, and sold as a certificate on the voluntary market.
From the green-e.org FAQ3:
in general, the difference is that a REC represents the environmental
benefits of a MWh of renewable electricity generation, and so it can
be said to “offset” the emissions of a single MWh of average
electricity generation. A carbon offset can be matched with emissions
from other sources of greenhouse gas emissions (not just electricity
generation), like flying and driving.
A REC is a measure of the overall environmental benefits associated
with the generation of 1 MWh of renewable electricity. These benefits
include the fact that few if any greenhouse gases and other pollutants
are being emitted from this generation.
Purchasing RECs
A consumer in Washington, DC can “switch” to renewable power (which comes from
wind) instead of standard power (which comes from coal) by enrolling with Clean
Currents Wind Power.4
There are two
renewable power
options, based on the
purchase of Wind
power from national
markets, or from local
markets. As it shows in the chart below, locally purchased wind is slightly more
expensive.
A review of the author’s current electricity bill shows the current charge for standard
power to be 0.0892400 per KWH after the first 30 KWH, which makes wind power about
120% the cost of standard power in Washington. DC
From a feasibility/convenience perspective, this appears to be a straightforward process
to engage in as a citizen, or as a business.
3 http://www.green-e.org/learn_re_faq.shtml#q7
4 http://www.cleancurrents.com/residential-wind-power/understanding-your-bill/
source: green-e.org

3. In fact the District of Columbia government purchased 50% green power in 2011 and
increased to 100% in 20125
Impact on climate of purchasing RECs
There are several notes about carbon equivalency claims and depending on where you
look, the language is more nuanced.
There is a document called the Code of Conduct6 that takes great care to provide
guidelines for carbon equivalency, which it suggests should be no more than 1,118.86
lbs of CO2/MWh, and states: “Participants shall not use these claims to suggest the
purchase of a Green-e Energy Certified product can be used to directly address the
emissions associated with activities other than electricity consumption.”
However, electricity composes a large
portion of greenhouse gas emissions in
Washington, DC.
It appears, then, that there is an indirect
impact on climate through incentivizing
the manufacture and installation of
renewable energy systems. A caveat, or
expectation, is that the purchase of
renewable energy produced elsewhere
may not count toward the reduction of
carbon emissions by a sub-national/
regional entity, as the Washington, DC
Greenhouse Gas Inventory describes:
because most purchases of green power are made from national markets, they do not
reduce local emissions or factor into GHG inventories. While very important to the
growth of a national renewable industry, many of the reductions occur far away and are
purchased as renewable energy credits.7
Implications / resources / possible barriers
Renewable Energy Certificates present a simple way for ordinary citizens and
businesses to incent the production of renewable energy. They may also create a
5 2011 District of Columbia Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory, http://ddoe.dc.gov/service/dc-
greenhouse-gas-emissions-inventory
6 Green-e Energy Code of Conduct and Customer Disclosure Requirements, retreived from http://
www.green-e.org/getcert_re_stan.shtml#coccdr
7 2011 District of Columbia Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory, http://ddoe.dc.gov/service/dc-
greenhouse-gas-emissions-inventory

4. tangible linkage between the effects of fossil fuel burning and climate change in the
consumers’ mind. Simplicity is an advantage - a certificate is issued for 1 MWh of
electricity generation that may not be resold. There are no opaque auctions or trading
happening, it is a 1:1 exchange. Another advantage is that the action taken has a
national or global impact if the REC is purchased from national markets, even if a local
government such as Washington, DC, cannot attach these to its local CO2 emission
reduction targets.
Barriers and challenges include the fact that there may be a limit on how much
renewable energy may be purchased through this mechanism. In addition, it is not clear
how this system would result in the decommissioning of coal-fired plants, or how the two
actions would be linked in the consumers’ mind. Also, different households may have
sensitivity to an electricity charge that is 120% of standard power charges.
As discussed in the course and in the Washington, DC, Sustainability Plan, there has
been thought given to a carbon tax, which might be able to distribute the burden of fossil
fuel usage more appropriately across the population.
The District will incentivize reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by developing
financial tools to capture the “true” costs of products and services, including their costs
of environmental impacts. One incentive could be in the form of a fee-and-dividend
carbon tax that would first require a feasibility study to understand how to design and
implement such a progressive tool. This tax would place a fee on all energy use; fossil
fuels, with the highest carbon content, would incur the highest fees, while cleaner fuels
would incur the lowest fees. As fees increase over time, users would be encouraged to
switch to cleaner fuels and reduce their emissions. The revenue generated by the
carbon tax would be reinvested in future climate protection, preparedness, and
adaptation programs.8
8 Sustainabilty DC Plan, http://sustainable.dc.gov, page 42