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Buying RECs, CO2 Offsets, or Alternative Energy
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2008

We can buy renewable energy credits (RECs) or CO2 offsets by consulting several web sites.

We can buy renewable energy credits (RECs) or CO2 offsets by consulting  several web sites including:

Clean Currents (http://www.cleancurrents.com)

Wind Current (http://www.windcurrent.com)

Sterling Planet (http://www.sterlingplanet.com)

TerraPass (http://www.terrapass.com)

Native Energy (http://www.nativeenergy.com)

One REC is about equal to 1,350 pounds (0.675 tons) of CO2 equivalent offsets.

Some may be able to buy alternative energy delivered by our local utility through:

Residential and Commercial
Washington Gas Energy Services (http://www.wges.com)

Residential:
Pepco Energy Services (http://www.pepcoenergy.com/NaturalGasElectricity/default.aspx) and click on the box “Looking for our residential Electricity Rates?”

Commercial
Constellation NewEnergy (http://www.newenergy.com/) and select “Electricity” and “Products” from the top line and then scroll down to information on “ElectricGreen”.

A tool to find and purchase RECs can be found at Green-E (http://www.green-e.org). To find out where to purchase renewable energy select a “Buy Renewable Energy” link on the right side of the page.

Government resources are on the U.S.  Environmental Protection Agency (http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy or http://www.epa.gov/greenpower), the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (http://www.nrel.gov), the Department of Energy, Green Power Network (http://www.eere.energy.gov/greenpower), and the Maryland Energy Administration (energy.maryland.gov). 

There are also clean energy rewards credits in Montgomery County, MD for buying RECs or green energy through your utility. They are 1¢ / kWh for residential and 1.5¢ for commercial. For more information see: http://www.montgomerycounty.md/dep and select the link for Clean Energy Rewards, 240-777-7700 Susan Kirby 240-777-7753 or Stan Edwards (chief) There is also a program that provides credits to homeowners and others for energy generation such as using photovoltaic panels.

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