green energy for businesses

Green Supply (Commodity)

In some markets, such as Texas and New York, businesses can buy green energy as part of their electricity supply directly from their provider.  Businesses can usually elect to buy a certain percentage of green energy (e.g., 20%, 50%, 100%, or a custom selection), or can buy "blocks" of green energy, meaning a set number of kilowatt-hours.

One of the main advantages of buying green energy this way is that the green energy may act as a hedge against price volatility of conventional power.  For example, the price of natural gas, which sets most retail power prices, has fluctuated wildly recently, causing power prices in some areas to increase by more than 10¢ per kilowatt-hour.  However, green energy supply costs did not increase because unlike natural gas, there is no "cost" to buy wind to run wind turbines, meaning customers buying wind power were insulated from gas-related price spikes.

Another advantage to buying green supply is that it is administratively easier, since you are buying green energy right on your energy bill, from the same provider that sells you your electricity.

One of the drawbacks to green supply is that not all customers have the option to buy green supply depending on where their business is located.