Renewable Energy
Auction
Online auctions provide a fast and effective way to source renewable
energy. Independent Energy Consultants is
proud to be a channel partner of World Energy Solutions, the leader in
online energy procurement. Together, we will guide you through the
entire purchasing process at no cost to our clients.
When purchasing energy through an online auction we are able to ask
suppliers to provide bids for a certain percentage of electricity
generated from renewable energy sources. Our clients are then
free to accept an offer that includes renewable energy ranging from
0-100%. Often renewable energy can be added to your purchase
needs with little or no cost premium.
Whatever your needs, a reverse auction or the innovative "post and
respond" process will drive down your costs, provide market
transparency and give you a range of options to choose from.
World Energy's knowledge center provides a wealth
of information concerning energy sourcing. Click here if you would like
to view an online green auction.
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Your
Energy Manager
Topic: Renewable Energy Sourcing
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Welcome,
Independent Energy Consultants, Inc. is committed to helping
its clients make
well-informed and cost-effective decisions regarding
their energy supply and consumption. We are sending you this newsletter
to help you understand how decisions that are made, or not made, affect
your company's bottom line.
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From
Knowledge to Action
In our last
newsletter we examined different types of Renewable Energy Sources.
In this newsletter we follow up with a discussion of how to purchase
renewable energy. If public relations surrounding your
environmental stewardship are not enough to cause you to purchase
renewable energy, there is a good chance that a federal or state
mandate will do so in the near future. In an upcoming newsletter we
will discuss the cost and ramifications of the "Cap and Trade"
legislation making its way through the House and Senate. In this
newsletter we will show you how IEC
and its partners can help you purchase renewable energy now.
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Sourcing
Renewable Energy
There are two common ways to meet your renewable energy needs:
- Sourcing
energy directly from a renewable source/generator, or
- Buying Renewable Energy
Certificates (RECs)
Buying
directly from a renewable energy supplier is
not always practical or easy to transact. For  example,
a company on the East coast would have
difficulty getting energy directly from a wind farm
located on the Great Plains. Scheduling direct transmission
routes from a renewable energy source to an end-use customer often
makes this option too expensive and cumbersome.
A more practical and commonly used approach to demonstrate your
commitment to the environment, is with the purchase of renewable energy
certificates. For every megawatt-hour
(MWh) of electricity generated by a renewable energy source, an REC is created. The renewable
energy displaces the need for electricity generated from fossil fuel
sources, often referred to as brown power. These RECs are given a
unique serial number and then sold independent of the actual
electricity flow. RECs were first traded in late 1990s and have
gained popularity ever since. The buyer of an REC has the sole
claim to that renewable generation and once the transaction takes
place, the serial number is
retired so no one else can claim the environmental benefits.
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Why Choose RECs?
There
are several advantages to choosing RECs over purchasing directly from a
renewable energy supplier. To use energy directly from a renewable
energy source requires complex scheduling and often involves working
with multiple utility companies. Scheduling is a process of
routing energy along a specific path once it hits the energy grid, much
like planning a cross-country car ride. The energy flow passes
from one utility system to another, each time adding cost, complexity
and line losses, until it arrives at its final metered destination.
With RECs a customer is also able to choose a particular type of
renewable energy. For example, a company may have strategic
reasons for wanting to promote wind energy and could purchase RECs that
were created by wind generation or even a particular wind farm.
Promoting this fact with its customers could add to the company's
image.
Independent
Energy Consultants
works with commercial, industrial, and governmental clients to make
procuring RECs easy. We are a channel partner of World Energy
Solutions, the leader in online exchanges of energy and environmental
commodities. The
World Energy Exchange transacts electricity, natural gas, fuels, and
green
power. In addition their World Green Exchange transacts
renewable
energy
certificates and greenhouse gas emissions credits. World Energy works
in all deregulated energy markets in the US and Canada, and in green
commodities
markets around the world. Let us bring that expertise and personalized
service to your company.
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