How effective are "GreenUp" (opt-in utility company green energy) programs?

Asked Aug 12 '15 at 16:52

Active Aug 13 '15 at 19:39

Viewed 67 times

My local Seattle utility offers a "Green Up!" program where customers can pay extra on each bill to buy energy from more renewable sources. I'm signed up to contribute at the highest level ($12/month), but I'm wondering if this is an effective use of money. Do they actually purchase more renewable energy based on customers opting in, or would they have done so anyway?

List of US "Green Up!" providers

As an aside, it seems strange that the purchase options aren't actually based on metered usage.

edited Aug 13 '15 at 19:39

asked Aug 12 '15 at 16:52

Cody

1

Great question. In New Zealand, it's a similar situation where the greener electricity retailers charge more simply for the assurance that any new generation they build will be renewable. Given that they currently don't need to build any, it's likely just greenwashing; the extra money may just go straight to shareholders as profit. – Highly Irregular Aug 12 '15 at 18:31
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Do the answers here to a very similar question, answer yours? – 410 gone Aug 13 '15 at 01:50

How effective are "GreenUp" (opt-in utility company green energy) programs?

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