Q: What are Renewable Energy Credits (RECs)? A: Recent media
stories have generated lots of buzz around Renewable Energy
Credits (RECs). Understanding RECs can be challenging, so we've
prepared some general information that may help demystify this
topic. The energy used in our homes and businesses is generated
from a number of sources including coal, natural gas, wind, and
solar. Once electricity is produced, it is then fed into the
electrical grid where it is delivered to our homes and
businesses. Unfortunately, electricity generated from coal and
natural gas, the sources of the vast majority of our energy,
increases air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
Electricity produced from renewable energy sources such as wind
or solar, has positive environmental benefits as it does not
generate pollution or emissions. At this time, however,
renewable energy often costs more to produce than energy from
coal or natural gas, which explains the dominant use of these
non-renewable, fossil-fuel sources. To help encou