Buying Green Power
WHAT IS GREEN POWER
MARKETING?
IS SELF-GENERATION RIGHT
FOR ME?
HOW DO I KNOW HOW MUCH
ENERGY I NEED?
Green Pricing
describes the extra costs that consumers of green power are faced with. Generally, these costs are
slightly higher than the costs of fossil fuels.
Depending on how
many people request their energy to be green power, industries with high demand
can in turn build more renewable energy facilities in their customers’
area. If enough people demand that
their energy sources should come from renewable energy, there is definitely a
possibility that a renewable energy facility will be built in their area.
WHAT
IS GREEN POWER MARKETING?
Green
Power Marketing allows consumers to choose how their electricity is generated,
and who supplies that electricity.
Companies
develop an electric grid; an electric grid draws out how much renewable energy one
buys, but not all of it is supplied in equal quantities. On some days, consumers may get more
renewable energy (up to 80%) and on some less.
The rest of the consumers’ energy is supplied from non-renewable fossil
fuels. However, enough green power must
be supplied throughout the year to equal the amount that the customer has
bought.
Self-Generating Your Energy Resources
IS SELF-GENERATION RIGHT
FOR ME?
Consumers need to
determine whether it is in their best interest to invest money in renewable
resources. Sometimes consumers end up
not saving any money, but they chose Self-Generation because it gives them a
sense of independence and knowledge that they are doing something good for the
environment. 
According to Clean
Energy Choices, Self-Generation is appropriate when:
Ø The consumer is interested in energy
independence from utilities.
Ø The consumer wishes to protect the
environment.
Ø The consumer’s site has the right renewable
resources.
Ø The consumer has other sources of meeting
energy needs when renewable sources are not available.
In addition to
this, you should also consider:
Ø Legal and environmental obstacles
Ø The cost and performance of the renewable
energy system (this information can be obtained from manufacturers)
Ø Performing an analysis of economic factors
Ø Understanding the basic concepts of
renewable energy systems
Ø Combining other energy sources with your
renewable energy
Ø System maintenance
Some helpful sites
for self-generation are:
http://www.awea.org/ (American Wind Energy
Association)
http://www.ere.doe.gov/financing/homeowners.html (Financing Solutions Web site: Homeowners)
http://www.nrel.gov (National Renewable Energy
Laboratory)
HOW DO I KNOW HOW MUCH
ENERGY I NEED?
In order to determine
your energy needs, you need to analyze how much energy your appliances
require. Another factor to consider is 
how much renewable resource is available at
your site (for Self-Generation). To
analyze your loads, you need to determine how much energy you need in a given
day. Energy is used for all electric
appliances, so to determine your energy needs, you should multiply the wattage
of an appliance by the number of hours it is used in a day.