Environmental Cents: Purchasing Renewable Energy
If you can't afford solar panels, you can still be part of the clean-energy solution by choosing a renewable energy option for your home.
By Bruce Saller
COLUMNIST
Do you want to be part of the green energy solution but are unable to install solar panels? Dominion Energy and Columbia Gas have programs for customers to purchase renewable energy. All programs incur an additional cost. See the linked websites for details.
Dominion Energy offers customers four options to support renewable energy production:
100% Renewable Energy – Customers purchase solar, hydropower and biomass renewable energy generated by Dominion to cover their usage.
Renewable Energy Certificates (REC) Select – RECs are tradable certificates for renewable energy that are generated for the purchaser. Dominion will buy RECs across the country to match the customer’s usage.
Dominion Energy Green Power - Customers purchase solar and wind energy that was generated in Virginia and nearby states to cover their usage.
Community Solar - Customers purchase solar energy generated in Virginia to cover their usage.
Columbia Gas provides customers with the option to purchase a combination of renewable natural gas and carbon offsets to cover half or all of their usage. Renewable natural gas is a byproduct of the decomposition of organic matter from landfills, livestock operations, wastewater treatment facilities and similar sources which would normally decay and release methane into the atmosphere. Columbia Gas purchases carbon offsets from around the world to cover the remainder.
So, please consider signing up for these programs to support the renewable energy transition.
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Yes, you too can be proud of going green, paying more for electricity, and just like Spain, sitting in the dark when the "green energy" fails. I'm glad to see the enviro-activists have solved the environmental problems of making and disposing of solar panels and windmills.