Dominion Green Power Program for Counties and Municipalities
As of January 1, 2010, a Dominion Green Power option is available to Counties and Municipalities. This voluntary option is a tariff rate negotiated by the Virginia Energy Purchasing Governmental Association (VEPGA).
Participating in this program will enable your County or Municipality to:
- Support renewable energy and communicate associated environmental benefits to the public;
- Help meet environmental goals, including LEED certification and the Green Government Challenge and Green Schools Challenge; and
- Purchase RECs for a competitive price via your electricity bill.
Program Details
Dominion Green Power for Counties and Municipalities is a voluntary program which allows County and Municipal Dominion customers in Virginia to purchase Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). Participants may choose to purchase RECs equal to some or all of their monthly energy use, and this additional amount is reflected on the monthly electric bill. In return, Dominion purchases Green-e Energy Certified® RECs on the participating customer's behalf in the amount specified. For more information about this product, view the Product Content Label and Price, Terms, and Conditions.
Your purchase of renewable energy certificates (RECs) is supporting renewable electricity production nationally. For every unit of renewable electricity generated, an equivalent amount of RECs is produced. The purchase of RECs helps offset conventional electricity generation in the region where the renewable electricity generator is located. This purchase also helps build a market for renewable electricity and may have other local and global environmental benefits such as reducing global climate change and regional air pollution. For more information about RECs, please visit Green-e.
Dominion does not make a profit on the Dominion Green Power program. All RECs acquired through this program cannot be used to satisfy any other voluntary or mandatory renewable energy government requirement. Dominion Green Power is a voluntary program which gives customers the option to be leaders in the growth of renewable energy above and beyond what is required of Dominion or what Dominion does on behalf of all customers.
- Cost, Participation, and Enrollment Options
Two options are available to purchase Green-e Energy Certified RECs through the Dominion Green Power program:
- 100% Option: Purchase RECs equivalent to 100% of your monthly electricity use; or
- Block Option: Purchase fixed blocks of RECs in any $2 increment. Each $2 block represents 1,000 kWh of renewable electricity.
The following County and Municipality rate schedules are eligible to enroll:
- Schedule 100: ML&P / Traffic Control Service
- Schedule 110: All Electric Building Service / Dual Fuel
- Schedule 120: Water & Sewage Pumping
- Schedule 130: Large ML&P
- Schedule 122: TOU Service
- Schedule 131: Thermal Storage
- Schedule 132: Large Misc. Light & Power Service - Variable Pricing
Eligible accounts may enroll online, by calling the Dominion Business Service Center at 1-888-BSC-8085, or by contacting their Key Account Manager (if applicable). The charge for Dominion Green Power on an enrolled account will appear as a separate line item on the monthly electric bill (Rider G-CM).
- More Information About Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs)
A REC represents the non-power, environmental benefits of producing electricity from renewable sources. One REC is issued each time one megawatt hour (MWh) of renewable electricity is produced and delivered to the power pool. A REC purchase equal to all or some of your electricity consumption guarantees that the same amount of renewable energy has been generated and delivered to the power pool. The RECs acquired for Counties and Municipalities will be sourced through a blend of Green-e Energy Certified RECs from facilities located in the United States. RECs support the development of renewable energy facilities by providing an additional source of revenue to renewable generators, thus making them more financially viable and encouraging the development of additional facilities over time.
When a renewable energy facility operates, it creates electricity that is delivered into a vast network of transmission wires, often referred to as "the grid." The grid is segmented into regional power pools; in many cases these pools are not interconnected. To help facilitate the sale of renewable electricity nationally, a system was established that separates renewable electricity generation into two parts: the electricity or electrical energy produced by a renewable generator and the renewable "attributes" of that generation. The renewable attributes or "green" attributes are sold separately as renewable energy certificates (RECs). Only one certificate may be issued for each unit of renewable electricity produced. The electricity that was split from the REC is no longer considered "renewable" and cannot be counted as renewable or zero-emissions by whoever buys it.
This product is comprised of RECs. With the purchase of RECs, you are buying the renewable attributes (i.e. environmental benefits) of a specific amount and type of renewable energy generation. Your purchase of renewable certificates helps offset conventional electricity generation in the region where the renewable generator is located. Your purchase also helps build a market for renewable electricity and may have other local and global environmental benefits such as reduced global climate change and regional air pollution.
The renewable certificates in this product are verified and certified by Green-e Energy. Each supplier of renewable certificates is required to disclose the quantity, type and geographic source of each certificate. Please see the Product Content Label for this information. Green-e Energy also verifies that the renewable certificates are not sold more than once or claimed by more than one party. For information, visit Green-e Energy or call them toll-free at 1-888-63-GREEN.
In addition, the RECs provided in the Dominion Green Power program are eligible for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Power Credit. RECs are an easy and low-cost option to fulfill LEED requirements for green power and purchasers do not have to change utility arrangements or install any new hardware. Under the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Energy & Atmosphere Green Power Credit, buildings seeking to attain LEED certification may earn one point by providing a portion of the building's electricity from Green-e Energy Certified RECs for at least two years. An additional point may be earned by exceeding this requirement. For more information about LEED Green Power Credits visit the U.S. Green Business Council.
