Duke Energy Offers RECs For Residential, Small Biz in Florida

American energy company Duke Energy Florida has announced ‘Clean Energy Impact’, its newest renewable energy certificates (RECs) programme. These renewable certificates are now available to customers looking to achieve their sustainability goals and support local renewable energy.

The company’s latest product is available for residential, small and medium business customers in Duke Energy’s Florida service area but may be especially useful for large commercial and industrial customers. It is an alternative to the company’s existing community solar programme, Clean Energy Connection.

The optional programme promotes the use of renewable energy through the sale of RECs from the company’s solar facilities. The RECs help customers reach their sustainability goals without installing or maintaining their own equipment.

A REC represents the environmental attributes of 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity generated from renewable energy sources. Revenue generated from the RECs sale helps reduce rates for all customers. In India, RECs are usually traded on power exchanges only.

“The new Clean Energy Impact program is delivering on what our customers want – a measurable way to share in renewable energy,” said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president. 

“By adding this programme, we are providing even more customers access to the environmental benefits of solar, while helping lower costs for customers, increasing fuel diversity and continuing to build a cleaner energy future for our state.”

Duke Energy residential customers can subscribe to 250-kWh blocks monthly. Each block equals a quarter of a REC. Duke Energy business customers must purchase a minimum of 1,000 RECs annually to participate. These RECs are derived from Duke Energy-owned renewable resources and available on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Duke Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, owns 10,500 megawatts of energy capacity, supplying electricity to 1.9 million residential, commercial and industrial customers across a 13,000-square-mile service area in Florida.

 

The Duke initiative is certainly an interesting way for a discom to fund renewables growth, and possibly shows one way for discoms in other markets to take a cue from, something for policymakers to ponder over. A case has already been made for considering transmission infrastructure for green energy to be considered for green financing and more.