GMP’s Energy Supply is 90% Carbon Free
We’re proud that our power sources are 90% carbon free and 60% renewable!
2018 Energy Supply Mix
We work hard to provide customers with clean, cost-effective, and reliable power. Most power sources come from hydro facilities, both large hydro operations in Quebec, and small hydro generators here in Vermont.
Note: These 2018 numbers are estimates based on GMP’s energy plan and our power supply purchases throughout the year. The estimates will be finalized once ISO-NE processes all Renewable Energy Credits, or RECs (Wondering what they are? We explain below!). That process takes months, so the 2018 data won’t be official and posted to our website until late 2019.
What are RECs?
A REC is a Renewable Energy Credit, and each represents the environmental benefits of 1MWh of renewable energy. Power generators can sell the green attributes of the energy they produce as RECs – and whoever buys the RECs can then claim the environmental value of that energy, even though the buyer did not generate that clean power. RECs can only be counted once. So, for example, when GMP RECs are sold to lower overall costs for customers, GMP can no longer claim the environmental attributes of that power source. It is then considered “market power” rather than “renewable” for our customers. (Read below, “How do RECs lower the cost of electricity for Vermonters?”)
2017 Energy Supply
In 2017, GMP’s power sources were 60% renewable and 77% carbon free. This chart shows our finalized fuel mix after the sale of Renewable Energy Credits (RECs). Scroll down to see our fuel mix before selling RECs.
Note: Market Purchases do not have environmental attributes associated with them, and so they are treated as having the ISO-NE residual mix. That system mix changes over time, but as of Q4 2017 it was primarily nuclear (57%), natural gas (27%) and oil (6%).
The chart below shows GMP’s preliminary 2017 Power Supply before we sold and bought RECs.
How do RECs lower the cost of electricity for Vermonters?
The purpose of the REC market is to provide incentives to develop renewable generation, like wind and solar power. All states in New England require utilities to have renewable energy as some portion of their energy mixes, while the exact amounts vary. Utilities can produce their own renewable power, or meet those targets by buying RECs. GMP sells some of the RECs we generate to other utilities when those RECs are more valuable out of state. Doing that directly helps to reduce costs for all GMP customers. GMP currently sells the RECs associated with renewable generators like Kingdom Community Wind because they generate value that 100% goes to customers and offsets power costs for them.