Environmental Defense Fund Urges Electricity Customers To "Go Green"

As California’s electric utilities were deregulated today, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) urged customers to vote with their pocketbooks for environmentally-preferable electricity. “Competition in the electric industry means that for the first time consumers have the power to directly choose how their electricity is made,” said Daniel Kirshner, senior economic analyst with EDF’s Energy Program. “The power of choice is the power to make a positive difference for the environment.”

Customers’ ability to choose clean, renewable energy sources is one of the important benefits of electricity deregulation. Renewable energy — electricity made from sources such as wind, solar, geothermal (earth heat), biomass (organic waste), and some hydroelectric power — helps reduce the environmental impacts of electricity production.

“EDF hopes that buying ‘green’ electricity will soon be as popular as recycling is now. It’s a simple and important thing that each person can do for the Earth,” said Kirshner.

“Buying ‘green’ electricity is a meaningful way to affect electricity production,” Kirshner said. “You can think of the electricity grid as a ‘lake.’ Renewable generators pour clean water (green electricity) into the lake. Consumers take water out of the lake. While you can’t insure that the clean water flows precisely to an individual house, what you can insure is that clean water is poured into the lake at the same rate you take it out. Over time, and with success in the market, the water in the lake all becomes clean as more customers place ‘orders’ for clean water-that’s the power of green power.”

EDF’s web page comparing “green” electricity products in California will be featured on EDF’s home page to coincide with the start of electricity deregulation in California. “Our web page compares the prices and sources of each provider’s green products, and discusses what to look for when choosing a product,” said Christo Artusio, EDF research associate. The page links to each provider’s web page, so customers can compare products first-hand, and then sign up on the web.

The Green Electricity Comparison Page can be found by pointing your Internet browser to:

http://www.environmentaldefense.org/article.cfm?ContentID=770