Power To The People: How "Green" Is Your Electricity?

As the nation’s electricity markets open to competition, a new web site offers consumers who are concerned about the environment the information they need to make smart choices. The Power Scorecard ? (www.powerscorecard.org) starts with the rating of electricity products in California and Pennsylvania, the two states with the most mature retail electricity markets.

According to national surveys, consumers want to purchase electricity with minimal environmental impacts, but they lack credible information upon which to base their decisions. In response to this need, an environmental coalition including Environmental Defense, the Izaak Walton League of America, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Northwest Energy Coalition and the Union of Concerned Scientists developed the Power Scorecard ?, an easy-to-use consumer information tool for rating the environmental impacts of all electricity products. The Power Scorecard ? was developed with the technical support of the Pace Law School Energy Project, which pioneered methods for identifying and quantifying the environmental costs of electricity production, and the Baseline Institute in Lafayette, CO, which developed the Internet web site tools.

“Power Scorecard will give citizens the information they need to purchase environmentally friendly electricity,” says Natalie Patasaw, an Environmental Defense policy analyst. “This is a key step towards creating a more sustainable power market in the United States that is better able to adjust to the highs and lows of the weather and the economy.”

Electricity can be generated from many different sources with vastly different effects on the environment. Sources include fossil fuels, such as coal, natural gas and oil; nuclear; hydro; solar; geothermal; biomass; and wind. The Power Scorecard ? rates electricity products “excellent,” “very good,” “good,” “fair,” “poor” or “unacceptable” using two measures: 1) the environmental impact on air, land and water, and 2) the amount of energy generated from new renewable, low-impact sources, such as wind, solar, geothermal and biomass. Environmentalists consider early consumer demand for electricity from new renewable sources to be important because it helps create the financing necessary for the development of even more renewable sources.

“One reason the market for green electricity hasn’t taken off as much as it could is consumers still don’t know they have a choice of electricity products,” says Sheryl Carter, a senior policy analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). “Another reason is because, even when they do know and want to choose, they don’t have adequate information to make consistent comparisons between the various electricity products. The Power Scorecard offers them the power to make informed choices.”

Electricity production has enormous local and global effects on the environment and human health. The burning of fossil fuels to produce electricity is the nation’s largest source of air pollution. Power plant emissions contribute to respiratory illnesses, such as asthma, bronchitis, emphysema and cancer. The air pollutants also are a major factor in the destruction of forests and lakes due to acid rain. And fossil fuel combustion is the principal source of greenhouse gases that are the cause of global climate change. Generating electricity with nuclear power produces radioactive waste that must be isolated from the environment for tens of thousands of years. Renewable sources, such as wind, solar, geothermal and biomass, have a lower impact on the environment.

“Informed consumer choice has the potential to rapidly advance the introduction of the clean energy technologies that will be needed to meet the environmental challenges of the 21st century,” says Ed Smeloff, Executive Director of the Pace Law School Energy Project. “By dialing up www.powerscorecard.org consumers can see the difference their choices can make.”

“Choosing cleaner electricity is an easy, practical solution to help clean up the environment and protect future generations,” says Alan Nogee, Energy Program Director for the Union of Concerned Scientists. “Power Scorecard will help people maximize their positive impact.”

Twenty-five states are opening their retail electricity markets to competition, and more may follow in the near future. California and Pennsylvania offer the most choices now for small customers. Initially, the Power Scorecard ? evaluates and ranks electricity products offered in California and Pennsylvania. The evaluation will be expanded to additional states as their electricity markets open up to competition and as resources allow.