Green-e Energy National Standard and Governing Documents

Green-e Energy certified renewable energy products must meet and abide by all criteria and rules put forth in the following Governing Documents:

• The Green-e Energy National Standard, which covers renewable resource eligibility and product specifications
• The Code of Conduct and Customer Disclosure Requirements, which ensures that providers of certified renewable energy abide by consumer protection and environmental standards, and requires providers to disclose clear product information to all customers prior to their purchase and to use the Green-e logo correctly
• The Green-e Logo Use Guidelines, which provides information on appropriate display of the Green-e logo

Green-e Energy National Standard

Download the full Standard

The Green-e Governance Board approved the Green-e Energy National Standard in December 2005. This standard went into effect on January 1, 2007, and supersedes all previous regional and product specific criteria. The Green-e Energy National Standard applies to all Green-e Certified renewable energy products: Renewable Energy Certificates, Utility Green Pricing Programs, and Competitive Market Electricity Products.

If your company sells renewable energy and you would like to apply for Green-e certification, please review the complete Green-e Energy National Standard to confirm eligibility.

Updated July 2007

Also see the Green-e Energy Press Releases and Advisories page for the March 24, 2008 Market Advisory on Texas non-wind renewables.

National Standard Table of Contents

I. INTRODUCTION
II. ELIGIBLE SOURCES OF SUPPLY

A. Definition of Eligible Renewables
B. Co-firing of Biomass with Non-Renewables
C. Emissions Limits on Biomass
D. Emissions Criteria for the Non-Renewable Portion of a Green-e Product
E. New Renewables (including information on repowered facilities)
F. Energy Storage
G. Parasitic Load

III. PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS

A. Minimum Purchase Quantity
B. Vintage of Eligible Renewables
C. Fully Aggregated Renewables
D. Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) Renewables, Other Mandated Renewables, and Financial Incentives
E. Double Counting and Use of Utility Resources
F. Customer-Sited Facilities
G. Canadian-Sited Facilities and RECs sold into Canada

IV. ADDITIONAL CRITERIA FOR COMPETITIVE ELECTRICITY AND UTILITY GREEN PRICING PRODUCTS

A. Geographic Eligibility for Electricity Products
B. Use of Renewable Energy Certificates in an Electricity Product

V. ADDITIONAL CRITERIA FOR UTILITY GREEN PRICING PRODUCTS

A. Product Pricing
B. Marketing and Performance Targets
C. Waitlists
D. Regulatory Approval
E. Programs Serving Multiple Utilities (Hub and Spoke)

VI. REVISIONS TO THIS STANDARD

The Green-e Energy National Standard is considered a dynamic document and may change over time to accommodate changes in the renewable energy marketplace, policy changes that affect renewable energy, and/or innovations in renewable energy technology.  For any substantial changes to the Green-e certification criteria document, the Green-e Program commits that:

1. Stakeholders will be solicited in advance of Green-e Governance Board meetings for input on substantive policy change issues; and
2. At least one year of notice (following the date of announcement of Board approval) will be granted to utilities, green power marketers and other stakeholders before the substantive changes go into effect, unless a more timely change is necessary to respond to a significant and imminent problem threatening the integrity of green power markets. 

Code of Conduct and Customer Disclosure Requirements

Download the Code of Conduct and Customer Disclosure Requirements The Green-e Energy Code of Conduct and Customer Disclosure Requirements is one of the main governing documents of Green-e Energy. It ensures that participating marketers abide by the consumer protection and environmental standards established by the Center for Resource Solutions. Signatories of the Code of Conduct and Customer Disclosure Requirements pledge to abide by the standard and cooperate with the Green-e Governance Board, to ensure that these standards are effective in providing customers information about environmentally superior services in the renewable energy market.

The Code of Conduct and Customer Disclosure Requirements outlines the responsibilities of a company offering a Green-e Energy certified product to disclose product information to all customers prior to their purchase and in the case that their purchase changes during the term of their purchase agreement. This document also provides language for describing Green-e Energy, language for describing a company’s relationship with the Center for Resource Solutions and Green-e Energy, and logo use (see below). Additionally, the Code of Conduct and Customer Disclosure Requirements outlines the process for CRS review of marketing materials including the twice-annual marketing compliance review.

Green-e Logo Use Guidelines

The Green-e Logo Use Guidelines is specifically referenced within the Code of Conduct and Customer Disclosure Requirements and provides detailed information on the appropriate uses of the Green-e logo for all Green-e programs.