William Golove, Richard Brown, and Ed Holt*

Energy Analysis Program
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory,
Berkeley, CA 94720
*Principal, Ed Holt & Associates

September 2004

The Guide to Purchasing Green Power is intended for organizations that are considering the merits of buying green power as well as those that have decided to buy it and want help with the purchase. The Guide was written for a broad audience, including businesses, government agencies, universities, and all organizations wanting to diversify their energy supply and to reduce the environmental impact of their electricity use. The Guide addresses the following commonly asked questions:

• What are renewable energy and green power?
• What benefits will my green power purchase bring?
• How do I make a business case for buying green power?
• What are the options for purchasing green power?
• What is the importance of product certification and verification?
• How should an organization choose a green power product?
• What are the steps to installing on-site renewable generation?

Several organizations have collaborated to develop this guidebook -- the U.S. Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Green Power Partnership, the Sustainable Enterprise Program of the World Resources Institute (WRI), and the Green-e Renewable Energy Certification Program administered by the Center for Resource Solutions. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory served as the coordinating institution for preparing the Guide.

This report is available for download from the Web sites of the sponsoring organizations:

• U.S. DOE Federal Energy Management Program
• U.S. EPA Green Power Partnership
• World Resources Institute
• Center for Resource Solutions

green power renewable energy certificates tags on-site renewable energy Green Power Partnership Green-e Federal Energy Management Program Green Power Market Development Group.