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Green Products

  • Alternative Retail Electric Suppliers (ARES) have the option to offer “green” products to customers, in which the supplier buys renewable energy credits (REC) to offset your energy usage.
  • A REC is defined as “a tradeable credit that represents the environmental attributes of one megawatt hour of energy produced from a renewable energy resource.” (20 ILCS 3855/1-10)
    • REC is created when 1 MWh of renewable energy, like wind or solar, is added to the grid. Once a REC is purchased by an ARES that REC is retired.
    • An ARES purchases and retires the RECs to offset a customer’s usage with renewable energy resources.
    • Each REC has three key characteristics: fuel type, location, and production date.
  • To ensure RECs are offsetting customer usage and prevent double counting, they are retired to prevent them from being used more than once.
    • The retirement process if formal and irreversible.
  • Choosing an ARES green plan enables suppliers to buy RECs to offset your energy usage with renewables. This does not change the power that supplies your home and it does not mean that your home will directly receive electricity powered by renewables.
  • You do not have to be on ARES supply to offset your energy usage with a REC. Utilities are also required to obtain RECs to offset a percentage of their customer’s usage pursuant to the Illinois Renewable Portfolio Standard.
  • No ARES may state or imply  that a product is “green”, “renewable”, or “environmentally friendly” unless the supplier purchases and retires the appropriate number of RECs pursuant to 83 Ill. Adm. Code 412.190.
  • Several communities participating in municipal aggregation have also negotiated a green supply plan for residents and eligible small businesses. These green municipal aggregation offers are labeled as “green” on our Municipal Aggregation List.
  • ARES are required to provide to customers within 14 months after enrolling a customer on a “green”, “renewable”, or "environmentally friendly” offer a disclosure that includes the customer’s total electric power and energy use, the percentage of electricity paired with RECs, and the renewable energy resource type mix and locations of the RECs that were paired with electricity used by the customer.
  • Additionally, ARES are required to file environmental disclosure statements with the Commission on a quarterly basis. These reports must include a breakdown on the type of energy sources utilized by the supplier and the amount of emissions. You can view these disclosures by searching for a licensed ARES here. You then click on “Profile” and then under “Profile Navigation” click on “Filings”. You can change the document type shown to “421”, this will display only the environmental disclosures required under 83 Ill Adm. Code 421. 

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