What are RECs, or Renewable Energy Certificates, aka Green Tags ??
A REC or “Green Tag” is effectively a certificate representing the “green” attributes of the electrical energy generated via a renewable energy source such as photovoltaics, micro-hydro turbines, wind turbines, etc. REC’s enable the green attributes of the energy to be separated from the energy itself such that they can be traded on an open market using the same metrics as electricity. A REC is equivalent to 1 megawatt hour or 1000 kilowatt hours. The most frequent end-purchasers of REC’s are utility providers who must adhere to a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). In states with an RPS requirement, like Massachusetts, utilities cannot purchase enough renewable generating capacity from electricity suppliers to meet the requirements, and so are allowed to purchase the attributes of renewable energy. This is why there are REC aggregators, who work like brokers of the energy attributes, collecting them in small amounts of kilowatt-hours, registering these as RECS and selling them to buye
