"Green Power" for North Carolina
North Carolina energy interests are developing a means for consumers to assist in the development of renewable energy resources.
The program called NC GreenPower allows consumers individually and voluntarily to make an additional payments in their electricity bill to help their electric utility to acquire power generated by renewable resources. The "green power" resources include wind, solar energy, water and biomass.
Coordinating NC GreenPower is Advanced Energy, a 22-year-old nonprofit corporation based in Raleigh that is jointly supported in research and productivity programs by the state’s electric utilities, including electric cooperatives.
Some of the state’s Touchstone Energy cooperatives support NC GreenPower and will be contacting their members regarding its implementation.
NC GreenPower is designed to create a market and an incentive for companies to develop and sell "green power." Current market conditions make it too expensive for companies to develop and sell such alternative sources of electricity profitably. Electricity customers could elect to pay an extra $4 a month for blocks of electricity produced from renewable resources. The electric utilities would agree to purchase that amount of electricity from North Carolina companies that produce electricity from renewable resources.