EcoSmart Customer Choice
As part of our Green Power Initiative, we need your help to reach our goals. We’ve adopted a new and easy way for customers to get involved with helping Columbus become greener. You have the opportunity to change how power is generated — you get to choose renewable energy.
At the Columbus Division of Power (DOP), we want to be able to give our customers the ability to impact the way energy is generated. As we transition into this era of various energy sources, renewable energy is becoming a bigger player in the competition with traditionally used fossil fuel. This is an exciting development because renewable energy has the potential to not only provide a cheaper and stable source of power, but much cleaner as well. One of the simplest, and most direct, ways to support this growth in the renewable energy industry is by purchasing renewable energy certificates or RECs.
RECs are the certification that classifies renewable energy, or in other words, it defines how “green” the energy is. RECs are distributed when one megawatt-hour is generated. The premium cost of RECs acts as an extra push in investment to the renewable energy industry, allowing for future growth. Purchasing RECs helps offset your own carbon footprint by supporting renewable energy production in our country
EcoSmart Choice is offered by the DOP through American Municipal Power (AMP). AMP’s program allows our customer’s to purchase RECs for up the 100% of their electricity usage. As of January 1, 2022, the price for RECs is $0.004 per kWh. This is very exciting to think about; it equals $4.00 per MWh, which is less than the cost of a gallon of gasoline. For commercial customers, offsetting at least 50% of your monthly energy consumption can provide 1 point towards LEED certification Sign up for EcoSmart Choice.
The RECs represent hydroelectric, landfill gas, wind, or other eligible renewable facilities contracted by AMP. The company themselves produce RECs from the Belleville Hydroelectric Station on the Ohio River at Belleville Locks and Dam and they own the half of all the RECs generated from Ohio landfill facilities in Lowellville, Oberlin, and Port Clinton. Learn more about AMP...
All city facilities served by DOP have been enrolled in the program; the Water and Sewer Plants, Police, and Health facilities account for the largest amount of kWh offset each month. By striving for carbon neutrality, we can help make Columbus cleaner, greener, and safer.