What are the benefits of tracking clean energy with EACs?

Answering all your questions about the new clean energy tracking standard

Clean energy benefits can be hard to pin down. Most often today, private brokers procure and resell surplus RECs from wind or solar farms, leaving buyers unclear about the underlying impacts of these projects. Where was the clean energy deployed? What were the climate benefits? Were there any other social or financial benefits?

Clean energy purchasing needs a way to level up. That’s where Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs) come in. 

What is an EAC?

If a REC represents the generic environmental attributes of a megawatt-hour of clean energy production, an EAC represents the full scope of environmental and social benefits associated with clean energy.

You can think of EACs like a nutritional label on a can of food - they include the exact time and place the energy was generated, the carbon intensity of the grid at that time of day, the carbon emissions that may have been avoided, the type of resource that produced the energy, and so forth. EACs can track clean energy generated (like wind and solar), energy saved (from energy efficiency or demand response), as well as energy replaced (through electrification).

Why are these different attributes important?

When it comes to actually cutting carbon emissions, every watt-hour of clean energy is not created equal. If you’re adding more clean energy at a time and place where the power grid is already very clean, or where renewables are being deployed anyway, you aren’t delivering a very significant impact. On the other hand, if you can displace fossil fuel-generated power with new clean energy, the climate impact is far greater.

To meaningfully address climate change, our crucial task is to avoid spending scarce resources adding more clean energy where it already exists. We have to eliminate fossil fuel emissions. EACs provide the transparency needed to do just that.

Who uses EACs?

The term EAC traces its origins back to the Greenhouse Gas Protocols and is generally thought of as a more inclusive term for a REC. But today, EACs are evolving to meet the demands of the market. Savvy buyers want to know exactly what they’re getting with a clean energy purchase! For the many companies that have made climate and sustainability commitments, EACs can be used to more accurately report on the impacts of their clean energy investments. 

EACs can also help the people overseeing those commitments be more effective. EACs that are backed with granular, traceable detail, enable companies to more cost-effectively achieve their climate goals. And because EACs come in smaller increments, they allow for more sophisticated use cases like 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy matching. 

Isn’t clean energy valuable no matter what?

Unfortunately, it’s not. Several recent reports have found that REC markets are no longer effectively cutting emissions, because they’re supporting low-cost renewables at times and in places already powered by clean energy. 

Now that we’re mid-transition, our energy grid is a patchwork of clean power, online at different times and places across the country. REC markets haven’t evolved to account for this, so buyers aren’t able to focus their investments on the times and places where they’ll have the greatest impact. 

To continue to reduce emissions, the industry needs to shift toward more precise purchases that support clean energy where it otherwise wouldn’t exist.

How are EACs being used by WattCarbon?

Glad you asked! WattCarbon recently launched WEATS, the first hourly clean energy registry, along with a Marketplace for transacting EACs. The Marketplace is open to any clean energy buyer that wants to demonstrate more impact from their procurement. Buyers of clean energy receive EACs showing exactly when and where their clean energy was sourced, along with precise emissions savings. WattCarbon EACs are tracked down to the individual watt-hour, ensuring they match the physical reality of the grid. 

EACs are also included in the federal government’s guidance for the new clean hydrogen tax credit. The guidance directs companies claiming the credit to use EACs to prove several key requirements, including clean energy generation matched to energy consumption by the hour.

As more clean energy comes online, the industry is making a necessary shift toward precise, transparent purchasing in order to accelerate that progress and enable deeper emissions reductions. EACs will be an essential tool for buyers, suppliers, and policymakers to make that happen.