The accelerating effects of climate change will affect all living things. We must find innovative ways to reduce our personal emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) to reduce future impacts on the environment.
More than 30% of the energy-related CO2 in the U.S. comes from residential and commercial electricity. Another 30% comes from liquid transportation fuels such as gasoline and diesel.
Currently, less than 20% of home electricity comes from renewable energy plans that cut CO2. Less than 10% is from non-hydro sources such as green energy wind and solar energy plans, which is where the growth will come. And the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that the amount of green energy generating capacity will only increase by only 2% in the next five years.
Why so slow? Economics.
With premium pricing of 100% green energy plans, lack of demand stunts the growth of green energy generation.
The country, the world, needs construction of immense new green generating capacity to replace fossil fuels in the electric grid. It will not happen until someone devises a plan to make renewables economically feasible.
That plan CANNOT:
- cost consumers more than they are already paying
- make it inconvenient for consumers to act
- require changes in purchase patterns to unfamiliar brands
- depend on new technology or more infrastructure
- depend on politics
Waiting for a Political Solution Is Not an Option
The government cannot devise a plan. We have no national consensus or dialog on climate change. People have their opinions and refuse to listen to anyone with a different viewpoint.
And yet:
- In the 400,000 years before the Industrial Revolution, the level of CO2 in the environment never exceeded 300 parts per million (ppm). Today it is more than
- As Earth’s land surface warms, glaciers melt. The Arctic Ocean is now navigable in the summer.
- We constantly hear new reports of how climate change causes catastrophic storms, flooding, and fires. It threatens the existence of every living thing from polar bears to coral reefs.
The clock is ticking, and we must act now––despite the paralysis that hampers government policy making.
How Can Individuals Make Any Difference?
About 70% of the U.S. population lives in deregulated electricity states: Texas, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, as well and the District of Columbia. At present, less than 10% of these homeowners select 100% renewable energy plans, because they cost more than fossil plans.
If large numbers of homeowners and companies in these states switch to a fully green plan, we can make a substantial reduction in CO2 emissions over the next decade. Mass adoption of green energy can only happen when it costs no more than fossil energy.
But who can make it happen?
The Solution Has Arrived
Electricity Club of The Woodlands, Texas has been pioneering the digital marketing of electricity in deregulated states for almost a decade. They are the nation’s most sophisticated digital marketer of residential electricity, representing the largest providers and continuously analyzing the data of its digital users. The company’s analytics enable it to motivate consumers to take action.
Electricity Club has a plan that enjoys the support of both climate change activists and deniers, Big Oil and green organizations, and political conservatives and liberals.
Sound too good to be true? It will launch early next year.
GetGreenEnergy.com will represent a major milestone in adopting renewable energy and combatting climate change. It requires no government action. It helps consumers to save money buying green energy. And so it removes politics from climate change and earns broad support for renewable energy. And the concept has been tested here at Home Energy Club with a few energy providers, where we have offered green energy rates significantly less than fossil rates on certain plans. The results have been outstanding.
Consumers can take action immediately to move the U.S. toward net zero CO2, because it does not require government intervention, new technology, or new infrastructure. GetGreenEnergy.com will offer:
- 100% green energy plans priced less than fossil plans (better than parity)
- convenient 10-minute online and operator-assisted enrollment
- no need for any kind of investment (unlike solar panels)
- availability in all deregulated electricity states
- a selection of service providers that represent more than 50% of the market in order to minimize brand resistance
Opportunity for Service Providers
Lower customer acquisition cost makes price parity of green and fossil generation sustainable. Energy providers will be able to offer their green energy plans on Get Green Energy for a fraction of what they pay for traditional advertising of their offerings.
The platform will cause a significant increase in the construction of wind and solar capacity because of an exponential increase in demand for 100% green energy plans. It will push up the wholesale prices paid to generators.
By dramatically reducing providers’ marketing costs, however, it will allow them to sell green energy for less than fossil. The green energy mix in the grid will grow at the expense of fossil. Less burning of fossil drives down CO2 emissions.
Get Green Energy’s success in deregulated states will build pressure on utility monopolies elsewhere to offer discounted green energy. And as technology continues to drive down the cost of home solar and battery storage, someday renewables will be feasible without government incentives.
If you are:
- An influencer or organization who cares about climate change
- A local, state, or national news outlet or journalist who produces stories about climate change or renewable energy
- A foundation that has climate change or renewable energy initiatives
- A politician who would be attracted to our market-based solution for climate change, and might include us in your press releases and platforms
- An academic institution that disseminates climate change and energy information
- A digital company that can help inform consumers about GetGreenEnergy.com in social platforms
- A company or membership group that can spread the word to employees and customers
Get Green Energy needs your help in spreading the word to fight climate change together. To view a sample of current green energy plans and fossil-sourced energy plans in the largest de-regulated market, Texas, check out Home Energy Club. And review painless ways to reduce your personal carbon emissions and your electric bill if you are in a regulated state.
