In terms of MWh by customer type, sales to residential customers dropped by about 4% from 2021, likely due to the impacts of high REC prices caused by supply constraints on residential customers. At the same time, sales to non-residential customers slightly increased, accounting for the vast majority of certified MWh purchased at more than 108 million MWh and accounting for the growth in purchasing seen in 2022. This represents 95% of the overall market, a much higher share than usual. Output from facilities dedicated to specific corporate entities through either PPA or VPPA contracts is likely responsible for much this growth. MWh sold as certified wholesale transactions came in at 13 million MWh in 2022. Although there are significantly more residential customers that purchase Green-e® Energy certified renewable energy, they tend to purchase smaller amounts than non-residential customers.

Note: The “RECS, PPAs, and VPPAs” category includes all certified REC transactions, including RECs that are part of PPA and VPPA deals.

2022 again saw a decrease in the overall amount of customers purchasing certified retail options for the third straight year as sellers continued to deal with the uncertainty of supply constraints. The number of customers enrolled in a certified green pricing option actually remained steady in 2022 at 846,000 customers. The number of customers enrolled in a certified CCA offering fell to just under 50,000 while competitive electricity buyers dropped to almost 19,000 customers. The increase in utility customers versus other customers may demonstrate that utilities are more liquid when navigating the pitfalls of supply constraints than other electricity load serving entities. The number of consumers buying unbundled RECs fell by about 8% to almost 377,000 customers, but it’s still much higher than in years past. This suggests that one way that sellers are dealing with supply constraints is by offering REC-only product to their customers rather than a bundled electricity product.

Note: The “RECS, PPAs, and VPPAs” category includes all certified REC transactions, including RECs that are part of PPA and VPPA deals, and only CCA customers that actively opt into certified programs in these totals are counted, not all CCA customers.

Many customers throughout the U.S. have the option to purchase Green-e® Energy certified renewable energy through their local utility or electric service provider. In 2022, bundled certified renewable electricity options were available in 29 states and Washington, D.C. RECs unbundled from electricity are available to buyers across Canada and the U.S. Businesses purchasing large MWh volumes tend to purchase unbundled RECs, often from multiple locations, while residential customers and businesses purchasing smaller volumes tend to purchase a bundled electricity product available through their utility or electric service provider.

Green-e® Energy also certified sales in Chile, Singapore and Taiwan R.O.C.

In 2022, Green-e® Energy sales sourced from a range of renewable generation across the United States and Canada. The resource mix of the voluntary market is still very wind heavy, with wind facilities accounting for 86% of the total supply. This is similar to last year.  Just six years ago, solar contributed only 250,000 MWh to certified sales, while in 2022 solar provided 12.8 million MWh. The other resource types saw decreases in shares compared to 2021; much of the gaseous biomass that was formerly used to generate electricity is now being used in various renewable fuels programs.

The growth of solar over the past 7 years has been staggering.  Removing wind from the equation for display purposes, this chart demonstrates how rapid that growth has been in terms of certified MWh, while other resource types have remained steady or decreased.  All told, there has been a 1900% increase of solar generation in Green-e® Energy Certified retail sales since 2016.

Over 1,300 unique generation facilities with a total capacity of over 90,000 MW supplied Green-e® Energy certified products in 2022. The number of solar facilities used to supply Green-e® Energy certified products continues to grow. Counting rooftop solar buyback programs offered by electricity providers as one facility for each provider, the number of unique solar facilities utilized in 2022 reached more than 700 unique facilities, or more than half of all facilities used to supply certified sales. 2022 also saw tremendous growth in an already impressive cohort of wind resources supplying certified sales. Wind compromises the vast majority of total capacity of facilities supplying certified sales, with nearly three times more capacity than all other resources combined, as shown in the next chart.

Only new renewables are eligible to meet the criteria in the Standard. In North America, that means eligible renewable facilities must have started operation or have been deemed repowered in the last 15 years, or otherwise been approved for extended use in order to provide generation to a Green-e® Energy certified product. In 2022, more than half of the MWh used to supply certified sales came from facilities that were less than 5 years old. In recent years, that number has usually been at around a third of total facilities. This shows a continued trend of more newly built generators being dedicated to supply the voluntary market rather than being used for other purposes.

In 2022 more than half of the MWh used to supply certified sales came from facilities that were less than five years old, demonstrating consistent turnover of older facilities and how generation from many newly built facilities is being used for voluntary purposes. This is similar to 2021 but a greater number than in previous years.

Newer facilities accounted for a large portion of certified sales in 2022. Facilities five years or younger comprised over 41% of all facilities that provided any amount of MWh to Green-e® Energy certified sales, which is slightly more than in 2021. This again illustrates how the voluntary market can drive new build. It may also show the preference of corporate buyers for their investment to be a factor in getting new generation built.

The total volume of all Green‑e® Energy certified transactions in 2022 reached 127 million MWh. This total represents all transactions—including both certified retail sales to electricity end users looking to make a green power use claim, and wholesale sales to resellers of renewable MWh that did not claim the renewable electricity or RECs themselves. Green-e® Energy certified retail transactions reached 114 million MWh, while certified wholesale transactions reached 13 million MWh in 2022. Of these certified wholesale transactions, around 9 million MWh were resold in certified retail transactions. The remaining 4 million MWh were sold in non–certified transactions to utilities, electric service providers, power marketers, and other buyers in the voluntary market. Removing the instances of renewable MWh certified by Green-e® Energy at both the wholesale and retail levels, certified sales of over 122.4 million unique MWh were made in 2022, a slight increase from 2021 and the highest total of certified unique MWh to date.

Note: The “RECS, PPAs, and VPPAs” category includes all certified REC transactions, including RECs that are part of PPA and VPPA deals.