The 2024 Green-e® Verification Report is a summary of the 2024 audit of participant data from reporting year 2023. Center for Resource Solutions (CRS), through its Green-e® certification programs, certified more than 125 million megawatt-hours of retail transactions in 2023, representing an overall increase of nearly 10% compared to 2022 sales. This is the highest number of certified retail MWh to date, and represents a doubling of certified retail renewable energy sales since 2017.
Summary
Green-e® Energy certified retail sales reached more than 125 million megawatt-hours (MWh) in 2023, the highest number of certified retail MWh to date and representing the over 3.2% of the total U.S. retail electricity use. More than half of the installed wind capacity in the U.S. is participating in Green-e® Energy certified transactions, and 2023 saw over 23 million MWh of sales come from solar generation. Approximately half of the electricity supplying certified sales and overall generating capacity came from facilities five years old or less.
In 2023, there were 1.3 million retail purchasers of Green-e® certified renewable energy, including nearly 300,000 businesses and more than a million residential customers.
As the global standard for retail carbon offset certification, Green-e® Climate brings chain-of-custody oversight to the voluntary offset market. Green-e® Climate provides critical retail protections and assurances for buyers, sellers, and project standards, including confidence in product marketing and overall quality.
Green-e® Climate certified sales reached approximately 362,000 metric tons in 2023.
Green-e® Marketplace licenses the Green-e® logo to retail electricity buyers for use on consumer goods, websites, event marketing, and with other renewable energy claims. Green-e® Marketplace verifies that the renewable energy purchased or generated by program participants meets the strict environmental and consumer protection standards of the Green-e® Energy certification program, and that each participant purchases qualifying amounts relative to electricity usage.
In total, 27 companies participated in Green-e® Marketplace in 2023, with more than 700 products certified.
Program Reports
GREEN-E® ENERGY
For over 25 years, Green-e® Energy has been the leading global certification program for renewable energy products sold to consumers and businesses, providing environmental impact, quality assurance, and consumer protection. Certified products are required to undergo an independent annual audit to demonstrate compliance with the program’s rigorous standards. Sellers of certified renewable energy products are required to provide full and accurate information to their customers up front, deliver the renewable energy sold with sole title, and source from renewable energy generators that meet the Green-e® Energy program’s strict resource eligibility requirements.
As the public’s awareness of the impacts of pollution from electricity generation, energy security issues, and sustainable economic development has risen, the demand for renewable energy has increased greatly, as shown in this report. In fact, Green-e® Energy certified renewable energy sales in the U.S. have increased an average of 15% each year since 2017. When the Green-e® Energy program began in 1997, it was the first certification program of its kind, and it remains the leading global voluntary retail renewable energy certification program.
Green-e® Energy Certified Options
Green-e® Energy certified renewable energy products are sold in the following different options:
Utility Green Pricing Programs. Renewable electricity sold by electric utilities in regulated electricity markets, offered beyond the renewable electricity that is included in standard electricity service. Includes custom tariffs (called Green Tariffs or Utility Renewable Contracts) offered to larger commercial or industrial customers.
Competitive Renewable Electricity. Similar to a utility green pricing program, but sold by an electric service provider (ESP) in a deregulated electricity market. ESPs may also be called Competitive Suppliers.
Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). A REC represents the non-electricity, renewable attributes of one MWh of renewable electricity generation, including all the environmental attributes, and is a tradable commodity that can be sold separately from the underlying electricity. RECs allow for a larger and more efficient national market for renewable energy. In this report, the REC product type includes PPAs and VPPAs for which only the REC portion of the purchase is certified.
Community Choice Aggregation (CCA). Also known as Municipal Aggregation, CCAs allow cities and counties to aggregate customers in a regulated electricity market within a defined jurisdiction to secure alternative electricity supply contracts on a community-wide basis.
Direct and On-Site Certification. Direct Purchasing is a purchase made directly from renewable generators as an alternative to purchasing from a utility, competitive electricity supplier, or a REC marketer. On-Site renewable energy is consumed at the same location where it is produced.
Green-e® Energy Participant Overview
159 companies participated in Green-e® Energy in 2023 including:
- 107 sellers offering 114 Green-e® Energy certified REC products
- 225 utility green pricing program participants offering 49 certified green pricing programs*
- 8 competitive electricity suppliers offering 15 certified renewable electricity programs
- 5 Community Choice Aggregation sellers offering 7 products
- 15 entities with 19 different certified Direct or Onsite options
* Retail Distributors not listed below
3Degrees Inc.
3Phases Renewables
AEP Energy, Inc.
AES Indiana (Indianapolis Power & Light Company)
Agendi
Aggressive Energy
Albedo Lessor 2, LLC
Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp
ALLETE Clean Energy
Ambit Energy Holdings, LLC
Ameren Missouri
American PowerNet
Amsterdam Capital Trading B.V.
Anew Environmental, LLC
Apple Inc.
Austin Energy
Avangrid Renewables
Basin Electric Power Cooperative
Blue Delta Energy
Bonneville Environmental Foundation
BP Energy Company
Brazoria West Solar Project, LLC
Bridge to Renewables, LLC (dba BTR Energy)
Brookfield Renewable
Calpine Energy Solutions, LLC
Carbon Solutions Group
Carbonvert
Champion Energy Marketing, LLC
City of Las Vegas, NV
City of Palo Alto Utilities
City of San Jose
City of San Francisco
Clean Power Alliance of Southern California
CleanFuture
Clearway Energy Group
Clearway Renew LLC
ClimeCo
CMS Energy Resource Management Company
Colorado Springs Utilities
Constellation NewEnergy
Cubico Sustainable Investments Ltd.
Current Partners
Cypress Creek Renewables
Deriva Energy – Direct
Deriva Energy Services
DESRI Holding
Direct Energy Business, LLC
Direct Energy Marketing Limited
Direct Energy Residential
Dominion Energy Virginia
DTE Energy
Duke Energy
Duke Energy Business Services
Duke Energy Renewable Advantage
Dynegy Energy
East Bay Community Energy
East Kentucky Power Cooperative, Inc.
Ecohz AS
EDF Energy Services
Elm Branch Solar 1, LLC
EMD Millipore Corp.
Enel Trading North America, LLC
Enel X
Energy Harbor LLC
Engie North America Inc.
ENGIE Resources
Entergy Arkansas
Entergy Louisiana
Entergy New Orleans
Entergy Texas
Fern Solar LLC
First Climate Markets AG
First Point Power
Flat Top Wind I, LLC
Fluvanna Wind Energy, LLC 2
Freepoint Energy Solutions
GO2 Markets
Green Mountain Energy
Green Power EMC
Greenberg Traurig, LLP
GreenEnergy GPO
Greenlight Energy Group LLC
Harrison Renewable Energy
Homefield Energy
Idaho Power Company
Idaho Power Company – Black Mesa Solar
Jasmine Energy
JEA
Just Energy
Karbone Inc.
Kiwi Energy
Lenzing Fibers
Longroad Energy
Luminant Energy Company, LLC
MC Squared Energy Services
MCE (Marin Clean Energy)
Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc
MidAmerican Energy Company – New RECs
MidAmerican Energy Services
Mitsui & Co
MN8 Energy
Moffett Solar 1, LLC
Mozart Wind LLC
MP2 Energy
Muscatine Power & Water
National Grid Renewables
Native
Natural Capital Partners
NC GreenPower
New Brunswick Energy Marketing
NextEra Energy Resources
Northern Indiana Public Service Company
NV Energy
Orlando Utilities Commission
Pacific Gas and Electric
PacifiCorp
PacifiCorp Rocky Mountain
Peninsula Clean Energy
Pine Gate Renewables, LLC
Platte River Power Authority
Portland General Electric – Green Future Impact
Portland General Electric
Puget Sound Energy
Reliant Energy Retail Services
Sacramento Municipal Utility District
Santee Cooper
Schneider Electric
Seattle City Light
Shell Energy North America
Silicon Valley Clean Energy
Skyview Ventures
Smart Charging Technologies, LLC
SmartestEnergy
Sol Madison Solar, LLC
Sol Systems, LLC
SolRiver Capital
Solstice
SourceOne
South Plains Wind Energy II, LLC
Southern California Edison
SP Cactus Flats Wind Energy LLC
Spectron Energy Inc
Spring Power and Gas
SRECTrade
Steel Dynamics
Steelcase Inc.
Sterling Planet
STX Group
Swiss Carbon Assets
Tennessee Valley Authority
TXU Energy
United Energy Trading
Watershed
We Energies
Western Farmers Electric Cooperative
WGL Energy
World Fuel Services Corporation
X-Elio
Xcel Energy
Consumer Protection
The Green-e® Energy verification audit and review process protects customers by ensuring that the renewable electricity or RECs purchased and sold by the participating provider meet the environmental and impact requirements in the Green-e® Renewable Energy Standard for Canada and the United States (“Standard”), that the RECs were not sold to more than one customer, and only one party has claimed use of that MWh of renewable energy. Replacement RECs are required when an audit reveals that reported renewable MWh did not meet the Standard or other program requirements. Common reasons for ineligible RECs are double claims (meaning another entity in the chain of custody has claimed to be using the renewable energy) and product-specific restrictions (such as deviation from the geographic-proximity requirements for electricity products). In 2023, the Green-e® Energy audit identified a negligible amount ineligible supply necessitating procurement of replacement supply by affected participants. Sustained market education outreach by Green-e® program staff and increased due diligence on the part of Green-e® Energy participants in procuring supply helps reduce noncompliance findings in renewable energy purchasing and reporting.
Green-e® Climate
Green-e® Climate is the global standard for retail carbon offset certification, bringing chain-of-custody oversight to the voluntary offset market. Green-e® Climate provides critical retail protections and assurances for buyers, sellers, and project standards, including confidence in product marketing and overall quality.
In 2023 the Green-e® Climate program certified approximately 362,000 metric tons carbon dioxide-equivalent (mtCO2e).
Green-e® Climate Certified Sales (in mtCO2e)
Residential purchases of Green-e® Climate certified offsets increased as more retailers of natural gas bundle their gas products with carbon offsets. In 2023, roughly 106,00 residential customers purchased certified offsets, a decrease from 2022. Sales of bundled natural gas-carbon offsets accounted for 41% of overall certified sales, four percentage points higher than 2022. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building certification, which requires Green-e® Climate certification (or equivalent) for offsets to be awarded points for LEED certification, remains a large driver of certified sales, with about 12% of certified sales in 2023 attributed to sales for LEED building certification.
International sales of Green-e® Climate certified offsets continued to be an important segment of sales in 2023. The total volume of international certified carbon offset sales increased to 40,000 mtCO2e, and in 2023 buyers were located in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Portugal, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, and Thailand, as well as the United States.
International Sales of Green-e® Climate Certified Offsets (in mtCO2e)
2023 once again saw a diverse mix of projects providing carbon offsets to Green-e® Climate certified sales. Overall, 41 different projects supplied offsets to Green-e® Climate certified sales. Offsets from forestry and land use projects provided the majority of supply while landfill methane capture was the most-used project type.
Percentage of Green-e® Climate Certified MTCO2e by Offset Project Type
Percentage of Unique Offset Projects in Green-e® Climate Certified Sales by Project Type
Green-e® Marketplace
Green-e® Marketplace recognizes organizations that use renewable energy and enables them to demonstrate their environmental commitment to their stakeholders through the use of the internationally recognized Green-e® logo and supporting promotional tools. Overall, Green-e® Marketplace participants purchased or generated approximately 1,800,000 MWh of renewable energy in 2023, to support 700 different products and consumer goods.
Figures
The charts below are interactive. Click on the items in the legend to change the display.
Green-e® Energy Certified Retail Sales by Product Type (MWh)
In 2023, Green-e® Energy certified retail sales totaled 125,515,000 MWh, an overall increase of nearly 10% compared to 2022 sales. Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) sales—either in the form of standalone RECs, in a power purchase agreement, or in a virtual power purchase agreement—continue to drive the majority of certified sales, and grew by 10% in 2023. Certified sales through green pricing programs offered by regulated utilities grew by 13% compared to 2022. After supply constraints impacted the procurement for Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) products last year, they rebounded with a 23% increase. Competitive Electricity volume continued to decrease slightly by 4%. Direct and On-Site certified MWh continued to grow in 2023, from 4.3 million to 4.9 million certified MWh, an increase of 13%.
Note: The “RECS, PPAs, and VPPAs” category includes all certified REC transactions, including RECs that are part of Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and Virtual Power Purchase Agreement (VPPA) deals.
Green‑e® Energy Certified Sales by Customer Type (in MWh)
Sales to residential customers increased roughly 3% from 2022. At the same time, sales to non-residential customers increased as well, accounting for the vast majority of certified MWh purchased, at nearly 120 million MWh, representing 96% of retail volume certified. Although there are significantly more residential customers than commercial that purchase Green-e® Energy certified renewable energy, they tend to purchase smaller amounts than non-residential customers. Output from facilities dedicated to specific corporate entities through either PPA or VPPA contracts is responsible for much of this growth. MWh sold in certified wholesale transactions came in at over 14 million MWh in 2023.
Note: The “RECS, PPAs, and VPPAs” category includes all certified REC transactions, including RECs that are part of PPA and VPPA deals.
Number of Retail Customers Purchasing Green‑e® Energy Certified Products by Type
2023 saw a 2% increase in the overall number of customers purchasing certified retail options. The number of customers enrolled in a certified green pricing option decreased slightly, by less than 1%. The number of customers enrolled in a certified CCA programs decreased by 11% to 31,000, while competitive electricity buyers increased to 25,000 customers, a 31% increase. The number of consumers buying unbundled RECs increased by about 7% to 404,000 customers.
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.
States with Green‑e® Energy Certified Renewable Electricity Options
Many customers throughout the U.S. have the option to purchase Green-e® Energy certified renewable electricity through their local utility or electric service provider. In 2023, 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 enroll in a bundled electricity option available through their utility or electric service provider.
Green-e® Energy also certified sales in Chile, Singapore, and Taiwan R.O.C.
Contributions of Renewable Resource Types to Total Green‑e® Energy Certified Retail Sales
In 2023, 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 very wind heavy, with wind facilities accounting for 78% of the total MWh of supply. Seven years ago, solar contributed only 250,000 MWh to certified sales, while in 2023 solar provided 21.4 million MWh. The other resources remained relatively consistent compared to 2022.
Contributions of Non-Wind Resource Types to Total Green‑e® Energy Certified Retail Sales
The growth of solar over the past eight 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.
Total Number of Facilities by Resource Type
Over 1,300 unique generation facilities with a total capacity of nearly 100 GW supplied Green-e® Energy certified products in 2023. The number of solar facilities used to supply Green-e® Energy certified products continues to grow rapidly. The number of unique solar facilities utilized in 2022 reached more than 750 unique facilities, more than half of all facilities used to supply certified sales. 2023 also saw the continued trend of growth in an already impressive cohort of wind resources supplying certified sales. Wind comprises the vast majority of total capacity of facilities supplying certified sales, with approximately three times more capacity than all other resources combined, as shown in the next chart.
Total Facility Capacity (MW) by Resource Type
Megawatt-Hours by Facility Date of First Operation or Repowering
Only new renewables are eligible to meet the criteria in the Standard. In North America. 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 2023, nearly 40% of the MWh used to supply certified sales came from facilities that were five years old or less. This shows a continued trend of more newly built generators being used to supply the voluntary market.
Capacity (MW) by Facility Date of First Operation or Repowering
In 2023 nearly 40% of the MW of capacity used to supply certified sales came from facilities that were five years old or less, demonstrating consistent turnover of older facilities and how generation from many newly built facilities is being used for voluntary purposes.
Count of Facilities by Year of First Operation or Repowering
Newer facilities accounted for a large portion of certified sales in 2023. Facilities five years or younger comprised over 39% of all facilities that provided any amount of MWh to Green-e® Energy certified sales. This again illustrates how the voluntary market can drive new build. Large corporate buyers’ preference for procurement from new build, including pre-construction procurement, is an important driver of this trend.
Total Green‑e® Energy Certified Sales of Renewable Energy by Product Type and Customer Type (MWh)
| Residential (Retail) | Non-Residential (Retail) | Wholesale | |
| RECs, PPAs, and VPPAs | 608,000 | 105,398,000 | 14,851,000 |
| Green Pricing | 4,996,000 | 7,100,000 | |
| Competitive Electricity | 130,000 | 1,201,000 | |
| Direct and On-Site | 4,989,000 | ||
| Community Choice Aggregation | 105,000 | 988,000 | |
| Total Sales | 5,839,000 | 119,676,000 | 14,851,000 |
| Total Retail: | 125,515,000 | MWh |
| Total Unique Certified: | 134,271,000 | MWh |
| Total Certified Transactions | 140,366,000 | MWh |
The total volume of all Green‑e® Energy certified transactions in 2023 reached 140 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 125 million MWh, while certified wholesale transactions reached nearly 15 million MWh in 2023. Of these certified wholesale transactions, roughly nine million MWh were resold in certified retail transactions. The remaining five 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 134.3 million unique MWh were made in 2023, 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.
Top 10 States by Retail Sales Volume
| State | % of Total Sales |
| TX | 19% |
| CA | 13% |
| WA | 8% |
| OH | 5% |
| OR | 5% |
| PA | 4% |
| NY | 4% |
| MN | 3% |
| CO | 3% |
| IL | 3% |
Green-e® Energy program staff collects data on the number of retail customers by state and the MWh of certified products provided to them. The top 10 states in terms of sales volume have remained relatively constant over the past few years and are typically states with large, sustainable-minded corporate entities. In 2023, Texas became the state with the highest volume of MWh for certified retail sales. The top 10 states represent 67% of the total volume of certified retail sales, while the top 3 states alone represent around 40% of all MWh of retail sales. 2023 also marked the fifth year that sales outside of North America were certified—in Chile, Singapore, and Taiwan R.O.C.
Percent of Total Retail Customers by State (Includes REC Sales)
| State | % of Customers |
| OR | 29% |
| CA | 10% |
| WA | 9% |
| OH | 9% |
| CO | 6% |
| TX | 5% |
| UT | 4% |
| PA | 4% |
| NY | 4% |
| NJ | 3% |
Retail customers are buying Green-e® Energy certified renewable energy throughout the U.S. In 2023, 83% of retail customers were located in these top 10 states. Despite the supply constraints faced in the West, the three largest customer bases are the West Coast states of California, Oregon, and Washington. There is a large degree of overlap between this list and the “Top 10” retail sales volume list, with the key point of difference in the purchase size of residential and non-residential customers. The states with the highest volumes have more non-residential customers.
Top Ten States and Provinces Supplying Renewable Energy to Green-e® Energy Certified Retail Sales by Percent of Total Certified MWh
| State/Province | % of Total |
| TX | 40% |
| OK | 13% |
| KS | 8% |
| QC | 5% |
| ND | 4% |
| FL | 4% |
| SD | 2% |
| CA | 2% |
| OR | 2% |
| WY | 2% |
83% of the renewable energy certified by Green-e® Energy was sourced from 10 states and provinces. Supply from both Texas and Oklahoma account for 53% of the total supply of renewable electricity certified in 2023. This is primarily related to the high wind content in many certified products, and the high rate of potential for (and installation of) wind facilities in the Midwest and Southern states such as Texas and Oklahoma. The difference between states that supply certified sales versus states that have purchasers of certified sales demonstrates how the market for unbundled RECs is allowing customers with limited access to local renewable energy products to support changes in generation portfolios throughout North America.
Sales of Green-e® Energy Certified Retail Transactions
Supply for Green-e® Energy Certified Retail Transactions
Green-e® Energy Certified Sales of Renewable Energy Certificates (including PPAs & VPPAs Certified as RECs) by Customer Type
| 2023 Sales (MWh, rounded) | MWh: % Change from 2022 | % of Total Retail REC Sales | Customers | |
| Residential | 636,000 | -4% | 0.6% | 134,000 |
| Non-Residential | 102,054,000 | 10% | 99.4% | 271,000 |
| Total Retail | 102,690,000 | 10% | 100.0% | 405,000 |
| Wholesale | 14,851,000 | 10% | 89 |
Certified REC increased by approximately 10% in 2023. The market is still driven by non-residential customers in 2023, although there was a 15,000 decrease in the number of C&I customers purchasing unbundled RECs compared to 2022.
Green‑e® Energy Certified Sales in Utility Green Pricing Programs by Customer Type
| 2023 Sales (MWh, rounded) | MWh: % Change From 2022 | % of Total Green Pricing Sales | Customers | |
| Residential | 4,996,000 | 4% | 41% | 819,000 |
| Non-Residential | 7,100,000 | 19% | 59% | 22,000 |
| Total Retail | 12,096,000 | 13% | 100% | 841,000 |
Many customers can purchase a bundled renewable electricity product from their local electric utility. Utility green pricing programs certified by Green-e® Energy consistently make up the majority of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s rankings in terms of customer participation rate, total number of subscribers, total MWh sold, and green power sales as a percentage of total retail electricity sales. In 2023, these programs increased 13% mainly due to a 19% increase in the volume of non-residential sales. 2023 saw the highest MWh total of Green-e® Energy certified renewable energy sold through utility green pricing programs ever.
Green‑e® Energy Certified Sales of Electricity by Electric Service Providers by Customer Type
| 2023 Sales (MWh, rounded) | MWh: % Change From 2022 | % of Total Competitive Electricity Retail Sales | Customers | |
| Residential | 130,000 | 14% | 10% | 24,300 |
| Non-Residential | 1,201,000 | -4% | 90% | 400 |
| Total Retail | 1,331,000 | -2% | 100% | 24,700 |
2023 saw competitive electricity product sales volumes slightly drop overall compared to the previous year. While the number of non-residential customers remained constant, on average each purcahsed slightly less than in 2022. However, residential sales and customer numbers were both up, consistent with renewable electricity programs largely serving smaller businesses and residential customers.
Green-e® Energy Certified Sales of Community Choice Aggregation Providers by Customer Type
| 2023 Sales (MWh, rounded) | MWh: % Change From 2022 | % of Total CCA Retail Sales | Customers | |
| Residential | 105,000 | -10% | 10% | 26,000 |
| Non-Residential | 988,000 | 22% | 90% | 4,900 |
| Total Retail | 1,093,000 | 24% | 100% | 30,900 |
Community Choice Aggregation (CCA, also known as Municipal Aggregation) programs allow cities and counties to aggregate customers in a regulated market within a defined jurisdiction to secure alternative electricity supply contracts on a community-wide basis. 2023 saw 24% more certified CCA MWh, driven by 22% growth in MWh purchased by non-residential customers.
