Best Practices for Power Source and Emissions Disclosure

Author(s): CRS Staff
Date: March 31, 2026 | Document | 27 Pages

Clear power source disclosure helps customers understand what electricity they are buying and the emissions associated with it. CEAP’s new Best Practices for Power Source and Emissions Disclosure offers a practical U.S. framework for more accurate, transparent, and comparable electricity disclosures. The guidance recommends product-specific disclosure; accounting based on delivered attributes rather than utility-wide averages; alignment between resource mix and emissions reporting; and clear treatment of RECs and other EACs, unspecified power, null power, and state load-based policies. Designed for regulators, utilities, electricity suppliers, and voluntary market participants, this resource helps strengthen consumer trust, reduce confusion, and support more credible clean energy claims.

Webinar

As electricity customers, regulators, and consumer advocates face growing pressure to understand the emissions impact of the power they purchase, it is important to know what electricity attributes are actually being allocated to customers. This webinar introduces Center for Resource Solutions’ Clean Energy Accounting Project’s (CEAP’s) newest Best Practices for Power Source and Emissions Disclosure Guidance, and explores how states, regulators, utilities, and consumer-facing organizations can advance more accurate and transparent electricity emissions information.

The discussion examines why product-specific data, delivered attributes, and clearer distinctions between electricity offerings matter for effective policy design, consumer protection, and market transparency. Speakers also discuss practical pathways for implementing the guidance across different regulatory and market contexts. The session explores how different stakeholders can apply the guidance in practice to support better regulatory, market, and consumer outcomes. Viewers will leave with a clearer understanding of emerging best practices for power source disclosure and how to put them into action.

SPEAKERS

  • Commissioner Abigail Anthony, Rhode Island PUC
  • Ignacio Fernandez, The Climate Registry
  • Sushmita Jena, National Lab of the Rockies
  • Lucas Grimes, Center for Resource Solutions

Additional Resources

Best Practices for Power Source and Emissions Disclosure Initiative Proposal

Background Reports

Power Source and Emissions Disclosure
Power Source and Emissions Disclosure

This backgrounder identifies practices in PSD across ten technical and policy areas, drawing on examples from state programs such as California, New York, and Rhode Island. Each section outlines existing state rules and implementation differences, highlighting where alignment with procurement structures, tracking systems, and emissions frameworks is essential. The goal is to support improved PSD design that empowers customers, supports credible claims, and aligns voluntary and compliance markets across jurisdictions.

Working Group

  • Initiative Sponsor: REAL
  • 3Degrees
  • CAISO
  • Carbon Solutions Group
  • Constellation
  • EPRI
  • MISO
  • National Renewable Energy Laboratory
  • NEPOOL-GIS
  • New York Power Authority
  • NRG Energy
  • NYISO
  • Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission
  • Singularity
  • Southern Environmental Law Center
  • The Climate Registry
  • The Utility Reform Network (TURN)
  • WREGIS