Buy RECs that make an impact.
Raise the bar on Renewable Energy Certificates with an emphasis on additionality and emissionality. Mitigate scope 2 emissions and get to 100% renewable energy.
The trusted platform for buying high-impact RECs
Simplify your project search
Get matched with yet-built, vetted clean energy projects that meet your sustainability goals with our all-in-one platform. All projects are screened with our ESG Scorecard.
Follow along as project is built
With your support, a new project can get needed funding and is built in 1-2 years. This is a new clean energy that is only possible with your support.
Heal the planet, tell your story
Use your REC purchase to mitigate your scope 2 emissions and achieve your ESG goals. Ever.green reports on and continually monitor other key ESG metrics, including emissionality.
REC methodology
Our high-impact RECs ensure that every certificate sold directly contributes to the financing and viability of new projects, addressing the core issue of additionality in a way that traditional markets have failed to do.
Ever.green’s new approach prioritizes long-term contracts, meaningful pricing, and rigorous additionality testing to ensure that REC purchases provide substantial economic benefits to renewable projects, making them more attractive to investors and more likely to proceed.
What makes them high-impact?
To accelerate the transition to renewable energy, companies buy Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) via long-term contracts with yet-built projects. As with Virtual PPAs, these long-term contracts can make projects happen that would not have happened otherwise, a concept known as additionality.
Ever.green aggregates demand for high-impact RECs into contracts with minimal risk and a size and length that is accessible to most businesses. We test for additionality and bring greater transparency to the impact of every REC on every project on the planet.
Spot purchases from brokers for existing projects
5-15 year forward contract connected to future project
Barely clears minimum scope 2 standards
In-line with GHG Protocol best practices
No transparency or reporting on environmental or social impacts
Robust reporting via ESG Scorecard and estimated of avoided emissions for each REC
Lower price, variable year to year, set by REC brokers in the voluntary market
Higher price, based on term and having a material impact, fixed for the entire contract giving price certainty,
Does not help make new projects happen
Material impact on standing up new projects
Ever.green Insights on High-impact RECs
Refurbishing Ocotillo Wind Farm
Watershed partners with Ever.green
Greenwashing or not? Not all RECs are created equal
Frequently Asked Questions
What are RECs?
A renewable energy certificate, or REC, is a legal instrument that gives its holder the exclusive right to claim the purchase of an amount of renewable energy, usually one (1) MWh. Once a REC has been purchased, federal regulations state that no other party has the right to claim the use of that MWh of renewable energy, even if that party directly consumes that energy on-site.ir federal tax liability.
Individuals, family offices, and closely held private companies can offset federal tax liability from passive income.
Who can sell RECs?
Any producer of renewable energy registered with the appropriate renewable energy tracking system. A renewable energy tracking system can be created by a state with a renewable portfolio standard (goals for production of renewable energy within the state), or it may be a private or non-profit entity. If a state’s renewable portfolio standard’s goals for a specific technology have not been met, RECs generated using that technology in that state are called “compliance RECs.” RECs generated in states without an RPS or whose RPS standards have been met for the technology used to generate them are called “voluntary RECs.”
Who can buy RECs?
In practice, anyone can buy RECs, and in fact many individuals receive renewable energy credits from community solar projects or are allocated them by their utilities. Generally, however, Ever.green works with companies, nonprofits and other organizations that need to purchase RECs to meet their sustainability goals.
How can RECs help me meet my sustainability goals?
When an organization looks to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, it has to evaluate three different categories of emissions - Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3.
- Scope 1: Direct emissions (e.g., emissions created by the organization’s own manufacturing facilities, or from vehicles needed to provide the Company’s services)
- Scope 2: Indirect emissions attributable to the Company’s energy use.
- Scope 3: Indirect emissions attributable to the Company’s supply chain and customers.
RECs can most directly help an organization using power from the electric grid to address its Scope 2 emissions. Each REC represents the purchase of 1 MWh of renewable energy. Generally speaking, if an organization purchases a number of RECs equal to its energy use for a given year, then under current “market-based” accounting rules approved by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, it is allowed to claim zero Scope 2 emissions for that year.
What are Ever.green’s High-Impact RECs, and how are they different from normal RECs?
Ever.green RECs are a new REC product with two key features that are intended to guarantee that your purchase of the REC will have a high impact:
- The Ever.green REC must meet Ever.green’s standards for additionality.
- The Ever.green REC must also meet the standards laid out in our ESG Scorecard.
In brief, in order to sell the RECs on a project, we require that the developer demonstrate that the RECs are material to the decision of whether or not the project will be built or will be financially viable over the life of the project. Our ESG Scorecard lays out minimum requirements with respect to the projects in terms of emissions avoidance, minimization of environmental impact, adherence to labor practices in the construction of a project and a project’s community impact.
Further, and following suggestions laid out in the current Scope 2 Guidance by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, we contract directly with developers:
- Only with respect to new or newly-repowered projects
- At prices greater than the market price for spot RECs
- Via long-term contracts on which the project can rely for funding in down years
All of these factors contribute to helping drive the creation of new renewable energy resources, or of keeping existing resources on-line. Certain projects can achieve particular distinction by accumulating “bonus” points on our scorecard, meeting criteria that are desirable but not strictly required.
I’ve heard that buying RECs may constitute greenwashing. Is that true?
This idea centers around the fact that while organizations that purchase RECs claim reduced Scope 2 emissions, they still in fact use grid power, and the United States electricity grids still depend in large part on fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. In theory, RECs are supposed to provide a way for customers to express market demand for renewable energy and thus stimulate the production of new renewable energy generation resources. Recent studies, however, have shown that evidence for this is weak, in particular outside of compliance markets. The greenwashing allegation thus stems from this suspicion that standard unbundled spot market REC purchases have little effect in greening our electricity grids.
There have been calls to heighten the standards on RECs, in large part to tie them more closely to the production of new renewable generation resources. This is why Ever.green has developed the high-impact REC.
Are Ever.green RECs more expensive than other RECs?
Ever.green RECs are generally sold at a premium to current spot-market voluntary REC prices. However, we believe this higher price is justified for several reasons:
Additionality
Higher-priced RECs are more likely to have high impact. One of the reasons that doubts have been raised about the effectiveness of spot market RECs in driving new renewables is the fact that they often trade $1-2 per REC. At these prices, it is implausible that a REC will have the necessary impact to drive new renewable energy generation. A good part of the higher price of an Ever.green REC, therefore, is directly tied to the amount of impact the REC can have.
ESG Scorecard
The higher price and long-term contract lengths of Ever.green’s High-Impact RECs also enables Ever.green to gain developer cooperation in going through the certification process for our ESG Scorecard. This makes the Ever.green REC, we believe, a more reliable, safer and transparent product than a REC without our ESG Scorecard certification.
Favorable pricing versus compliance RECs
Ever.green RECs are generally cheaper than many compliance RECs. Compliance REC markets are of limited supply but are generally thought to have more impact than voluntary REC markets, and are therefore a better comparable for the high-impact Ever.green RECs.
Ability to lock in price over time
Ever.green’s forward purchase agreements lock in a price for several years, and it is possible that even voluntary REC prices may climb in the next several years as demand for them increases due to growing numbers of companies setting sustainability goals.
Are Ever.green RECs Green-e® certified?
Ever.green RECs are Green-e® Energy certified, and meet the environmental and consumer-protection standards set forth by the nonprofit Center of Resource Solutions. Learn more at www.green-e.org.
For more information about Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), see: www.green-e.org/rec.
Buying Ever.green RECs
How do I buy Ever.green RECs?
As noted above, Ever.green RECs are only sold through forward commitments. If you see one or more REC projects on our marketplace that you would be interested in supporting through a long-term REC purchase, please contact us and we can begin the process of onboarding you as a customer before presenting you with a draft forward purchase agreement for review.
Generally, our contracting process involves back-to-back agreements with developers and end-user customers. We will enter into forward purchase agreements for RECs directly from developers on new or repowered projects, after completing a diligence process. This forward purchase agreement will also contain representations backing up the high-impact nature of the RECs. Prior to, or concurrent with, the commencement of the project’s commercial operations, Ever.green will resell those high-impact RECs as Ever.green RECs under forward purchase agreements with end customers.
One exception to the above is if an existing customer contract is terminating, but Ever.green remains committed to purchase RECs from an existing project, Ever.green may contract with a new customer to resell the newly available REC stream. We view these as RECs as still having high impact because the developer relies on the continued revenue stream from the REC sales at the time of construction to guarantee the viability of the project, and Ever.green relies on the new end-user customer to enable it to meet its obligations to the developer.
What is the minimum term for an Ever.green forward purchase agreement?
We generally require a minimum term of at least five (5) years.
What if I no longer need or want Ever.green RECs? Can I get out of my forward commitment?
The long-term nature of Ever.green’s contracts with developers are one of the key elements guaranteeing their high level of impact, so contracts cannot be terminated at convenience. However, we are open to negotiating early termination provisions with buyers provided we can find a replacement sponsor.
Is there a limit to the number of RECs I can buy?
There is no legal limit to the amount of RECs a purchase can buy, although generally companies only buy the RECs required to match their Scope 2 emissions. Some organizations have considered purchasing RECs on behalf of their vendors and suppliers to address their Scope 3 emissions as well (or at least those elements of Scope 3 emissions attributable to energy use in an organization’s supply chain).
Once I have entered into a forward REC purchase agreement for Ever.green RECs, what happens? And when do I start receiving my Ever.green RECs?
Once you have entered into a forward purchase agreement for your Ever.green RECs, you will receive a welcome packet containing, among other things, a summary of the terms and conditions of your REC purchase, the schedule for REC delivery and invoicing, and Green-e disclosures.
The date you first receive RECs will vary depending on the project, but will generally be within 60-90 days following either (i) the end the end of the first quarter in which the first renewable energy project that you are supporting begins commercial operation or (ii) in cases where the project is already in commercial operation, the first quarter after entry into the forward purchase agreement.
Once you begin receiving Ever.green RECs you will also receive, each year, a prospective and historical summary of the source of the Ever.green RECs expected to be sold, and actually sold, to you during that year.
What risks do buyers of RECs face?
REC buyers face several risks, many of which have already been addressed above.
- Facility delays: New renewable energy projects face many challenges, not all of which are addressed by a forward purchase agreement for Ever.green RECs. For example, projects may face unforeseen hurdles in obtaining interconnection, permits, or otherwise completing construction. Our contracts generally permit buyers to terminate a forward REC commitment if project completion is delayed beyond a certain point past the estimated completion date, and buyers can mitigate this risk by choosing projects nearer to completion, or by choosing repowered projects.
- Underproduction: Renewable energy sources are generally subject to variance in production by year. This risk may vary from project to project, and technology to technology; Ever.green works with customers to help identify these risks on a specific project and appropriate mitigation strategies, which may include buying slightly more RECs than required, or contracting for the sale of RECs that are of equivalent impact.
- Overproduction: Conversely, a buyer may find that its electricity demands are less than forecasted, and find itself with more RECs than it can use to offset its Scope 2 emissions. Again, Ever.green will work with customers to mitigate these risks; for example, RECs can sometimes be used in an adjacent year to the one in which they are produced, or in limited circumstances can be resold.
- Change in law: RECs are subject to various laws and regulations. As such, the usefulness of a REC could be changed materially by federal and state governments, or by changes enacted by non-governmental organizations with significant influence on government policy, such as the Greenhouse Gas Protocol or the Center for Resource Solutions.
Who is Ever.green?
Ever.green is a high-impact REC and clean energy tax credit marketplace that empowers businesses of all sizes to participate in the energy transition, meet their sustainability goals, and make a financial return. Through Ever.green, companies can purchase tax credits at a discount and commit to forward contracts for high-impact Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) that help stand up new clean energy projects. Ever.green's marketplace includes streamlined transaction support, standard documentation, due diligence, filing, and compliance monitoring services to reduce risks and maximize efficiency for all parties. Ever.green is a marketplace for accelerating the transition to renewable energy.
We are a team of energy, regulatory, and product experts dedicated to opening up investing in renewables to everyone and accelerating our path to net-zero emissions. We are bringing new capital to the table and funding the creation of new renewable energy and storage projects.
We have seen deals challenged by misaligned expectations,and have found that a key to success in this early market is a highly curated process, where we work with both the buy side and sell side to close deals. What you get from Ever.green is a hands-on, dedicated team, legal documents to support transactions, and an ecosystem of 3rd party partners to support any diligence and filing needs.
Add clean energy tax credits
Add Ever.green clean energy tax credits to your REC purchase and use your tax savings to help subsidize or entirely erase the cost of RECs.
2023 IRA Tax Credit Market Wrap-Up
Baker Tilly Joins Ever.green's Marketplace
Three game-changing aspects of the climate bill
Build more renewables!
