What is Arcadia Power?
Arcadia offers a way for energy consumers to consume energy from renewable sources. And that’s without having to install any solar panels on their home.
I’ve been trying to wrap my head around how this works. I’m the kind of guy who likes to break things down and start off with a simple scenario. That’s what helps me to build on my understanding and it’s what I’ll attempt to do in this article. So here we go…
First, for the sake of simplicity, let me just vaguely define a REC. A REC is a renewable energy certificate that’s created for every 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) of energy generated from a renewable source.
Now let’s say, for example, that company x is a power generator. And they generate power from either their wind or solar farm. If they generate 5 megawatt-hours of electricity, then they’ll be issued 5 RECs. The newly generated electrons will get pushed into the power grid. But they’ll get mixed in with energy generated from all kinds of other sources. Clean or dirty… The good news is that renewable energy in the grid can still be tracked. Thanks to RECs… It’s basically a system where generated renewable energy is logged at the source before being sent off.
At this point, it helps to dig a little deeper into what a REC is. Though it does serve as a recorded source for 1 MWh of renewable energy, it’s truly a financial instrument that can be bought or sold on a market. Either in a voluntary one or a compliance one. Some states require utility companies to buy RECs in order to reach renewable energy goals. But people can choose to buy them as well. When you buy a REC, you’ve essentially purchased 1 MWh of renewable energy.
Arcadia acts as a middleman by connecting your utility bill to their platform. And their platform will match your energy usage by purchasing RECs. So, through their platform, RECs are purchased on your behalf and your utility bill gets credited. Which means that when you pay your utility bill, you’re not paying for electricity that came from just anywhere. You’re paying for electricity that did come from a renewable source.
Theoretically, as membership to Arcadia rises, something else will happen. Demand for RECs will rise. The renewable energy market will see a stronger demand signal. And should therefore, respond with more supply.
There are two things that I love about this utility platform. First, it’s easy. And second, it gives individual consumers the power to push for progress in renewable energy. It gives them the ability to act and push for much needed change toward a cleaner and more sustainable power grid. And what a great way to do just that! Through manipulating market forces…
Please click here if you’d like to become an Arcadia member. And thank you for reading this!
