Utilities are breaking away from traditional electricity products to offer customers access to large-scale renewable energy. Until very recently, utilities did not differentiate the sort of power they offered customers. With very few exceptions, everyone shared in the cost and used electricity from the same fleet of power generating stations.

但是在过去的四年中，即使是受监管的美国公用事业也开始为客户提供新的大规模可再生能源选择。WRI datashows that across 10 U.S. states, utilities now offer 13 green tariffs – programs that let customers purchase large-scale renewable energy over the grid.

我们仔细研究了使公用事业在可再生能源中迅速规模的重要参与者的趋势和动机，以服务于美国的企业买家

1.为什么公用事业正在加紧？

In markets where wind and solar power have becomecost competitive, utilities have more economic incentives to add renewable energy. Renewable resources just offer a great low price for the next 20 years – without the risks of fossil fuel price spikes.

Graph originally atBloomberg.com; data as of 1/2017

Utility leaders overwhelmingly anticipate substantial solar and wind power growth in the next ten years, according toUtility Dive's 2017 survey of the sector。在公用事业高管中，有71％的人说公用事业规模的风将在未来十年中适度或显着增加，而82％的公用事业规模太阳能预测相同。

Recently, Pat Vincent-Collawn, CEO of PNM Resourcesannounced一项计划到2031年消除煤炭并朝着可再生能源和天然气迈进，称其为“对于新墨西哥州的最佳，最经济的道路，通往强大的能量未来。”WEC Energy Group首席执行官Allen Leveretttold2017年5月，该公司正在探索太阳能，“我们过去五年中看到的最大变化是太阳能和太阳能成本。技术曲线在成本的提高方面确实很快下降了。”

中美洲的伯克希尔·哈瑟维能源子公司说话关于他们对风的广泛投资以相同的方式 - 作为使客户价格低廉的有效方式。该公司还利用他们的风投资为renewable energy requirements of major data centers, such asFacebook和谷歌，在他们的服务领域。

2. How big is the demand for renewable energy on the grid?

通过RE100，90 companieshave committed to100％可再生能力。清洁能源和减少温室气体目标是now the norm对于财富500强和Fortune 100公司。WWF和Ceres’Power Forward 3.0 reportshows that almost half of the Fortune 500 and a majority of the Fortune 100 now have climate and energy targets.

具有可再生能源承诺的公司可以只走这么远具有现场太阳能和效率。为了实现最雄心勃勃的目标，例如100％可再生能源目标，公司必须利用电网并转向其实用性提供解决方案。

大型企业已将其需求传达给美国公用事业。六十五家公司已签署Renewable Energy Buyers’ Principles，这告诉公用事业和其他供应商在从网格中购买可再生能源时，跨国公司领先的跨国公司正在寻找什么。

And utilities are listening. Utilities without green tariffs or state mandates are still considering new renewable energy options to attract businesses. Describing a new wind project, Appalachian Power’s new president Chris BeamtoldtheCharleston Gazette Mail, “at the end of the day, West Virginia may not require us to be clean, but our customers are […] we have to be mindful of what our customers want.”

3.公用事业如何加强？

To meet customer demand for renewable energy, traditional utilities have now created 13 green tariff options across 10 states. In the six months since the last update to WRI’s issue brief,Emerging Green Tariffs in U.S. Regulated Electricity Markets, utilities have added three more green tariffs options—including the first offered by a public power company, Nebraska’s Omaha Public Power District.

具有可再生能源选择的状态是more competitive吸引高增长的公司业务时。当奥马哈公共电力区宣布新的绿色关税以提供Facebook数据中心时，OPPD的总裁兼首席执行官蒂姆·伯克（Tim Burke），toldthe奥马哈世界先驱者, “we have several customers right now that are putting together potential expansion projects and will utilize that (new) rate to grow.”

4. What is the impact of green tariffs on the grid?

Who is using these tariffs? To date,客户已签订约900兆瓦的新可再生能源，低于5关税。这大约足够电力160,000 average American homes a year。This spring, utilities and customers are negotiating hundreds more megawatts of additional purchases.

5.客户如何跟上这些新选择？

WRI的互动U.S. Renewable Energy Map: A Guide For Corporate Buyers shows all the green tariffs that utilities offer across the nation. The map also details one-on-one special contracts that customers have signed with utilities. These special contracts show a utility is willing to explore options, even if they haven’t gone as far as creating a new tariff.

6. What’s Next?

如今，绿色关税是美国总体可再生能源市场的一小部分 - 反映其试点状况。但是，这些计划在需求仅在增加的时候，不仅是企业，而且城市，大学，医院和较小的公司创造了一个可再生能源的跑道。

Innovative partnerships will continue to emerge between utilities and their customers as both grapple with the rapidly changing electricity sector. Green tariffs are only three years old, but with increasing demand, interest in renewables by utilities and the continued fall in renewable energy prices, green tariffs look like they’re here to stay.