Aloha,
I am looking for information on best practices and pitfalls to avoid in instituting and marketing a green pricing program to promote renewable energy sources through an electric utility. Our experience is limited to a SunPower for Schools program in which customers voluntarily make single or regular contributions to a fund that helps put small demonstration photo-voltaic panel on the roof of a school. Though barely powerful enough to energize a light bulb, the program does offer awareness and hands on experience for students. Admittedly, despite a limited advertising and marketing campaign, participation in SunPower is very small. Our surveys all indicate that about a third of our customers express a willingness to pay more for renewable energy. Whether that willingness can be converted to eagerness and then actual participation is the challenge before us. Respond to listserv and/or [email protected].
Peter Rosegg
Corporate Communications
Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc.
[email protected]
808-543-7780 808-543-7790
fax P.O. Box 2750
Honolulu, Hawaii 96840-0001
Seeking Info on Electricity Green Pricing
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Hello Peter:
If you haven't done so already, you might want to look at the NREL reports on Green Power: http://www.nrel.gov/analysis/news.html#green_power. Another group to talk with is CESA - the Clean Energy States Alliance www.cleanenergyfunds.org. This is related to 18 sustainable energy funds in 12 states, and you'll see some of their ads, communications plans. Many of these plans, and the market research behond them has been conducted by SmartPower, in Connecticut www.smartpower.org. The willingness to pay vs actually buying is getting well documented; less than 2% actually buy in US. SmartPower has some good info. about how to improve that ratio. Finally, I have 2 goods pdf documents, one from NREL and one from 3 Phases Electic, a competitor of mine, which has done an excellent job with Green Utility marketing programs. If you'd like those, I can email separately.
Good luck.
George F. Hoguet
Director, Mid-Atlantic Operations
NativeEnergy, LLC
P.O. Box 1463 Media, PA 19063
(610)566-1332
www.nativeenergy.com
There are a number of greenpower programs offered by utilities around the world. If you do a search on greenpower you will find a number of links on this topic. There are an increasing number of utilties in the U.S. and Australia (in particular) offering greenpower to their customers. The latest issue of ReNew Magazine, published by the Alternative Technology Association (www.ata.org.au) in Australia has a good rundown on the current Greenpower options available in Australia. It is very important to look at the details of any offering as there are some very "pale green" programs around.
Cheers
MOC