How exactly does APC GREEN work? For every kilowatt hour that you use, the Acton Power Choice program (APC) ensures that a renewable energy generator puts enough power onto the grid for your usage. The program electricity supplier does this by purchasing Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), on your behalf, from a renewable electricity generator.

Your demand for REC purchases (through your APC GREEN consumption), as well as that of thousands of other REC buyers, has three impacts: it increases demand for renewable energy on the Northeast power grid, funds new sources of renewable power, and reduces the need to burn fossil fuels for electricity generation. APC GREEN is a powerful way to clean up our regional electricity supply.

The availability of renewably sourced electricity through APC GREEN means that decisions to electrify — for example, with electric vehicles (EVs) or heat pump technology for stationary heating and cooling — can achieve significantly greater emissions reductions than are achieved with the APC Standard option. On average, an Acton APC GREEN household can cut its annual carbon emissions by approximately 1.5–2 tons (MTCO2e), as previously noted. But for households that electrify their heating and cooling, and vehicles, and therefore use more electricity (but no fossil fuels!), APC GREEN may cut emissions by much more than 1.5–2 tons annually. (These estimates of emission reductions are intended as relative magnitudes and appropriations, not predictions of individual results.)