Options for Eliminating or Offsetting Your Home's Carbon Footprint

Option #1: Switch to clean energy, which will cost you a few dollars more each month than your current electric bill. In this case you choose to buy electricity for your home from a clean energy generator, often referred to as "Green Supply," instead of the power plants you would normally buy it from. If enough people choose green supply, the demand for clean energy will increase... and the old-fashioned oil, gas and coal-fired power plants won't have to run as much anymore!

Green supply costs the typical Maine household from $5-20 per month extra.

Option #2: Purchase Clean Energy Credits (also known as RECs or Renewable Energy Certificates) independently of your utility bills, in whatever quantity you select (the Carbon Calculator will suggest what would be needed to offset your emissions). These credits ensure that the equivalent amount of clean electricity is delivered onto the regional electric grid. If you aren't ready or able to switch to clean energy supply in your utility service area, you can buy a portion or all of your clean energy through credits.

Maine Wind Watts RECs, for example, cost $20 per block of 1,000 kilowatt hours (the average Maine home would need 6 blocks to offset its electricity for one year).