A Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) is the energy attribute certificate used in the US. Each REC certifies that 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity was generated from a renewable source and tracked through a regional registry. Unlike the European GoO system, there is no single national registry; the US REC market is administered by a patchwork of regional tracking systems.
Each REC represents 1 MWh of renewable electricity generation. It records the technology (wind, solar, hydro, biomass, geothermal), the generating facility, the state of origin, the vintage (generation year, and in some systems generation month), and the tracking system that issued it. Buyers use RECs both to substantiate voluntary renewable energy claims and to meet state regulatory obligations.
RECs are issued by regional tracking systems rather than a single national body. The main systems include WREGIS in the Western Interconnect, M-RETS across the Midwest and parts of Canada, PJM-GATS in the PJM region, NEPOOL-GIS in New England, NYGATS in New York, ERCOT in Texas, and NC-RETS in North Carolina. Each operates independently, with its own platform, fees, and rules, although certificates can sometimes be imported between systems where regional agreements allow.
Compliance RECs are used by load-serving entities to meet a state Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), the regulatory mandate requiring a defined percentage of electricity sales to come from renewable sources. They follow strict eligibility rules: technology type, in-state or in-region generation, vintage, and sometimes facility commissioning date all matter. Voluntary RECs are purchased outside any regulatory requirement, typically by corporations or individuals making renewable energy claims, often certified under Green-e Energy. Compliance RECs almost always trade at a significant premium to voluntary RECs.
An SREC (Solar Renewable Energy Certificate) is a REC specifically generated from solar electricity that qualifies under a state solar carve-out within an RPS. SRECs typically trade at a significant premium to non-solar RECs because the regulatory demand is concentrated and the qualifying supply is more limited. Active SREC markets have existed in states such as New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Washington DC, although several of these markets are evolving as state programs are restructured.
RECs and GoOs serve a similar function but operate in separate markets with no interoperability. The US market is fragmented across regional registries with varying compliance rules, while the European GoO market is standardized under the EECS and coordinated across participating countries by the AIB. A REC retired in WREGIS cannot back a European Fuel Mix Disclosure claim, and a GoO cancelled in a European registry cannot satisfy a US state RPS obligation.
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