Smart meters and renewable energy, oh my!

The Glen Ellyn Historical Society hosted a popular event this past Saturday about the history and future of electricity, presented by ComEd. After ComEd's excellent presentation about the benefits of smart meters and real-time pricing, interesting questions arose about the real time pricing options, electrical aggregation, and community-wide purchasing of clean energy based on wind power.

Although most homeowners realize smart meters are being rolled out, many do not understand the nuances of how electricity is purchased and delivered to residences.  It is also not clear that the most Glen Ellyn residents are aware that we are purchasing wind power through the purchase of renewable energy credits (RECs) through the Village's electrical aggregation program. To be fair, this is not intuitive.  RECs are nevertheless considered by regulators to be valid way to buy wind power.  An excellent explanation is of how RECs work is published by the Elmhurst Cool Cities Coalition.