Selling green power in California: Product, industry, and market trends

As one of the first US stages to open its doors to retail electric competition, California offers an important opportunity to assess the effectiveness of green power marketing as a mechanism for supporting renewable energy. This report is an interim assessment of key green power product, industry, and market trends in California. The report identifies and analyzes: the potential size of the green power market in California; the companies participating in the green power market; the green power products being offered and their prices; the impact of the green market on renewable generators and the environment; and the influence of several public policies and non-governmental programs on the market for green power. Data used in this paper have been collected, in large part, from surveys and interviews with green power marketers that took place between December 1997 and April 1998. There remain legitimate concerns over the viability of green power marketing to support significant quantities of renewable energy and provide large environmental gains, and it is far too early to assess the overall strength of customer demand for renewable energy. A critical finding of this report is that, because of the high cost of acquiring and servicing residential customers andmore » the low utility default service price, green power marketing affords new energy service providers one of the only viable entrees to California`s residential marketplace.« less

[1]  N. Rader,et al.  Competitive Retail Markets: Tenuous Ground for Renewable Energy , 1998 .

[2]  R. Hirsh,et al.  Condemned to Repeat? IOUs, History and Green Markets , 1998 .

[3]  Bentham Paulos,et al.  Green power in perspective: lessons from green marketing of consumer goods , 1998 .

[4]  Ryan Wiser,et al.  The Green-e program: an opportunity for customers , 1998 .

[5]  J. Eto,et al.  The Impact of Market Rules on Emerging " Green " Energy Markets , 1998 .

[6]  Charles Goldman,et al.  Renewable energy and restructuring: policy solutions for the financing dilemma , 1997 .

[7]  E. Holt,et al.  The New Hampshire retail competition pilot program and the role of green marketing , 1997 .

[8]  J. Fang,et al.  Green marketing in the Massachusetts electric company retail competition pilot program , 1997 .

[9]  S. Pickle,et al.  Green marketing, renewables, and free riders: increasing customer demand for a public good , 1997 .

[10]  S. Hart.  Beyond Greening: Strategies for a Sustainable World. , 1997 .

[11]  B. C. Farhar,et al.  Willingness to pay for electricity from renewable energy , 1996 .

[12]  California renewable energy policy and implementation issues: An overview of recent regulatory and legislative action , 1996 .

[13]  R. Norgaard,et al.  Efficiency and sustainability in restructured electricity markets: the renewables portfolio standard , 1996 .

[14]  A. S. Miller,et al.  Renewable energy in competitive electricity markets , 1996 .

[15]  Gary L. Nakarado,et al.  A marketing orientation is the key to a sustainable energy future , 1996 .

[16]  D. R. Boleyn,et al.  Product Concept and Field Test of Green Marketing Programs , 1996 .

[17]  John F. Wasik,et al.  Green marketing & management : a global perspective , 1996 .

[18]  F. Hermann,et al.  International Environmental Labeling , 1995 .

[19]  Michael E. Porter,et al.  Green and Competitive : Ending the Stalemate , 1996 .

[20]  Michael Jay Polonsky,et al.  Environmental Marketing: Strategies, Practice, Theory, and Research , 1995 .

[21]  C. V. Jones,et al.  Developing a customer driven renewable program: Public service company of Colorado`s use of market research findings , 1994 .

[22]  B. Farhar,et al.  Trends in US Public Perceptions and Preferences on Energy and Environmental Policy , 1994 .

[23]  Willett Kempton,et al.  ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN LEAD TO ACTION ON GLOBAL WARMING , 1993 .

[24]  D. Moskovitz.  ‘Green pricing’: Customer choice moves beyond IRP , 1993 .

[25]  Frances Cairncross,et al.  Costing the Earth: The Challenge for Governments, the Opportunities for Business , 1992 .

[26]  Stephen J. Grove,et al.  Environmental Advertising Claims: A Preliminary Investigation , 1991 .

[27]  Josh L Wiener,et al.  A Framework for Promoting Cooperation , 1991 .

[28]  S. Vandermerwe,et al.  Customers drive corporations , 1990 .

[29]  Robert F. Dyer,et al.  An Evaluation of Consumer Awareness and Use of Energy Labels in the Purchase of Major Appliances: A Longitudinal Analysis , 1988 .

[30]  H. Varian,et al.  On the private provision of public goods , 1986 .

[31]  J. R. Brent Ritchie,et al.  Designing and Marketing Consumer Energy Conservation Policies and Programs: Implications from a Decade of Research , 1985 .

[32]  E. Rogers.  Diffusion of Innovations, Fourth Edition , 1982 .

[33]  P. Bloom,et al.  Problems and Challenges in Social Marketing , 1981, Journal of marketing.

[34]  M. Rothschild.  Marketing Communications in Nonbusiness Situations or why its so Hard to Sell Brotherhood like Soap , 1979, Journal of marketing.

[35]  E. Rogers,et al.  Diffusion of Innovations , 1964 .

[36]  Geo. R. Lawrence Co..  Pacific Grove, California , 1906 .