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 Electricity and the |
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Power ScorecardTM
sponsored by: Environmental Defense The Izaak Walton League Natural Resources Defense Council The NW Energy Coalition Pace University Energy and Climate Center The Union of Concerned Scientists Also endorsed by: American Rivers |
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Grading Electricity Products - |
| Using Consumer Choice for a Better Environment |
What is the Power Scorecard?
The Power Scorecard
is a tool for consumers that grades the types of generation resources
used to produce electricity according to their effects on the environment.
Did you know that
the generation of electric power produces more pollution than any
other single industry in the United States? Now you can choose
your power supplier, and you can choose one that uses resources with less
environmental impact. Created by a group of six well-known environmental
organizations, the Power Scorecard gives you clear, accurate, and reliable
information to help you understand the real environmental differences
among electricity products.
To see a list of
products and their ratings available in your area, select "Ratings"
in the navigation column on the left, or from the button bar at the bottom
of any page in the site.
The Power Scorecard
grades the environmental quality of electricity products in TWO ways:
1. Overall Environmental Impact Rating
AIR IMPACTS
WATER IMPACTS
LAND IMPACTS
2. New Renewable Content Rating From any page of
the Power Scorecard site, clicking on the link to "ratings"
in the left navigation column produces a list of electricity products
available in your area. For each product, you will be shown:
It was created by
a group of six nationally recognized environmental organizations, working
closely together. The group includes
Environmental Defense,
the Izaak Walton League,
the Natural Resources Defense Council,
the NW Energy Coalition,
the Pace Energy and Climate Center,
and the Union of Concerned Scientists.
To produce a rating
for each product, Power Scorecard personnel ask electricity retailers
to provide data about the specific electricity generation sources used
to supply power for customers of each product. The questions relate to
each of the eight environmental impact or performance areas and
to how much new renewable energy generation is used to serve consumers.
1. Overall Environmental Impact Rating 2. New Renewable Content Rating If marketers can not provide data on emissions or other evaluation
criteria, the power scorecard has developed substitute estimates ("default
estimates") of these measures based on published information on the different
types of commonly used electricity production technologies.
Click here for a closer look at
how ratings are created.
How does it work?
The Power Scorecard assigns a score to the impact a product has
in each of the eight environmental areas most seriously affected by
electricity production. The Overall Environmental Impact Rating combines
the scores in these eight areas:
1. Climate change
2. Acid rain
3. Ozone (smog) and fine particulates
4. Air toxics (mercury)
5. Consumption of water resources
6. Pollution of water bodies
7. On-site land impacts
(permanent plant footprint)
8. Off-site land impacts
(solid waste disposal and fuel processing)
The Power Scorecard also grades electricity products according to the
percentage of electricity obtained from new renewable resources.
That means it identifies newly built technology that uses renewable
sources of power, such as wind or solar energy, to produce electricity.
By using new, low-impact, renewable resources, a power supplier displaces
older, often higher-polluting facilities - one of the very best
ways to make a difference.
What will I learn?
If you want more information, links are provided to allow you to find
out more details, such as:
Who created the Power Scorecard?
How are the ratings produced?
Responses are "scored" using criteria* developed from a detailed analysis
of all current power generating technologies. The scores in the eight
environmental impact areas are combined to create the overall environmental
impact rating for the product.
Responses are also "scored" according to the amount of new
renewable energy generation used to produce each electricity product.
Together the two ratings show the relative environmental quality of the
electricity sources suppliers are using to serve their customers and how
much each supplier is investing in new environmentally preferred electricity
generation.
The Power Scorecard reflects the collective exercise of expert judgement by the sponsoring organizations, based on its interpretation of available data and assessment of its accuracy and reliability, and application of state-of-the-art techniques in the identification and quantification of environmental impacts of electric power generation technologies. The Power Scorecard ratings appearing on this website may be based on assumptions made by the sponsoring organizations as to the composition, fuel sources, technologies, and associated environmental attributes of particular products where such information is unknown to or has not been provided by the supplier, and where such information is not publicly available. However, every effort is made to validate the information used in rating products with the supplier.
*The specific criteria used to develop the scores can be found in the Power Scorecard Methodology Report. To download this report:
1. Choose one of the formats below, and right click the link.
2. A menu will appear next to your cursor. Select "Save Target As..." (Internet Explorer) or "Save Link As..." (Netscape) from the menu.
3. A dialog box will pop up. Choose the location where you want the file saved on your computer. You have the option of renaming the file. When you are finished, press the "Save" button to begin download.
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©2000
Pace University, White Plains, New York Design ©2000 Baseline Institute, Lafayette, Colorado |
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