Emission-Free Energy Certificates
Customers can do their part to help the environment by choosing to participate in Exelon Energy’s Emission-Free Energy Certificate (EFEC) program. Choosing this option encourages the production of electric power from generation sources that do not directly emit air pollutants such as carbon dioxide and can help businesses achieve their environmental goals.
EFECs can be combined with some or all of your power purchase. They represent the environmental attributes associated with the power generated from a nuclear generating unit and you can be assured that the metered megawatt-hours produced from these facilities have not directly emitted:
• Carbon dioxide
• Sulfur dioxide
• Nitrogen oxide
What is an Emission-Free Energy Certificate (EFEC)?
A single EFEC is created for each metered megawatt-hour of electric power output from a generating unit that does not directly produce air emissions*.
EFECs are tracked as being emission-free by the Generation Attribute Tracking System (GATS). Eligible EFEC fuel types include (new and existing): hydroelectric, nuclear, solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, tidal, wave and wind energy.
Download More Information about Emission-Free Energy Certificates
* Only the direct generation process of generating facility is considered when applying the “Emission-Free” designation. All generating facilities produce greenhouse gases associated with the entire life-cycle of the facility. Life-cycle emissions include emissions associated with the construction of the plant, mining and processing the fuel, routine maintenance and operation of the plant, disposal of waste byproducts, and decommissioning.
The life-cycle emissions of various generation sources can be compared below.
| Coal |
1,041 |
| Natural Gas |
622 |
| Biomass |
46 |
| Solar PV |
39 |
| Hydro |
18 |
| Nuclear |
17 |
| Geothermal |
15 |
Source: “Life-Cycle Assessment of Electricity Generation Systems and Applications for Climate Change Policy Analysis,"
Paul J. Meier, University of Wisconsin-Madison, August 2002
Source: Nuclear Energy Institute, nei.org