Ampion Renewable Energy, a provider of community solar solutions, has launched Ampion+ – its new Green-e Energy certified product. Ampion is the first organization to build a product combining community solar subscriptions with renewable energy certificates (RECs), enabling enterprise organizations to reduce energy costs and substantiate environmental claims for environmental, social and corporate governance mandates.
Purchasing and budgeting for RECs can create challenges and delays for companies that do not specialize in renewable energy. With Ampion+, Ampion takes the lead by retiring RECs on behalf of the subscriber. The RECs are bundled with the subscriber’s community solar subscription, so companies do not need to manage separate processes for energy savings and ESG efforts. Ampion has already implemented Ampion+ with some of its large corporate subscribers, including Intercontinental Hotels Group.
To offer Ampion+ to businesses, Ampion underwent a certification process with the Center for Resources Solutions, allowing Ampion+ to earn a Green-e Energy certification, which confirms the renewable energy is generated from new facilities, marketed transparently and accurately and delivered to the purchaser, who maintains sole title. By meeting these standards, Ampion is able to sell Green-e Energy Certified RECs, which are retired on behalf of the corporate subscriber. Once a subscriber claims the renewable energy associated with the REC, the REC comes out of circulation and can no longer be sold. This gives Ampion+ customers the evidence required for ESG reporting.
Community solar allows electric utility customers to subscribe to a share of solar energy from nearby solar farms and save on their electricity costs. The development of community solar projects is often dependent upon enterprise subscribers. These large entities serve as an anchor for the project developer, increasing the financial attractiveness of the project and improving its chance of being built, benefiting low-to-moderate income and other residential subscribers.
“By bundling Green-e Energy certified RECs with traditional community solar savings, Ampion is helping businesses streamline their renewable energy efforts,” says Nate Owen, CEO of Ampion. “Ampion+ provides a huge benefit to corporate subscribers, and also to solar developers, who can rely on the stability of additional anchor subscribers for their community solar sites.”
