Method Initiative Exercise 5 – Five People Who Feel The Problem
Updated Project Problem/Solution
New Problem: People who want 100% renewable energy right now are feeling frustrated and optionless at the mercy of utilities who don’t plan to get to 100% renewable energy until 2045. The switch is possible, but business and homeowners don’t want the hassle of figuring out how.
New Solution: I propose a white-glove service that gets you all the results without the work. A service that will chart your path to 100% renewable, clean-sourced electricity to your home or business right now. We give you control over your electricity by examining your unique situation and showing you the road to clean powe, whether it be through Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) or solar panels on your house. Yes, it will cost more, but our customers will be at the forefront of the energy transition. Think Elon Musk and Tesla of renewable power: by first targeting customers that have the resources that are willing to pay more for quality, clean-sourced energy, we build a trendsetting customer base that sets the standard for the future of energy. Switching to renewables should feel good and be something to be proud of, and we want to make it so. Take control of your energy.
5 People Who Feel The Problem
H.B.
- The price is way too high. I want renewables and green energy, but in the summer, my air conditioning drives my electric bill up to $200 a month, so I can’t afford the extra cost to get the clean electricity.
E.G.
- I just have a lack of knowledge of green energy and what’s available. Not knowing how much it is. People hate being inconvenienced. I don’t want to have to change when I run my dishwasher and stuff. I have enough to deal with without worry about where my electricity is coming from.
E.R.
- We’ve definitely thought about whether we have enough to put solar panels on the house, but I didn’t know you could buy into green energy. For that nominal of a fee, it’s definitely something we would consider.
P.W.
- We wanted renewable energy, and looked into solar panels but we had other priorities. I had not even heard that you could GET renewable energy from our utility. It’s something that’s worthy of investigation. We do use a lot of electricity so it would depend on how much more you have to pay.
M.B.
- I just didn’t know it existed. If I knew about it, I’d definitely consider it.
J.L.
- We have solar panels on the house, so we’ve never thought about anything past that. If they DO offer green power for a little extra, we would at least look into it.
Energy Gang Question
- Power utility offer: Opt-in to pay one penny more per kw/hr (6.8 instead of 5.6c) and they will buy hydropower from two dams
- “What is the chance that they’re not buying that power already? here is my dilemma: how do I know for certain where my extra penny per kw/h is going. surely the utility is not constantly adjusting its grid mix based on how many customers are opting in for the green power program. likely, how can the utility honestly say that my green power contribution is helping purchase electricity from it’s “two low impact hydro facilities” when these sources are already contributing to the electricity mix, regardless of my extra penny.”
- Energy Gang: No. In the 90s was true. But today, if you have existing renewable energy and you’re paying more for it, then someone is probably trying to get more money out of you than they should.
- Program must be additional. That it’s adding more renewables to the mix. It should be cheaper to buy renewable energy.
- Invest in green power stocks instead.
- Make sure your green energy program is Green-e certified https://resource-solutions.org/
- NREL also has a program that announces the best green power plans in the country: https://www.nrel.gov/analysis/assets/pdfs/2019-archive-top10.pdf
Reflection
- How did you feel about the exercise before? How did they change?
- How did you feel during conversations? How did the other people seem to feel?
- Do you feel differently about your project?
- Has your motivation changed?
- Do you feel your understanding of the problem/quality of the solution improved?
- Are the people you talked to interested in learning how the project evolves?
This time around, this part of the project had me stumped. Who do I know who WANTS green power, has disposable income, and is feeling frustrated that they can’t get it? Immediately, I couldn’t think of anyone off the top of my head. I was almost convinced I wouldn’t be able to find 5. I decided, “if I don’t know anyone who is definitely feeling the problem, let’s just contacting people who MIGHT be feeling the problem, and maybe THEY will know others who feel the problem.” And I started setting up appointments with friends of the family, more distant family, and friends of my parents. That made it seem much more doable. Because they were all people I’m somewhat familiar with, the conversations were easy.
I was surprised to find out that almost no one felt the frustration I described, but every single person I talked to had the same response: getting green power = installing solar panels on your house. Not one person knew that you could get green energy through your utility or directly from renewable energy suppliers directly through renewable energy certificates, and every single person stated that they would certainly be willing to pay more for electricity if it was as easy as just paying a little extra on their electric bill, assuming the cost was reasonable. Most people I talked to seemed interested in hearing how the project goes and were curious to hear what happens.
The conversations made me feel like my project is still a viable project: not many have green power, but many want it, even if no one is feeling frustrated about not having it. Most seemed to just feel resigned to waiting for their utility to switch to renewables, with a possibility of eventually buying solar panels if they can find the money for them. So my motivation surrounding the project is still high. I feel like there is high potential for success with this project, even if it may still need to be sharpened a bit.
Also, during the podcast The Energy Gang, the question came up regarding this concern of “is my energy REALLY coming from green sources?” which I thought was a very valid concern and is something to consider in my project. How can we add transparency to the electricity that comes into our house? How can we make where our energy comes from more visible? And how can we make it easier to show-off and be proud of our green energy?