Bullfrog "Powered" or Bullfrog "Offset"

These signs are popping up more and more. Businesses, residents and events are attempting to have a greener image bysigning a contract with Bullfrog Power. According to the Bullfrog website, Nova Scotian consumers can “green” their electricity for 2cents/kWh, a roughly 16% premium.

Bullfrog came to Nova Scotia a few years ago after establishing itself as a very successful green electricity retailer. In markets such as Ontario and Alberta, electricity is produced, distributed and sold by separate parties in an open market. This allows consumers to choose from whom they buy their electricity. In Nova Scotia, we have no such option. Nova Scotia Power produces, transmits and retails over 98% of our electricity. Love it or hate it, we have no choice (unless you live in one of the 5/6 small municipal utilities, where you still have no choice, it is just not NS Power).

So, this begs the question: If Nova Scotia Power produces and sells all of our electricity, how can Bullfrog Power sell green electricity to consumers that are looking to make a difference? The answer is simple: they can’t.

What actually takes place when a consumer signs up with Bullfrog Power in Nova Scotia is that they are sold Renewable Energy Credits (RECs). RECs are produced when “green” electricity is sold in two parts – physical energy and the environmental attributes. The main reason that this is done is that in open electricity markets, physical energy and the environmental attributes are priced separately. It is somewhat similar, but not has popular or as well regulated as a carbon credit.

So, when Nova Scotia consumers sign up with Bullfrog they purchase enough RECs to offset their traditional consumption from Nova Scotia Power. This is perfectly legitimate, and ultimately a good thing. The problem is that very few Bullfrog customers understand the difference between purchasing physical energy and purchasing offsets. And Bullfrog doesn’t help increase their understanding.

I’ve thought about this issue a lot, and I’ve determined this misconception comes down to the use of the word “powered”. All Bullfrog customers get well-branded logos claiming that their home, business or event is “Bullfrog Powered”. The term “powered” implies a physical transfer of energy. In Nova Scotia, this isn’t true. The source of electricity for the consumer, and even Nova Scotia as a whole, remains unchanged. While I’m sure Bullfrog’s contracts and legalese are all completely accurate, the use of the word “powered” is misleading.

Bullfrog “Offset” would be far more accurate for their Nova Scotia customers.

This is a complicated issue, so an example might help explain it better. Airline passengers often have the chance to offset their greenhouse gas emissions associated with their flight. Carbon Credits are produced by projects such as tree planting, methane capture and renewable energy, then used to offset the emissions from burning fossil fuels to power the plane. This is very similar to what Bullfrog does in Nova Scotia. By no means could the airline claim that no emissions are coming out of their plane, they are simply being offset by a project somewhere else in the world.

Bullfrog purchases its RECs from a wind farm in PEI (which is not connected to Nova Scotia), that sells electricity into New England through New Brunswick. You’ll often hear that green electricity is injected into the “regional grid” but they fail to tell you that that electricity is then exported. To my knowledge, Bullfrog has no agreement to transfer energy into the Nova Scotia grid.

Recently, I heard a Bullfrog customer claim that green electricity was injected into the “Halifax Grid”, which couldn’t be further from the truth, and ultimately inspired me to write all this down for the record.

So, while offsetting your electricity is a good thing to do, next time you see something claiming to be powered by green electricity in Nova Scotia, unless they produce green energy onsite, tell them they should know better.