Renewable energy advisory: sustainability goals and lower costs are not opposites
We help organizations meet renewable commitments with structures that make financial sense, and track them in the same dashboards as the rest of your energy spend. We are advisors, not developers, so no recommendation depends on selling you a project.
Discovery Energy Utility Audits provides renewable energy advisory to multi-site commercial and industrial organizations. It evaluates renewable energy certificates (RECs), physical and virtual power purchase agreements (PPAs) and community or on-site solar on financial merit first, handles sourcing, negotiation and contract due diligence, connects clients with vetted developers for on-site projects, and reports renewable share, cost per MWh and certificate retirements in TaraBase beside the rest of the client's energy data. Discovery does not develop projects.
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The problem renewable advisory solves
A renewable commitment usually arrives from outside the energy budget: a board target, a customer questionnaire, a science-based target or a disclosure deadline. The options for meeting it differ by an order of magnitude in cost, term and risk, and they do not all support the same claim.
The market is large and moving toward long contracts. The National Laboratory of the Rockies (formerly NREL) estimates that about 9.2 million retail customers bought about 315 million MWh of voluntary renewable power in 2024, about 8% of all US retail electricity sales. The share bought through PPAs or utility renewable contracts rose from 6% in 2014 to 39% in 2024. Those are commitments of a decade or more, signed against forecasts.
The rule behind every claim
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is clear on one point: a REC, issued for each megawatt-hour of renewable generation delivered to the grid, is the instrument that substantiates a claim to use renewable electricity. Only the owner of the REC can make the claim, and it should be retired once claimed. Two common consequences:
- A building with rooftop solar can claim solar use only if it keeps the RECs. If a developer or utility owns them, EPA says the site should not claim to run on solar.
- Some community solar subscriptions deliver bill credits without RECs. They can lower cost, but on their own they do not support a renewable electricity claim.
Getting this wrong is expensive twice: you pay for the program, then cannot report it.
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Options we evaluate
Each option answers a different question about cost, term, location and claim. EPA's green power guidance describes how each works.
| Option | What you get | Typical commitment | Where it works | Main thing to check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unbundled RECs | Certificates only; your physical supply does not change | Flexible, from a single purchase to multiyear strips | Anywhere | Vintage, location and tracking-system retirement in your name |
| Physical PPA | Power and RECs from a specific project | Usually 10 to 20 years | Generally competitive markets, with the project in the same power market as the load | Delivery schedule, under-delivery terms, termination and REC transfer |
| Virtual (financial) PPA | A price hedge settled against the wholesale market, plus the project's RECs | Usually 10 to 20 years | Anywhere, including regulated markets | Settlement exposure when wholesale prices fall below the strike price |
| Community solar | Bill credits from an off-site project; RECs only if the contract conveys them | Set by the subscription agreement | States with community solar programs | Who keeps the RECs, and how credits are calculated |
| On-site solar | Generation behind the meter, owned or under a third-party PPA | Operating life of the system, or the PPA term | Sites with roof, land and a workable interconnection | Site economics, net metering rules and REC ownership |
Illustrative example, not a client result
A company signs a virtual PPA with a strike price of $50 per MWh. In a month when the project's wholesale price averages $65, the developer pays the company $15 for each MWh generated. In a month when it averages $35, the company pays the developer $15 per MWh. The company keeps buying its actual power from its utility or supplier throughout. EPA notes that, like a physical PPA, a financial PPA does not protect the buyer if retail prices fall, and the hedge only works where the project's market moves with the buyer's.
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What is included
Renewable Energy Certificates
Sourced, verified and matched to the reporting framework you report under.
Power Purchase Agreements
Sourcing, negotiation and oversight of physical and virtual PPAs, with the economics modeled against current markets before any long-term structure is recommended.
Community and on-site solar
Site economics, vetted development partners and contract review. We connect you with developers; we do not build or own projects.
Reporting
Renewable share, cost per MWh and certificate retirements in TaraBase beside your cost data, alongside emissions factors by utility and region and REC records.
How an engagement works
Commitment and portfolio
We start from the target you have to meet and the portfolio you have: sites, markets, load, contract terms and how you report.
Options and economics
Each option that fits is compared on cost, term, risk and claim. If a structure does not hold up against alternatives, we say so.
Sourcing and due diligence
For the option you choose: sourcing RECs, negotiating PPAs, or introducing vetted developers for on-site projects, with contract review before you sign.
Tracking
Renewable volumes, cost and certificate retirements are loaded into TaraBase and reported with conventional energy.
How we judge a recommendation
Financial merit first. If a structure does not hold up against alternatives, we say so.
Fit to the portfolio. Term, geography and risk tolerance matter more than what is fashionable this year.
One view. Renewable activity is reported with conventional energy, not in a separate silo.
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Questions to settle before you sign
Which claim do you need to make?
A renewable share, a market-based Scope 2 figure or a specific framework's criteria. The answer decides which instruments qualify.
Who owns and retires the RECs?
Check the contract for every option, including community and on-site solar, and confirm retirement in your name.
Will the rules change during the term?
The GHG Protocol is revising its Scope 2 guidance and has proposed that certificates match consumption hour by hour and come from grid regions that can deliver to the load. It expects the revised standard in late 2027, phased in after that. A 15-year contract signed now will live under it.
How much downside can finance carry?
Model the PPA against low as well as high price paths. A well-structured PPA can fix below-market rates for 10 to 20 years; the risk is that market prices fall below the PPA price.
Will the site still run this way in ten years?
Closures, expansions and acquisitions change load. Check assignment and termination terms.
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How it fits with the other services
Renewable decisions depend on clean usage data. Market-based Scope 2 reporting needs supply contracts, REC purchases and retirement records matched to the sites and periods they cover, and that starts with the bills. See Scope 2 data from utility bills.
- Energy procurement handles the supply contracts that renewable purchases sit beside in deregulated markets.
- Utility bill pay captures every bill line by line, which feeds savings, benchmarking and Scope 2 reporting.
- TaraBase reporting holds renewable share, intensity metrics and REC records with cost data.
- A utility bill audit corrects the usage and cost baseline that every comparison rests on.
Each service can be engaged on its own. Renewable advisory is optional and can be added later or never.
How renewable advisory is priced
Renewable advisory is scoped per project and paid by the client. Audit fees remain separate and contingency-based. See pricing.
Related results
We have not published a renewable procurement case study. The closest documented work is on the reporting side: a chemical distributor with more than 215 facilities now uses one TaraBase data set for GHG Protocol Scope 1 and 2, CDP, ESRS E1 and SBTi reporting, and reports that it eases ISO 14064-1, RE100 and EcoVadis work. Read the chemical distributor case study.
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Questions buyers ask
Does Discovery develop renewable projects?
No. We are advisors. We help you evaluate, source and structure options, connect you with vetted developers for on-site projects, and handle contract due diligence.
What is the difference between a REC and a PPA?
A Renewable Energy Certificate represents the environmental attribute of one megawatt-hour of renewable generation and can be bought without changing your physical supply. A Power Purchase Agreement is a long-term contract with a renewable generator, usually providing both the attributes and the power at a fixed price.
Are PPAs worth a long commitment?
It depends on price outlook, term and risk tolerance. A well-structured PPA can fix below-market rates for 10 to 20 years; the risk is that market prices fall below the PPA price. We model the economics against current markets before recommending any long-term structure.
Can mid-size organizations take part?
Yes. Community solar, aggregated purchasing and shorter REC contracts make participation possible without the load a direct PPA needs.
Can sites in regulated states buy renewable power?
Yes, though not always physically. EPA notes that physical PPAs are generally limited to competitive markets, while unbundled RECs and virtual PPAs do not depend on where the load sits.
Does community solar count toward a renewable target?
Only if you receive and retire the RECs. Some subscriptions deliver bill credits alone, which can save money but do not support a renewable electricity claim.
Sources
- US EPA, Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), RECs issued per MWh and used to substantiate renewable electricity use claims.
- US EPA, Solar power use claims guidance, on-site solar claims depend on keeping the RECs.
- US EPA, Green power supply options, physical and financial PPAs, usual 10 to 20 year terms, physical PPAs generally limited to competitive markets.
- US EPA, Financial PPA, strike price settlement and REC conveyance.
- US EPA, Guide to purchasing green power, green power product options, financial PPAs need market correlation and do not protect against lower retail prices.
- National Laboratory of the Rockies, Status and Trends in the U.S. Voluntary Power Market: 2024 Data (abstract), about 9.2 million customers, 315 million MWh and 8% of US retail sales in 2024.
- National Laboratory of the Rockies, Status and Trends in the U.S. Voluntary Power Market: 2024 Data (report), share of voluntary sales through PPAs or utility renewable contracts, 6% in 2014 and 39% in 2024.
- GHG Protocol, Upcoming Scope 2 public consultation: hourly matching and deliverability, proposed hourly matching and deliverability; revised standard anticipated in late 2027.
Find out what your bills should have cost.
Send one recent bill per site, or a list of accounts. We tell you where we expect findings before you sign anything. No upfront audit fee.