Let's Talk Wind
April 22, 2010
On this Earth Day, a lot of people examine how their actions affect the environment -- the water, the air, the ground, animal life and even the lives of other people.
As I study for the first tier of the LEED professional certification process -- called LEED Green Associate -- I find myself almost unconsciously performing more "green" oriented actions, from picking up more trash that's outside to using a lot less water at home to combining trips when I'm out and about driving around.
They see -- and I see -- that there's some easy ways to have a positive impact on the environment. And then there's ways that have a lot more steps. Many people take the easy way, while others go down that road of true commitment. It's a longer and more winding road, but very worthwhile in the long run.*
When it comes to doing something easy, though, you can start right at home with your current utility service. At Electric Advisors (EA), we are an agent of Washington Gas Energy Services (WGES)**, which offers two "local" wind packages that can serve as your electricity supply. When you choose "local" wind, you'll no longer be using so-called "brown," non-renewable energy.
There's a company out there -- a competitor of ours, actually -- that is offering "national" wind to its customers. This means that its wind power is coming from plants in Texas and Iowa. Now don't get me wrong ... their power is indeed "green." The problem I see with it, though, is that it doesn't help our local environment. It certainly helps the people in Texas and Iowa breathe cleaner, though.
Our "local" wind offering, however, comes from wind farms in the mid-Atlantic region. Power generated from these plants directly displaces electricity produced by the coal-fired facilities on the electricity grid that serves the mid-Atlantic.
How does this work? The following explanation is somewhat of an oversimplification, but it works for our purposes. Let's say that our area's electrical grid is like a glass pitcher. In other words, it has a defined capacity that cannot be exceeded. Right now, it is filled mainly with small brown marbles, which represent non-renewable forms of electricity (mainly coal and natural gas).
When people like you start buying green electricity from local wind farms, those brown marbles start being replaced with green ones. This means green purchases from people like you displace non-renewable energy on the grid. When enough people buy green via local wind, more brown marbles come out of the pitcher, replaced by green marbles.
We do have a more-complete explanation of all things green, in the frequently asked questions page of the Green section at our EA Web site.
The "local" part does come with a trade-off, though. Our local wind is a bit more expensive than their national wind. Since power prices frequently change, it really doesn't do me a lot of good to post them here. You're more than free to comparison shop yourself (we post all of our prices right here at the EA site). But I did want you to know a cost trade-off does exist between local and national wind power.
UPDATE 04/22/2010, 1:15 PM ET: Because I can't let a proverbial sleeping dog lie, I decided to do a quick check of one set of rates. As of the time of this post, Pepco Maryland customers' rate would be 0.3¢ more (that's three-tenths of a cent, not three or four whole cents) for our 1-year, 50% local wind package -- as opposed to our competition's 50% national wind rate.
If you home uses 920 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity a month (the national average in 2008, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration), our rate totals just $2.76 a month more for our local wind. What's more, our 50% local wind rate actually beats Pepco's Cost to Compare figure (found on your Pepco bill).
If those numbers are a bit difficult to follow, just remember that our 50% local wind rate is just a slight bit more expensive than our competitor's.
The difference in 100% wind packages is a bit wider: For Pepco Maryland customers, the difference is one full penny per kWh. For that average home, your supply/transmission rate would be $9.20 per month more with us than our competition. Some households can afford that to have 100% local wind. Others may not be able to.
So if you want to buy green for your home electricity supply, you have a choice: Go with either the national wind that's less expensive but doesn't help our local environment, or choose the local wind option that will cost you a bit more, but you'll have a positive impact on our air pollution and acid rain.
To learn more and to see our rates, check out our Residential Green page at the EA site.
Here's a different scenario: You go to the Residential section of our Web site, and you notice that our standard electricity-package rate is good. We're talking really good. But you're feeling guilty that it's not one of the "local" wind packages. You'd like to go green, but you just can't afford the higher rates.
Well, don't feel bad. Even our standard packages have a local wind component of 5%, which represents more renewable energy than what you get if you chose to continue with your current utility. So if you choose to lower your rates with us via our standard package, you'll still be having an impact on our area's environment. What's more, our standard package option is something our closest competitor doesn't even offer to you.
On our commercial side (for commercial property owners and those businesses that pay their own utility bills), we offer quite a few ways to go the "green" route that don't involve setting up a windmill or a solar panel on your roof.* We have a lot of options available, so a good first step for you is to go to our Commercial Green page.
On that note, I'm not sure if people really say "Happy Earth Day." But I'll say it anyway: Happy Earth Day!
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*Then there's a third category of people: Those who start with the easy path, discover they like it, and want to go down the longer path. If you are ready to take the true plunge into solar, wind or geothermal at your own household or place of business, we at EA know of people and companies that can help you out. Just let us know via the Contact form at the bottom of our About page, and one of our energy-services advisors here at EA will get back to you.
**WGES is not the same as Washington Gas, the natural-gas utility. WGES buys both electricity and natural gas supplies for its residential and commercial customers. EA is an agent for WGES on the residential side; on the commercial side, WGES is one of several vendors we have for energy-supply services.
For most business owners in Washington, D.C. and Maryland, June 1st marks the unofficial start of summer: the return of rooftop happy hours, tourists swarming the National Mall, and the inevitable cranking of the HVAC system. But in the world of energy management, June 1st is something much more significant. It is the "Energy New Year." If you manage a commercial property, a non-profit, or a restaurant, this date represents the reset button for how your utility costs are calculated for the next twelve months. While many decision-makers focus solely on the "supply rate" on their bill, there is a hidden mechanism called the Peak Load Contribution (PLC) that could be quietly inflating your costs by thousands of dollars The good news? You aren’t powerless. By understanding how the grid works and taking a few strategic steps this spring, you can "beat the surge" and secure better financial predictability for your organization. The June 1st Milestone: Why It’s the "Energy New Year" In the Mid-Atlantic region: specifically within the territories served by utilities like Pepco and BGE: we operate under the PJM Interconnection . PJM is the regional transmission organization that coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity across 13 states and D.C. Every year on June 1st, PJM begins a new "delivery year." This is the date when the "Capacity Tags" (or PLC) assigned to every commercial building are updated based on the previous summer’s usage. Why does this matter to you? Because the capacity charge often makes up 25% to 40% of a commercial electricity bill. If your building was inefficient during the hottest days of last summer, you are about to pay the price for it starting this June. Conversely, what you do this summer will dictate your fixed costs for June 2027 through May 2028. The Hidden Problem: Understanding Capacity Charges and Your PLC Most business owners look at their bill and see "Kilowatt-hours (kWh)": that’s how much energy you used. But the Capacity Charge is based on your "Peak Load Contribution." Think of it like a "reservation fee" for the grid. PJM needs to ensure there is enough power available if every single building turned on every single light and AC unit at the exact same moment. To fund this readiness, they charge businesses based on their highest usage during the grid's "Five Peak Hours" of the previous summer. The Problem: If your restaurant, condo building, or school had a massive spike in usage on a Tuesday afternoon in July when the grid was stressed, your PLC (or Capacity Tag) will be high. You will then be billed at that "peak" rate every single month for the following year, regardless of how little energy you use in the winter. For many commercial clients, this is a "ghost charge" that feels impossible to control. But with the right services , it becomes a manageable variable.
For business owners in Maryland, Washington, DC, and Virginia —right here in our backyard —energy costs are more than just a line item: they are a significant variable that can impact quarterly profitability and long-term operational planning. In recent years, the natural gas market has been characterized by notable volatility. From global supply chain disruptions to shifting domestic production levels, the price you pay for the blue flame in your furnace or the heat in your commercial kitchen has likely felt like a moving target. At Electric Advisors, Inc. , we believe that data-driven decision-making is the only way to effectively manage utility expenses. To help you understand where the market has been and where it is going, we have analyzed the historical procurement costs for Washington Gas (WGL) and compared them to the current opportunities available through competitive suppliers across Maryland, Washington, DC, and Virginia. The results are clear: across the WGL service territory in MD, DC, and VA , the cost of sticking with the utility’s default Purchased Gas Charge (PGC) may be significantly higher than many business owners realize. The Benchmark: Washington Gas Historical PGC Rates in Maryland, DC, and Virginia Every month, Washington Gas updates its Purchased Gas Charge (PGC) . This is the rate at which the utility passes through the cost of the natural gas it buys on the wholesale market to its customers. By law, the utility does not make a profit on the gas itself; they make their money on the delivery and infrastructure. However, the price they pay—and the price you eventually see on your bill—is subject to the fluctuations of the monthly wholesale market. For businesses in the broader WGL footprint, the important takeaway is this: Washington Gas default supply pricing and competitive market opportunities are consistent across its service territory in Maryland, Washington, DC, and Virginia. In other words, the same benchmark applies whether your business is in suburban Maryland, downtown DC, or Northern Virginia. Looking back at the last 24 months across the WGL service territory in MD, DC, and VA , we see a story of dramatic shifts: 24-Month Average WGL PGC: Approximately $0.68 per therm . The 2025 Spike: In April 2025, rates peaked at a staggering $0.8085 per therm . The 2026 Moderation: As of April 2026, the WGL rate has settled to $0.6382 per therm . While the 2026 rate is a welcome decrease from the highs of the previous year, it remains significantly higher than the rates seen a decade ago. For context, in 2010, the rate hovered around $0.32 per therm. We have seen a steady, long-term upward trend that necessitates a more proactive approach to commercial natural gas rates .
Helping Washington D.C. businesses take advantage of their sales tax exemption opportunities. Did you know that restaurants don't have to pay sales tax?