Good Evening!
Just wondering what the consensus was on paying more for electric from your utility provider for it being from a renewable source. Does this actually help ensure renewable energy usage & creation or is it just virtue signaling?
I'd like us to be more green-we've done the basics; ensure good insulation, smart thermostat with reasonable temperature settings, recycle, plant based diet, compost, LED bulbs, and try to purchase energy efficient appliances. I'd love to move to solar or geothermal, but I can't make the finance side make sense-~12 year payback on solar. Our utility allows us to kind of "ear mark" our usage from renewable only sources for a pretty minimal upcharge-$0.003/kWh.
My oil loving father put me on this train of thought-I mentioned being interested in an electric vehicle and he basically poo-poo'd that because most electric is made from coal and it isn't more environmentally friendly. Researched our current electric provider and we are at ~55% coal produced electric, so he isn't completely wrong.
What do you think?