An official website of the United States government.

This is not the current EPA website. To navigate to the current EPA website, please go to www.epa.gov. This website is historical material reflecting the EPA website as it existed on January 19, 2021. This website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work. More information »

Green Power Partnership

Green Power Partnership Requirements

This information outlines the requirements for joining EPA's Green Power Partnership (GPP). This information complements the requirements presented in the Partnership Requirements Document and the Partnership Agreement.

Green Power Use Requirements

EPA requires that Partners have an annual electricity use of 100,000 kilowatt-hours or greater to participate and meet a minimum percentage of their annual electricity use with green power. Partners should calculate their annual electricity use in accordance with their organization's scope of participation. View the green power use requirements.

Eligible Scope of Green Power Use

EPA only counts eligible renewable electricity (e.g., green power) reported to the Green Power Partnership from U.S.-based generators that generate green power to address a Partner’s baseline purchased grid electricity use within its U.S. scope of operations. Learn about the eligible scope of green power use.

Eligible Resources

Eligible green power resources are those that produce electricity with zero anthropogenic (human-caused) emissions and have a superior environmental profile compared to conventional power generation.

New Renewables Requirement

To support developing more renewable energy capacity nationwide, EPA requires that Partners use green power from renewable energy facilities put into service within the last 15 years. Learn about the new renewables requirement.

Eligible Generation Dates

Green power procured for a 12-month reporting period must be either generated during that reporting period, generated during the six (6) months immediately preceding the reporting period, or the three (3) months immediately following the reporting period. This equates to a 21-month eligibility period for which a Partner’s renewable energy certificate-based green power can be generated. Learn about the eligible generation dates.

Eligible Supply Options

EPA recognizes a variety of supply options in meeting the green power usage requirements.

Eligible Organizations

The Partnership is open to all organizations with an annual electricity use 100,000 kilowatt-hours or greater operating within the United States, except for sellers, suppliers, or marketers of green power (i.e., "providers").

Partnership-eligible organizations include:

  • Publicly and privately held corporations
  • Federal, state, and local government agencies
  • Nonprofits
  • Educational institutions

Eligible Scope of Participation

There are two levels at which an organization may join GPP:

  • Organization-wide (U.S. operations only)
  • Single facility or any logical aggregation of facilities less than organization-wide

Annual Reporting

Partners are required to annually report on their current green power use and Partnership status.

For more information about these requirements, visit the pages providing further details of these requirements or read the requirements in the Program Requirements document and the Partnership application.

Top of Page