24/7 Hourly Matching of Electricity

What is 24/7 Hourly Matching of Electricity?

The matching of electricity generation to consumer consumption on 24/7 hourly basis typically involves buying the electricity from the same regional area where the consumer’s electricity consumption occurs.  24/7 hourly matching seeks to drive investments in the technologies required to realize a zero-carbon electricity grid by optimizing carbon free electricity procurement from a time and location perspective. Hourly matching of electricity is a consumer-focused approach to purchasing electricity generation that matches to the consumer’s hourly electricity consumption. The matching of electricity generation to consumer consumption on 24/7 hourly basis typically involves buying the electricity from the same regional area where the consumption occurs on the electricity grid. It is an approach that seeks to optimize the impact of procurement from a time and space perspective.

Have Electricity Consumers Previously Matched Purchased Electricity Generation in a Different Way?

Yes. Consumers have most often purchased electricity generation to match the consumer’s annual electricity consumption on a total annual volume basis. The annual matching approach has been useful in accounting for the natural seasonality of electricity consumption, the natural variability of electricity generation as well as traditional business cycles related to budgeting and tax-based policy incentives, among other factors.

What Does 24/7 Hourly Matching Help Achieve?

The matching of electricity generation and consumption on a 24/7 basis seeks to put in place the necessary market infrastructure and practice to significantly reduce power sector emissions provide electricity from zero emitting resources 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. While the volumetric annual matching of generation plays an important role in helping scale demand for new zero emissions resources, it may not fully realize a power sector that provides electricity from clean energy all the time.

Can Any Electricity Consumer Purchase 24/7 Hourly Matched Electricity?

The ability to purchase hourly matched electricity generation is not widely available to all consumers in all regions of the United States. A number of organizations are pursuing purchasing hourly matched electricity and are laying the groundwork for more widespread access to this approach. Some suppliers in certain parts of the country are also working on 24/7 product or program offerings that consumers could participate in.

What Are Some of the Barriers to Purchasing Electricity Generated to Match Hourly Electricity Use?

Because buying and using hourly matched electricity assumes that the customer understands how much power they consume each hour of every day throughout the year, one of the first barriers to pursuing hourly matched electricity use is for the customer to understand their own electricity consumption profile. Many electricity customers do not have utility meters that provide hourly consumption data.

Furthermore, most energy attribute tracking systems in the U.S. do not currently issue energy attribute certificates or renewable energy certificates (RECs) with the requisite hourly information to match electricity consumption on a 24/7 basis. Additional work needs to be done to improve the ability of the market to credibly track, trace, and substantiate consumer use of power during specific hours of the day, and to ensure that that power is not double claimed by someone else in the market.

What Additional Information is Available for Understanding the 24/7 Hourly Matching of Electricity Opportunity?

EPA has hosted two webinars on the subject of 24/7 hourly matching of electricity. Please refer to the following resources for more information:

Webinars:

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Last updated on February 4, 2025