Energy deregulation gives consumers choices when it comes to the companies that provide their home electricity. Suppliers can compete for your electricity dollars in a variety of ways, offering low prices, short and long-term contracts, fixed or variable rates, and a choice in how your energy is generated. The sheer volume of options can seem so complicated that you need to ask an electrician to help you tangle out the pros and cons of the available plans. One area in particular that can trip up consumers has to do with whether the source of their electricity is green or renewable. Read on to learn the difference.

Green Customers are Loyal Customers

Currently, 15 states plus Washington, D.C. have active electricity deregulation programs, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and these states are largely concentrated in the Northeast. Consumers who live in deregulated states are likely to be flooded with energy offers, often promising electricity that is derived from green or renewable sources. Purchasing this environmentally friendly power usually costs a bit more than electricity that comes from more traditional sources like coal, but some homeowners like to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to reducing carbon emissions.

Those customers who go green are valuable to the supplier because they are less likely to jump ship based on the availability of a cheaper energy source. "A customer on a renewable-energy product has actively decided what is important to them and has selected their supplier accordingly," Ritchie Hudson, Pennsylvania chairman of the Retail Energy Supply Association, said to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

A Question of Semantics

However, while many suppliers and consumers treat green and renewable sources of electricity as synonymous, there is a distinction. Green energy is that which comes from specific sources that have the highest environmental benefit, including solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, eligible biomass and small hydroelectric sources, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Meanwhile, renewable energy “includes resources that rely on fuel sources that restore themselves over short periods of time and do not diminish,” which includes all the green options but also other sources such as large hydroelectric dams, which present certain environmental tradeoffs.

That means that if you really want to limit your impact on the Earth as much as possible, go green in lieu of simply choosing renewable energy. You can further refine your choices by asking about the specific source of the electricity, if you have a preference for solar, wind or another option.

Ask an Electrician About Your Options

Deregulated energy markets give you flexibility, but can also sow consumer confusion. If you need help deciphering the offerings of your state's electricity providers, ask an electrician who can walk you through your choices.

The baseball season has started, NASCAR has revved up for the summer and football is right around the corner. All these sports, at one time, could only be enjoyed during the day. Mr. Electric®, a company committed to powering tomorrow, looked at how electricity and lights changed sports forever.

On the night of September 28, 1892, the game of football was changed forever when Wyoming Seminary played Mansfield State Normal School in the first-ever night game. The game lasted 20 minutes, consisted of a total of ten plays and ended with neither team scoring. The game ended early due to several players getting hurt by running into light poles caused by the insufficient lighting system. The first night game West of the Mississippi was played in Kansas by the now, Wichita State, and Sterling College in 1905. With upgraded lighting systems many games are now played at night. On September 28, 1992, Monday Night Football celebrated “100 years under the lights” in a game featuring the Kansas City Chiefs and St. Louis Rams.

Baseball was behind football when it came to playing at night. Though teams had played at night since the 1880s, many teams did not make it common practice until many years later. The first ever Major League Baseball game to be played at night took place on May 24, 1935, in Cincinnati when the Cincinnati Reds played the Philadelphia Phillies. The Chicago Cubs were the last Major League Baseball team to finally host a game at night in their home stadium of Wrigley Field. The game took place on August 9, 1988. The World Series had its first night game in 1977. Now, every Major League Baseball stadium has lights and night games are a common occurrence.

Bristol Motor Speedway was the first NASCAR track to have lights installed for night races in 1992. In order for night racing to take place in NASCAR lights had to be designed that would not blind the drivers as they raced around the track. Bristol was one of the first tracks to have night racing. Since 1992, many tracks have added lights for night racing. Some of the most popular night races take place at Kansas City, Richmond, Charlotte and Bristol Speedways. None of these sports would be where they are today without the advent of electricity and intelligently designed lighting systems.

Ceiling fans are becoming the new standard instead of the old globe lighting fixtures available in every room of every home. Fans offer an advantage of cutting energy costs by circulating air in the room and reducing the workload of your heating and air conditioning unit. Although you may choose a particular ceiling fan according to your budget and design preferences, it needs to be properly installed in order to assure it functions as it is supposed to and is a safe device to have in your home.

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