Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs) remain the foundation of corporate renewable electricity claims. But with the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol and the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) both raising the bar, buyers are asking what that foundation will need to look like, and whether what they buy today will still hold up.
At our recent webinar with EKOenergy, Steven Vanholme, Programme Manager at EKOenergy described an EAC as an identity card for your electricity: it proves where each megawatt hour (MWh) was generated, and that no one else can claim it. That's essential. But an identity card can't tell your board, your customers or your finance team what your spend achieved.
We asked our audience what's hardest about buying EACs. Their answers were spread across four challenges, with staying within budget and explaining the value internally edging ahead of confidence in the claim and showing impact beyond their own operations. Their questions ranged from hourly matching to Scope 3, but two themes stood out: will changing standards undermine what I buy today, and are the certificates I pay for actually delivered?
Here are our answers.
Will new GHG Protocol and SBTi rules make my EACs obsolete?
No. The direction of travel is clear: the bar is rising, even if the final form isn't yet settled. Existing long-term contracts are likely to be honored under the current rules, with a transition period before new requirements take effect.
The GHG Protocol. The GHG Protocol is revising its Scope 2 guidance. Its Independent Standards Board currently favors two market-based methods: one that keeps today's requirements, and a stricter one that adds hourly matching, deliverability and incrementality. Revised proposals go to a further public consultation in the second quarter of 2027, and the new standard is slated for publication in the fourth quarter of 2028, with transition dates still to be set. Until then, the current guidance applies.
The SBTi. Version 2.0 of the SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard was published in June 2026 and takes effect in February 2027. It sets target ambition on location-based emissions and treats renewable electricity purchases as a separate lever that must meet integrity criteria. These include contracting with plants up to 15 years old and buying within the same deliverability region as your consumption. Hourly matching is voluntary, but companies with significant electricity use will need to report how much of their consumption is matched hourly. Existing contracts will be honored for a period of time. The SBTi is expected to align with the position the GHG Protocol takes in its updated standard.
What this means for you. Both standards point the same way: newer generation, closer to where you consume, and more closely matched in time. Under the SBTi, newer means plants that began operating within 15 years of the reporting year. How close is close enough has not yet been precisely defined by either body.
The most immediate effect is likely to come from the SBTi's deliverability requirement. Depending on how it is defined, buyers may need to source EACs from generators much closer to where they use electricity, which could raise prices significantly in some regions.
Whatever form the final standards take, we can source EACs to match, whether that means certificates from younger, local assets or granular certificates from a range of markets.
How do I know the certificates I pay for are actually delivered?
This came up more than once, particularly from US buyers whose green tariffs or power purchase agreements (PPAs) don't always transfer the Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to them.
The rule is simple: if a certificate isn't retired in your name, it becomes much harder to evidence your claim. Write delivery and retirement into every contract, including the tracking system, the vintage and who retires the certificates on your behalf. Then ask for retirement certificates from the registry that issues the EACs, such as M-RETS, PJM-GATS or WREGIS in the US, for every reporting year. If a green tariff or PPA doesn't include RECs, there is no way to prove the renewable attributes haven't been claimed by someone else.
We retire certificates clearly in our clients' names and deliver retirement proofs in line with their reporting requirements. They are also available on demand through our Client Hub.
How do I make the case internally, especially on a tight budget?
This was among the challenges our audience felt most, and it matters most for smaller businesses facing US tariffs and inconsistent regulation.
Start where your electricity use is highest and focus on the markets where you operate. A multi-year agreement can make costs more predictable and lock in favorable pricing.
Then separate two layers for your finance team: the EACs that underpin your claim, and any optional extras that deliver wider impact, such as the EKOenergy label. That makes it clear what each one costs and what it delivers.
Adding impact often costs less than people expect. The EKOenergy label carries a contribution of €0.18 per MWh: €0.10 to its Climate Fund and €0.08 to its advocacy work, and it is available from a single MWh.
Do my suppliers' EACs count toward my Scope 3 footprint?
They can, if you use supplier-specific data. Where suppliers share product- or company-specific emissions data, their market-based Scope 2 emissions, including EACs they have bought and retired, flow into your Scope 3 purchased goods and services figures. If you use spend-based or average data, their purchases won't show up.
Either way, ask suppliers for evidence of retirement, not just a statement that they use renewable electricity. Without it, their claims can't be verified.
What does additionality mean for EACs?
There is no single agreed definition. In simple terms, it means your purchase makes something happen that otherwise wouldn't. A standard EAC proves the renewable source of your electricity, but on its own, it doesn't prove that new capacity was built because of you. In practice, a direct link between one buyer's purchase and a real-world change is hard to establish, because most effects happen across the market as a whole.
There are several ways to go further, and they can be combined. One is to buy from newer generation, which is where the SBTi is heading, although plant age alone doesn't prove your purchase led to new capacity. Another is to make sure your purchase funds something that wouldn't happen without it.
That is what the EKOenergy label is designed to do. EKOenergy is a nonprofit that campaigns for renewable energy and advocates for policy that supports the net zero transition. For every MWh, €0.08 funds that advocacy and €0.10 goes to its Climate Fund, which finances renewable energy projects for disadvantaged communities in low- and middle-income countries.
Since 2013, the Climate Fund has raised more than €10 million and funded 144 renewable energy projects in 39 countries, each run by an experienced nonprofit and chosen through an open call against published criteria. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, solar power now keeps Nzibira hospital and its maternity unit running around the clock, serving around 88,000 people. In Pakistan, rooftop solar has reached 121 households, five schools and seven health centers, directly benefiting more than 10,600 people. In the Bolivian highlands, solar-powered irrigation is helping 280 farming households adapt to climate change. Find out more here.
These projects are separate from the source of your EACs and do not create an electricity or carbon claim for your organization. What they do give you is a concrete, verifiable story about the additional social impact your purchase made possible.
What to do now
- Check your evidence. Make sure every MWh you claim is backed by a certificate retired in your name.
- Map your portfolio against where standards are heading. Look at the age and location of the generation behind your EACs, and how closely it matches your consumption in time.
- Add an impact layer you can explain. Give your board something to point to beyond the certificate.
We work directly with buyers and markets in more than 85 countries, so we see where quality is heading before it's written into standards. Whether you're buying your first EACs or raising the bar on an existing strategy, our experts can help you build a renewable electricity approach you can stand behind, today and as standards evolve. Speak to our experts.
