Quote Originally Posted by Tock
Yes. But, the way things are here in Texas, when I turn on the computer or the air conditioner, the electricity to run those things comes from a coal burning power plant. 99.9% of all the electricity in the Dallas area (my home) comes from coal. However, I subscribe to a "green" energy company, so when I get my bill for 500 kilowatt hours, my $$$ goes to a company that generates electricity from hydroelectric and wind generators that is located in south and west Texas.
When other people in south and west Texas buy their electricity from the coal-burning power plants, they actually get power from the water dams and windmills, but send their $$$ to the coal burning plants.
What makes all this possible is that everyone in the state of Texas is connected to the same power grid. Then the companies figure out how much power each put on the grid, and figure out how much $$$ they got from which group of subscribers, and the accountants decide which company keeps X number of dollars.

It's all kinda silly, IMHO, but c'est la vie. Anyway, my $$$ goes to the company that produces electricity with dams and windmills. Not too much $$, though, as I'm trying to reduce the total amount of kilowatt hours I use . . .
We have nuclear power here in Eastern Iowa/Western Illinois. There are other remote areas which do not have access to it and are stuck with no options, it's either MidAmerica Energy or nothing.