Brighter Planet

How are projects operated? What happens if one fails?

In accordance with our Carbon Offset Policy and subject to review by our Project Selection Committee, Brighter Planet members help build a diversified and reliable portfolio of renewable energy projects.

Steps taken to maximize individual project reliability

• Project owners/operators are required to use commercially reasonable efforts to build their project and, once it achieves commercial operations, to operate it during the estimated lifetime. They also commit to performing all manufacturer-recommended maintenance and commercially reasonable repair during the term of the offset purchase.
• Brighter Planet offsets are “permanent” (see our Carbon Offset Policy), so if something catastrophic happens to the project, the positive environmental benefits that it has already realized are not invalidated. For example, a wind farm does not re-release the carbon it has offset back into the atmosphere if a tornado comes along.

Steps taken to maximize portfolio reliability

Our offset provider, NativeEnergy, uses conservative estimation methodology to mitigate the risk of underperforming projects. In the event of individual project underperformance, the actual offset production of the whole portfolio should still be higher than the quantity of offsets that Brighter Planet purchased on behalf of its cardholders.

Please see our Portfolio Promise for more information.