I myself was contacted by the same broker. It took a bit of prodding to get my computer on the website as it appeared not to respond. There is a video that tries to explain what an REC or renewable energy certificate is.
It is one of those American inventions, an imaginary token, which is generated when one megawatthour of renewable energy is produced and then consumed. That is one thousand UK electricity units.
Each certificate is in two parts one for the generator and one for the consumer, so-called compliance and voluntary respectively. The generator gets a reward from the government for his certificate, subsidy of some sort, and the consumer gets the satisfaction of knowing his energy was generated renewably.
That there is investment potential in these certificates is very much debatable. It is just about conceivable that their value will rise if the US government increases its commitment to renewable energy by increasing its subsidy and by imposing legislation that consumers have to burn a certain proportion of renewable energy.
I was not impressed as governments in general are reluctant to commit themselves. However the Americans are happily generating copious amounts of renewable power so the certificates are also being produced. I didn't ask how they are valued or what their current value is, but there is apparently a real market for them. To my way of thinking they are an investment vehicle in the same sense as the mortgage-based-securities that the banks sell each other or debt-based-securities are. I also don't know how they are verified and regulated as they should be.
Obviously the feel-good-factor of consuming renewable energy must have some value.
I hope the broker will join in this topic to clarify.
The website is
www.tradegec.com .
