How to Read a Power Plant Disclosure Label (2026 Guide)

A power plant disclosure label — also called an electricity disclosure label, fuel mix label, or environmental disclosure statement — is a document that electricity suppliers in deregulated states are required to send customers each year. It tells you exactly what fuels generated the electricity you bought, what air emissions came with that generation, and what the supplier’s renewable content actually was. Most customers throw the label in the trash without reading it. That is a mistake — the label is the only verified, regulator-required document that tells you whether the “100% green” supplier you signed up with actually delivers green power, or whether they bought a stack of renewable energy certificates from an out-of-state wind farm and called it a day.

What the Label Is Required to Show

The exact form varies by state, but the federally suggested template and most state implementations require a supplier to disclose four core items:

• Fuel mix: The percentage breakdown of electricity by generation source — coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear, hydro, wind, solar, biomass, other.
• Environmental emissions: Pounds of CO2, NOx, SO2, and (in some states) particulate matter per megawatt-hour delivered.
• Comparison to state or regional average: So you can see whether your supplier is dirtier, cleaner, or in line with the local grid.
• Renewable content claim verification: If the supplier markets the plan as “green” or “100% renewable,” the label must show whether the renewables came from owned generation, contracted generation, or purchased renewable energy certificates (RECs).

States that produce these labels: Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Maine, New Jersey, Maryland, Illinois, Ohio, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, DC, and a handful of others. Texas has its own variant (the “REP Fact Label”) that bundles disclosure with pricing terms. Deregulated states without supplier choice for residential customers may not require labels at the residential level.

Fuel Mix: What the Numbers Mean

The fuel mix is reported as percentages summing to 100%. A typical Mid-Atlantic regional grid mix in 2026 looks roughly like: 39% natural gas, 32% nuclear, 18% coal, 7% wind/solar, 3% hydro, 1% other. A supplier delivering a default residential service product in that region will show similar numbers.

A “100% renewable” branded product should show fuel mix dominated by wind, solar, hydro, biomass, or a combination — but watch for two common patterns. First, “100% wind” plans often show 100% wind in the marketing material but list a regional grid mix in the fuel-source breakdown and a separate REC line crediting the wind content. Second, some “green” plans show 50–80% renewable content and 20–50% conventional, indicating partial sourcing. Both are legal; both differ materially from a 100% claim.

Emissions: The Numbers Most Customers Skip

The emissions line reads as something like: 850 pounds CO2 per MWh, 0.4 pounds NOx, 0.3 pounds SO2. To translate: a typical residential customer using 10,000 kWh/year is responsible for 4.25 metric tons of CO2 at 850 lbs/MWh. A “100% wind” plan should read near-zero on CO2, NOx, and SO2 in the fuel-mix column, even if the operating grid mix is dirty (because the label allocates emissions to the supplier’s specific procurement, not the molecule that arrived at your meter).

Compare your supplier’s emissions to the state or regional average shown on the same label. If they match, you are buying default grid power regardless of what the marketing said. If your supplier’s emissions are dramatically lower, the green claim has substance behind it.

RECs vs Bundled Renewables: The Crucial Distinction

Renewable energy certificates are tradable instruments. One REC represents proof that one MWh of renewable energy was generated and added to the grid somewhere. A supplier can buy RECs from a wind farm in North Dakota, retire them against your account in Massachusetts, and legitimately label the product “100% renewable” — even though the actual electrons that ran your dishwasher came from a New England natural gas plant.

This is not fraud. It is the legal architecture of REC markets. The label is required to disclose whether the renewable content is bundled (the supplier owns or contracts directly with renewable plants in your region) or unbundled (the supplier bought RECs only and sources the electricity itself from the conventional grid). Bundled renewables actually move the needle on local emissions. Unbundled RECs move the needle wherever the source plant is — which may be hundreds of miles from your house.

If you care about emissions in your own region, look for “bundled renewable” or “direct renewable” language. If you only care about supporting renewable generation anywhere on the grid, RECs are legitimate but less impactful per dollar than bundled supply.

How to Find Your Label

Three places to look:

• Your bill or annual mailing: Most state rules require the label to appear at least once a year on or with the bill.
• The supplier’s website: Most suppliers post current disclosure labels at /environmental-disclosure or /fuel-mix on their site.
• State regulator’s website: Pennsylvania PUC, Mass. DPU, NY PSC, and others maintain searchable databases of all licensed suppliers’ disclosure labels.

The state-regulator version is the safest — it has been validated against the supplier’s filings.

Comparing Two Suppliers Side by Side

If you are evaluating two competing green plans, line up the disclosure labels and check four things:

1. Is the renewable content bundled or unbundled? Bundled is materially better for actual emissions reduction.
2. What is the actual generation mix excluding REC offsets? A supplier showing 80% natural gas and 20% wind in the unallocated mix, then claiming “100% renewable” via RECs, is making a weaker product than one showing 95% wind and solar in the unallocated mix.
3. How do the CO2, NOx, and SO2 numbers compare? Lower is better.
4. Where are the renewables located? In-state or in-region beats out-of-region.

Common Tricks and Red Flags

• Marketing language that says “100% wind” but the label shows a regional grid mix and a separate REC retirement line. Legal, but the electrons are not wind.
• Plans that report no emissions data, only a renewable percentage. Insist on the full label before you sign.
• Suppliers that cite “carbon offsets” rather than renewables. Offsets are valid but address emissions elsewhere, not your power supply.
• Labels reported on a national rather than regional basis. Regional grids vary enormously in fuel mix; a national average is misleading.

FAQ

Do all states require disclosure labels? No. Most deregulated states do, regulated states often do not require them at the supplier level.

How often is the label updated? Most states require annual filing covering the most recent calendar year of supply.

Is the label audited? Yes, in most states. Suppliers file underlying procurement data with the regulator and the data is sample-audited.

What if my supplier won’t share the label? Contact your state Public Utility Commission. Supplier-side refusal to provide the document is a license-condition violation in every state that requires it.

Are RECs really worthless? No. RECs create financial demand for renewable generation, which over time funds more renewables. But unbundled RECs are a weaker product than bundled renewables for any customer who wants the electrons hitting their meter to be cleaner.

What about nuclear? Nuclear has zero direct CO2 emissions and most state labels show it on the emissions line as zero CO2, but it is not classified as “renewable” under most state Renewable Portfolio Standards. A 100% nuclear plan would show as low-emissions but not green.

Bottom Line

The power plant disclosure label is the single document that turns marketing claims into verifiable facts. Pull yours before you renew, pull two competitors’ labels before you switch, and pay particular attention to whether the renewable content is bundled or unbundled. Five minutes with the label tells you more about what you are actually buying than an hour of supplier-website marketing copy.