RECS International has encouraged the phasing-out of RECS certificates for more than two years. The RECS organization has always been in favor of official GO tracking systems as the best tool to protect the consumer against false electricity claims. Most recently in a letter to The European Concerted Action Working Group on July 2^nd, 2012, RECS International wrote:

“RECS International wishes to declare that a standardized GO, for all of Europe, is the only reliable tracking system. We request the abolishment of RECS certificates by replacing them with the internationally recognized and highly reliable Guarantee of Origin Certificate standardized by EECS.”

The focus of RECS International has always been on the effective and reliable international trade of electricity attributes/products.  The RECS board members believe that the voluntary RECS certificate, created more than 10 years ago by RECS International, can slowly be phased-out in place of the EU-mandated, national Guarantee of Origin System standardized by the European Energy Certificate System (EECS System).

The Association of Issuing Bodies (AIB) provided a proposal for the phasing-out of RECS certificates during a Joint meeting on December 6^th, 2012. The proposal from the AIB requested that RECS certificates would no longer be issued by AIB connected registries after the 31^st of December 2014.  The RECS certificates would remain available for transfer and trade via the AIB hub until the 1^st of January 2016. 

The RECS Board reacted positively to the proposal of the AIB. This will be discussed further during the General meeting of RECS International in Berlin, Germany on March 19^th 2013.

To read the full letter from RECS International to the Concerted Action working group on July 2^nd, 2012 click here