The Boston Globe has a story about NStar allowing people to buy electricity directly from a wind farm in New York state and another under construction in Maine, at a premium. I was surprised that they could get power from a specific source, instead of from the general grid … and it turns out they can’t.

Buried deep in the story: "Technically, NStar customers would not get their power directly fromthe Maine and New York wind farms, because it is impossible to transmitelectricity through the power grid to a specific meter. Butby paying for the turbines at Maple Ridge and Kibby Mountain to feedinto the interconnected New England and New York power grids the sameamount of power they’re drawing from conventional sources closer toBoston like coal, nuclear power, and gas- and oil-fired plants, NStarcustomers signing up for the program will be able to say they use theequivalent of 100 percent wind power."

UPDATE: Other "green power" companies say the plan is illegal because of Massachusetts regulations separating energy providers from energy distributors. (Undoing that distinction is one goal of folks in New Hampshire, who say it will prod utilities to create clean power of their own.)