It’s hard to tell someone who is shellshocked by rising energy costs to pay even more for “green power.” But this is the time, with many Americans considering and actually taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint, when they may be most receptive. The trouble is, utility programs that offer residential customers the choice of buying electricity generated by wind, hydro or other alternative sources aren’t being adequately promoted. They need to be.

Take National Grid’s “GreenUp” program, for instance. Just 13,000 of the utility’s 1.4 million New York residential customers have signed up for any of the four alternatives that offer a choice of wind power, small hydro, or a combination of the two. That’s a pitiful participation rate of less than 1 percent — worse even than the low national average of 1.8 percent.

Money is surely a factor. After all, who wants to pay more for the same amount of power, delivered by the same utility over the same lines? But it’s not that much more. The cost differential, which has been dropping steadily since the year 2000, is now from 1 cent to 2.5 cents per kilowatt hour — with an average New York state household using 650 kilowatt hours per month, that means an additional $6 to $15 in additional electricity charges a month.

Other factors probably holding these programs back are a lack of awareness about the program and confusion about how it works. It’s nice that choices and competition have been introduced into the utility industry, but, unfortunately, you have to be a Charles Steinmetz to figure it all out.

Utilities and state agencies like the New York Public Service Commission and Energy Research and Development Authority should all be working to get out the message, with mailings, marketing campaigns, etc., and make it as simple and easy as possible to buy green power.