Archive for October, 2011

Pennsylvania Legislative Update: HB 1580 Still in Committee and In Need of Support

Posted October 28th, 2011 by SRECTrade.

Over 90 members of the Pennsylvania solar industry lobbied Pennsylvania legislators on Monday, 10/28/11 to voice their support HB 1580 an SREC bill. The effort was part of an official “Pennsylvania Solar Advocacy Day” event put on by PennFuture, Solar Alliance, Vote Solar, PASEIA and others. By the end of the day more than 108 members of the Pennsylvania House (of a required 100) had offered to sponsor the legislation should it make it out of committee.

House Bill 1580 (sponsored by Rep. Chris Ross, R-Chester) proposes to move the total requirement of SRECs forward by three years to increase the number of SRECs Load Serving Entities (utility-scale “dirty” electricity producers) must purchase. The rapid implementation of Pennsylvania SREC eligible facilities over the last year has led to an SREC over-supply of more than double the amount of SRECs needed by utility-scale electricity producers. This over-supply is responsible for low SREC pricing in Pennsylvania.

SREC markets are driven by the fundamentals of supply and demand. However in Pennsylvania demand (the amount of SRECs required for a given year) is significantly lower than the number of SRECs available. The Pennsylvania SREC market is designed in such a way that every year there is a set goal for amount of power that comes from renewable energy sources and any adjustment to the yearly goal requires legislative action.

In order for the bill to move forward it needs the support of Rep. Bob Godshall, Chairman of the House Consumer Affairs Committee for Committee vote. PennFuture has asked the Pennsylvania solar community to write Rep. Godshall to show their support of the bill. However, even if the bill gets out of Committee in its current form it still needs to pass the House and Senate.  With 108 state Representatives co-signing the bill it is expected to pass the House, but it’s unclear how it will fair if it reaches the Senate.

Stay tuned for more HB 1580 Updates.

Brad Bowery to Speak at PV Power Generation Mid-West & East Conference

Posted October 28th, 2011 by SRECTrade.

The PV Power Generation, Mid-West & East conference will be held from 8th – 9th November 2011, at the Marriott in Downtown New York. This event promises to be an in-depth study of large scale solar power generation in the Mid-West and East. Local utilities, state regulators, grid operators and land and building operators will be attending, and it will be a vital meeting point for those who wish to expand their operations in these regions.

Key topics influencing the solar market in the Mid-West and East to be covered includes

  • REC Markets
  • Legislative updates
  • Site Sourcing
  • Grid connection issues

SRECTrade CEO Brad Bowery will be speaking at the conference and will discuss several key issues affecting SREC markets such as

  • The current landscape of supply and demand in SREC markets
  • Key benefits of an in-state SREC market
  • Variations of SREC program in each state, and how to evaluate them
  • Essential ingredients for creating a successful SREC market
  • How solar can compete with other renewable technologies in the green space
  • The intricacies of Solar Alternative Compliance Payments(SACP) in each state
  • Obtaining a long term SREC contract

View the conference agenda to find out more, and register here.

Solar Capacity in the SREC States – October 2011

Posted October 27th, 2011 by SRECTrade.

SRECTrade SREC Markets Report: October 2011

The following post outlines the megawatts of solar capacity certified and/or registered to create SRECs in the Solar REC markets SRECTrade currently serves.

A PDF copy of this table can be found here.

Capacity_October2011 (1)

PJM Eligible Systems

As of the end of October, there were 19,403 solar PV and 252 solar thermal systems registered and eligible to create SRECs in the PJM Generation Attribute Tracking System (GATS) registry. Of these eligible systems, 83 (0.42%) have a nameplate capacity of 1 megawatt or greater, of which only 6 systems are greater than 5 MW. The largest system, currently located in New Jersey, is 18.3 MW, and the second largest, located in Ohio is 12 MW. The third largest system, at 11.2 MW, is located in Delaware.

Delaware: The reporting year 2011-2012 requirement for DE equates to approximately 23,340 SRECs being retired. If all retired SRECs were of DE2011-2012 vintage, approximately 19.5 MW would need to be operational all year long. As of October 24, 2011, 22.7 MW of solar capacity was registered and eligible to create DE SRECs in PJM GATS. 11.2 MW of the 22.7 MW currently eligible is from the Dover Sun Park project developed by LS Power. In the 2011-12 compliance year, Delmarva Power has contracted to purchase 9,846 SRECs from the project, of which 7,000 are being held by the Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU) until 2015-16*. As of this writing, PJM GATS reported the issuance of 6,677 DE2011-2012 SRECs. Additional SRECs from the DE2010-2011 period may also impact the market should there be a demand for these older vintage SRECs.

Maryland: Maryland’s 2011 Solar RPS target requires approximately 32,240 SRECs to be retired. To meet this using only 2011 vintage SRECs, approximately 26.9 MW would need to be operational all year long. As of October 24, 2011, 52 MW of solar capacity was registered to create MD eligible SRECs. 30.8 MW of this capacity was sited in the state of MD. The RPS currently requires electricity suppliers to acquire SRECs from in-state sited solar systems before looking to outside systems. As of this writing, PJM GATS reported the issuance of 19,653 MD2011 SRECs from MD sited systems. There are also MD sited SRECs available from 2010, which could be utilized for compliance needs in 2011.

MD Chart

New Jersey: The New Jersey 2012 reporting year requires 442,000 SRECs to be retired. This equates to approximately 368 MW of capacity being operational all year long. Given the demand for NJ2011 Solar RECs, older vintage SRECs will not impact the 2012 market. As of October 24, 2011, 412.8 MW of solar capacity was registered and eligible to create NJ SRECs in PJM GATS. While this figure represents all projects registered in GATS, there are recently installed projects awaiting issuance of a New Jersey state certification number. This delay results in a portion of installed projects not yet represented in the 412.8 MW figure. As of August 31, 2011 the NJ Office of Clean Energy (NJ OCE) reported that 430.4 MW of solar had been installed in NJ. For more details on the increase in NJ capacity see this post. As of this writing, PJM GATS reported the issuance of 129,441 NJ2012 SRECs.

NJ Chart

Ohio: Ohio’s 2011 RPS solar target requires approximately 45,210 SRECs to be retired by the end of the compliance period. At least 50% of the SREC requirement must come from systems sited in the state. As of October 24, 2011, 27.4 MW of in-state capacity and 54.5 MW of out-of-state capacity were eligible to generate OH SRECs. Additionally, for the year to date, GATS has issued 21,137 in-state and 41,228 out-of-state OH2011 eligible SRECs. Additional SRECs from prior years are also eligible for the current compliance period, which may impact the current year’s requirements.

Pennsylvania: The reporting year 2012 requirement for PA equates to retiring approximately 48,430 eligible SRECs. If all compliance obligations were met using 2012 vintage SRECs, approximately 41.9 MW would need to be operational all year long. As of October 24, 2011, 146.4 MW of solar capacity was registered and eligible to create PA compliant SRECs. As of this writing, PJM GATS reported the issuance of 50,512 PA2012 SRECs. Given the oversupply during previous reporting years, there are also PA2012 eligible SRECs from the 2010 and 2011 reporting years.

Washington, DC: The Council of the District of Columbia and the city’s Mayor signed into law the Distributed Generation Amendment Act of 2011. The amendment increases the RPS solar requirements and closes the district’s boarders from out of district sited systems. The figures displayed above demonstrate the capacity of systems eligible to create DC SRECs moving forward. These figures do not take into consideration the amount of electricity delivered into the district that may be exempt from complying with the increases given some electricity contracts may have been signed prior to the amendment’s implementation. According to GATS, 16,744 DC2011 SRECs have been issued for the year to date. Some SRECs issued in the 2010 compliance period may also be available and can be used to meet the 2011 RPS solar requirements.

Massachusetts DOER Qualified Projects

As of October 24, 2011, there were 1,015 MA DOER qualified solar projects; 991 operational and 24 not operational. Of these qualified systems, 11 (1.1%) have a nameplate capacity of 1 megawatt or greater, of which only 3 are between 1.5 and 2 MW. Three of the projects greater than 1 MW are currently operational. Electricity suppliers providing power to the state need to acquire approximately 62,900 SRECs in 2011. Through the Q2 2011 issuance period (10/15/11), 9,499 SRECs have been minted. The Department of Energy Resources (DOER) projects approximately 29,000 SRECs to be generated this year, leaving the market short approximately 33,900 SRECs.

Capacity Summary By State

The tables above demonstrate the capacity breakout by state. Note, that for all PJM GATS registered projects, each state includes all projects certified to sell into that state. State RPS programs that allow for systems sited in other states to participate have been broken up by systems sited in-state and out-of-state. Additional detail has been provided to demonstrate the total capacity of systems only certified for one specific state market versus being certified for multiple state markets. For example, PA includes projects only certified to sell into the PA SREC market, broken out by in state and out of state systems, as well as projects that are also certified to sell into PA and Other State markets broken out by in state and out of state systems (i.e. OH, DC, MD, DE, NJ). PA Out of State includes systems sited in states with their own state SREC market (i.e. DE) as well as systems sited in states that have no SREC market (i.e. VA). Also, it is important to note that the Current Capacity represents the total megawatts eligible to produce and sell SRECs as of the noted date, while the Estimated Required Capacity – Current and Next Reporting Year represents the estimated number of MW that need to be online on average throughout the reporting period to meet the RPS requirement within each state. For example, New Jersey needs approximately 368 MW online for the entire 2012 reporting year to meet the RPS requirement. Additionally, the data presented above does not include projects that are in the pipeline or currently going through the registration process in each state program. This data represents specifically the projects that have been approved for the corresponding state SREC markets as of the dates noted.

*Source: State of Delaware Pilot Program For the Procurement of Solar Renewable Energy Credits: Recommendations of the Renewable Energy Taskforce

Note: SREC requirements for markets without fixed SREC targets have been forecast based based on EIA Report “By End-Use Sector, by State, by Provider”. Projected SRECs required utilizes the most recent EIA electricity data applying an average 1.5% growth rate per forecast year. The state’s RPS Solar requirement is then multiplied by forecast total electricity sales to arrive at projected SRECs required. Projected capacity required is based on a factor of 1,200 MWh in PJM states and 1,130 MWh in MA, generated per MW of installed capacity per year.

MD Solar Thermal Systems Await Application from MD PSC

Posted October 25th, 2011 by SRECTrade.

On January 1st, 2012 the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) will begin accepting applications for MD-sited Solar Water Heating Systems (SWH) to become certified to sell SRECs in the MD SREC market. As this law allows eligible systems to be installed on or after June 1, 2011, many MD customers are anxiously awaiting their turn to participate in the MD SREC market. As long as a SWH facility meets the necessary metering standards described in an earlier blog post, the facility can produce SRECs for each MWh-equivalent of thermal energy consumed. For single-dwelling residential systems, there is a maximum 5 SRECs per year that may be produced.

The MD PSC will release the formal application form and list of necessary requirements over the next few weeks. While the MD PSC finalizes their application process, MD SWH systems are encouraged to check out our EasyREC SREC management service and to fill out the SRECTrade Solar Thermal EasyREC form. SRECTrade will guide your system through the registration phase and alert you to any supporting documentation that we will need. Check back on our blog for further updates as we approach the new year.

MA2011 SREC Auction Closes at $535/SREC

Posted October 18th, 2011 by SRECTrade.

The Q2 2011 (April – June 2011) MA SRECs were issued on October 15, 2011. Unlike other SREC markets, the MA Solar Carve-Out program mints SRECs quarterly, three and a half months after the close of the calendar quarter. In coordination with the Q2 2011 issuance, SRECTrade recently held a separate auction for MA2011 SRECs.

The auction closed on Monday, October 17th at 5:00 p.m. Eastern. SRECs transacted at a clearing price of $535.00 per SREC. The clearing price, more than 97% of the 2011 Solar Alternative Compliance Payment (SACP), represents a strong demand for MA2011 SRECs due to a shortfall of supply in the market.

Any SRECs that went unsold in the auction will be available for sale in the next SRECTrade auction closing on Monday, October 31, 2011. This auction will cover all of the SREC markets including DC, DE, MA, MD, NJ, OH, and PA. The order window is currently open. All buyers and self-serve sellers can login here to place an order. Sellers utilizing SRECTrade’s management service, EasyREC, will have orders automatically placed on their behalf. If these sellers need to make changes to their minimum offer prices, they must do so prior to the 5:00 p.m. close on October 31.

The next issuance of MA2011 SRECs will be on January 15, 2012, and will cover the Q3 2011 (July – September) generation period.

Massachusetts SREC Auction Closes October 17th at 5 p.m. Eastern

Posted October 13th, 2011 by SRECTrade.

In coordination with the upcoming Massachusetts Q2 2011 Solar REC issuance, SRECTrade will be hosting an auction for MA2011 SRECs. The auction order window is currently open and closes on Monday, October 17th at 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Auction clearing price results will be published on Wednesday, October 19th on SRECTrade.

Haven’t created an account yet? All self-serve sellers managing their own SRECs can create one here. If you are a buyer and have not yet signed up for an account you can do so here.

All sellers with a managed EasyREC account will have orders automatically placed on their behalf. If managed sellers need to make any changes to their offer prices, they can do so through their online account prior to 5:00 p.m. Eastern on Monday, October 17th.

The next SRECTrade auction covering all Solar Renewable Energy Credit markets (i.e. DC, DE, MD, MA, NJ, OH and PA) will close on Monday, October 31st at 5:00 p.m. Eastern. The order window is currently open. To place orders please login here.

New Improvements for EasyREC customers!

Posted October 10th, 2011 by SRECTrade.

SRECTrade is launching a new round of website updates to provide customers with greater ease and versatility in selling SRECs. Some of these changes are already visible for customers when they log onto their EasyREC account. Here are two of the important new features released this week:

A New Account Home Page! This new home page is designed to provide you with all the information you need to know about your unsold SRECs in an streamlined, easy-to-read format. You can simply hover your cursor over your SRECs “Eligible Markets” to see in which states (and which Energy Years) they are eligible, as well as alter their minimum prices. The “Notices” section of the account page will keep you up-to-date on the most recent actions involving your SRECs, so check back whenever you want to get a quick update on your status!

Account

Multiple Minimum Prices! This feature allows customers to set different minimum prices for each of their SREC vintages. This provides customers the ability to stagger their offer prices, potentially selling some of their SRECs now and placing a higher value on others. The “Future Minimum SREC Price” acts as the default minimum price that will be applied to new SRECs as they get created at the end of the month:

Prices

SRECTrade will be adding more new features to your account over the next few months, so stay tuned! Many exiting things are on the way!

We’re continually working to improve our service and would love to hear what you make of these latest improvements.  Send us some feedback »

NJ Capacity Update

Posted October 10th, 2011 by SRECTrade.

The New Jersey Office of Clean Energy (NJ OCE) recently released installed solar capacity figures as of August 31, 2011. After the first three months into Energy Year (EY) 2012, the state has averaged a rate just over 30 MW/month, bringing the total installed capacity to more than 430 MW, up from 339.6 MW at the end of EY2011. In order to meet the state’s fixed production requirement of 442,000 SRECs this year, approximately 370 MW needs to be online throughout the entire compliance period.

The 2012 spot market traded up to $200+/SREC in recent periods with the October auction clearing at $205. The estimated average installed capacity needed to meet the EY2013 requirement is approximately 500 MW. To reach this target by the beginning of EY2013, the state would have to install an additional 70 MW, or an average of 7.8 MW/month for the remainder of EY2012. This calculation takes into consideration the capacity needed to generate enough EY2013 vintage SRECs, which could be reduced based on EY2012 vintage SRECs used to meet the EY2013 compliance obligation.

The surge in installed capacity is partially due to the anticipated expiration of the federal 1603 grant, an upfront cash payment for commercial projects of up to 30% of system costs, at the end of the calendar year. As more projects aim to take advantage of the grant before it expires, the total installed capacity will continue to approach the EY2013 target.

Upon their return from recess, state legislators will consider an amendment to the RPS to pull 2014 and future year requirements forward one year in attempt to prevent a prolonged oversupply in the SREC market. The chart below demonstrates monthly installed capacity and corresponding increases since December 2010.

NJ Capacity Aug 31 2011

Note: This analysis is based on capacity as of the dates noted and does not take into consideration the impact of EY2012 vintage SRECs used to meet the EY2013 requirement.

MA Capacity Update

Posted October 6th, 2011 by SRECTrade.

The MA Department of Energy Resources (DOER) recently published an updated qualified solar projects list as of September 23, 2011. The state currently has a total of 982 solar projects, 957 operational and 25 not operational, eligible for the SREC program. 11 of the 982 projects are greater than 1 MW, 3 of which are currently operational. The largest project, located in Sheffield, MA and approximately 2.0 MW, is not yet operational. The second largest project is 1.8 MW, located in Dartmouth, MA, and has been operational since March 2011. The table below demonstrates the change in capacity and # of projects from the last update on August 15, 2011.


8/15/11 9/23/11 Change % Change
Capacity (MW)
Operational 23.0 26.6 3.7 15.9%
Not Operational1 14.9 14.0 (1.0) -6.6%
Total 37.9 40.6 2.7 7.0%
Projects (#)
Operational 829 957 128 15.4%
Not Operational1 32 25 (7) -21.9%
Total 861 982 121 14.1%
1. A decline in capacity and # of projcts can be explained by not operational projects converting to operational.

Overall, the total qualified capacity currently stands at 40.6 MW, of which 26.6 MW is operational. The next SREC issuance period is scheduled for October 15, 2011. This will cover all SRECs generated during Q2 2011. Based on the information provided by the DOER as of 9/12/2011, 2,358 SRECs were issued in Q1 2011 (issuance date was 7/15/11). Additionally, based on the data provided, 5,652* MWh have been reported to the MassCEC Production Tracking System (PTS) for the period covering April – June 2011. An another 3,929* MWh have been reported during July and August 2011.

Taking into consideration the estimated load exemptions for the TransCanada settlement, MA electricity suppliers need to acquire approximately 63,000 SRECs during the 2011 compliance year.  According to the DOER 2012 minimum standard announcement, the forecast generation for the 2011 compliance year is 29,056 SRECs.

The chart below demonstrates the qualified capacity as of 9/23/11 compared to the estimated MW requirements needed to be online and operational during the entire 2011 and 2012 compliance years to meet the state’s solar obligations.

MA Capacity 9_23_11

Note: The 2011 and 2012 estimated megawatts required in the chart above have been adjusted for the impact of the TransCanada settlement.

* These figures represent the MWhs reported to PTS on a monthly basis. The DOER notes that the data from PTS is not finalized and the actual number of SRECs minted by NEPOOL GIS may differ.


PA State Rep. Chris Ross Introduces HB 1580

Posted October 4th, 2011 by SRECTrade.

State Representative Chris Ross’ (R-Chester) long awaited House Bill 1580 was formally introduced on Monday, 10/4/2011. Solar industry advocates interested in stabilizing SREC prices are closely watching the progress of HB 1580, hoping that the bill will receive widespread support within the Pennsylvania House and Senate. Christina Simeone of PennFuture mentioned that the bill currently has the support of 104 co-sponsors, over half of the 203 member PA House (40 of the co-sponsors are Republicans).

The amendment would modify the solar carve-out requirements for energy years 2013, 2014, and 2015 would increase from approximately 71 MW, 118 MW and 205 MW to 207 MW, 238 MW, and 290 MW, respectively. Language in HB 1580 also proposes changes to the eligibility criteria so that only in-state systems registered after January 1, 2011 would be able to sell SRECs in the PA market.

Once HB 1580 is submitted to committee it must contend with other pressing issues before the House and Senate such as state budget deliberations. Given the current issues before the House, it may be several months before the bill can go to vote, however local advocacy groups are committed to raising the profile of the bill over the next several weeks to ensure that it receives the full attention of House members in these critical initial stages. SRECTrade will continue to closely monitor the bill as it moves forward.

For more information on HB 1580 please go here and here.

The Vote Solar Initiative has put together a “contact your Representative” link for HB 1580.