Archive for the ‘Illinois’ Category
Thursday, August 25th, 2011
The Illinois Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) has aggressive renewable energy goals. The RPS requires Investor-Owned Electric Utilities (EUs) and alternative retail electric suppliers (ARES) to have 25% of their electricity come from renewable resources by 2025, so why don’t we see a viable SREC market? Part of the story can be tied to anemic SREC incentives.
Within the 25% renewable requirement, 6% of the renewable energy procured from EUs and ARES must come from solar sources, with percentages starting lower, reaching 6% by 2016, and holding until 2025. This latest addition came into effect under HB 6202, the details of which can be seen here. The legislation goes into effect in June 2013, with incremental requirements leading up to 6% in June 2016. In order to meet this requirement, EUs and ARES are able to purchase Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs) from private individuals and businesses throughout the mid-West and mid-Atlantic regions- not just from within Illinois.
A unique aspect of the Illinois RPS revolves around a forced alternative compliance payment (ACP), which states that ARES must meet 50% of their renewable quota by paying an ACP. This effectively divides the potential REC market in half as tradable RECs will only be utilized for 50% of the renewable quota. EUs and ARES can buy RECs from the PJM-GATS or M-RETS (Midwest Renewable Energy Tracking System) tracking registries, or just pay the ACP fine.
It’s unlikely that the Illinois market will be attractive for the following two reasons:
1) The ACP currently covers all renewable fuel types. Current ACP rates for June 1, 2011 through May 31, 2012 are estimated to be approximately $0.058 per MWh, with a maximum value of $2.158/MWh. ACP rates vary by utility territory and more information can be found here. There isn’t a separate “carve-out” for solar with a higher ACP rate. This means that REC values are much lower than necessary to incentivize the solar market with RECs alone. For comparison New Jersey’s RY2012 Solar ACP (SACP) is $658 per SREC.
2) Utility companies may opt to meet their full solar requirement by paying the relatively low ACP fine for not complying, rather than meeting the other “optional” 50 % requirement by paying for SRECs.
Other options for Illinois sited solar systems:
Illinois systems are eligible to sell SRECs in Pennsylvania if their facility is located in an area served by Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) utility. Currently, selling their SRECs into the PA market provides the highest value for SRECs coming from IL (ComEd) facilities, with pricing in August 2011 at $25 per SREC. Solar systems that are located in all of Illinois were previously able to sell SRECs into the D.C. market, but recent legislation has made that option no longer possible.
Other incentives have been put in place to help catalyze the Illinois solar market, though several lack the necessary funding to allow for widespread solar adoption. The Illinois Solar Energy Association runs an annual Renewable Energy Credit Aggregation Program (RECAP) that allows qualified systems to sell SRECs to the ISEA at a fixed rate of $200/SREC. Unfortunately, this program has exhausted its funding and is only accepting wait list applications. The state of Illinois also offers a special property tax assessment for properties with solar systems. Finally, the state Solar and Wind Rebate program offered a 30% rebate to residential and commercial systems and a 50% rebate for non-profit or commercial systems before closing its latest round of funding in December 2010.
Tags: ARES, EUs, HB 6202, IL RPS, IL SRECs, Illinois, renewable portfolio standard, SREC Markets, SRECs
Posted in Illinois, SREC Markets | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 12th, 2011
The Council of the District of Columbia unanimously voted, today July 12th, to close the DC SREC market to out-of-state systems. The Distributed Generation Amendment Act of 2011 (Bill 19-10) increases the SREC requirement in 2011 as well as establishes an SACP schedule through 2023. Once in effect, the bill will allow out-of-state systems registered prior to 1/31/2011 to continue to sell SRECs in the DC market. The DC Public Services Commission has not provided clarification on how the bill will affect out of state systems that have already granted DC registrations after the January 31st 2011 grandfather date. For more information on the bill please refer to our previous blog postings here and here.
The bill is not yet law. It first must go through a 30-day Congressional Review process before it can go in to effect. Given these mechanistic delays we don’t expect the bill to go in to effect for at least another month.
The following chart illustrates which out-of-state systems will be effected by the legislation.
| State |
Eligible Markets (after B19-10 is effective) |
| DE |
DE, PA |
| IN |
OH; PA (if in American Electric Power territory) |
| IL |
PA (if in Com Ed territory) |
| KY |
OH; PA (if in American Electric Power territory) |
| MD |
MD; PA |
| MI |
OH; PA (if in American Electric Power territory) |
| NC |
NC; PA (if in Dominion Electric Territory) |
| NJ |
NJ, PA |
| NY |
- |
| OH |
OH; PA |
| PA |
PA; OH |
| TN |
PA (if in American Electric Power territory) |
| VA |
PA |
| WV |
OH; PA |
| WI |
- |
Posted in Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, SREC Markets, State RPS, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, DC, West Virginia, Wisconsin | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010
With the launch of the North Carolina Renewable Energy Tracking System (NC-RETS), North Carolina is paving the way for what could be the future for SREC markets. For the first time, an SREC created in one region’s registry will be transferable to a buyer in another region’s registry. This cooperation amongst registries could be the first step towards a permeable nationwide SREC market.
North Carolina is currently working with other renewable energy certificate tracking systems to approve a process for importing and exporting SRECs. The approval of exporting SRECs from other tracking systems and importing them into NC-RETS would allow solar system owners located in states without viable SREC markets to sell into the North Carolina SREC market. This is all possible because almost all of the registries were built with similar technology developed by APX. More information on all of the registries can be found here: APX Primer on REC Registries.
NC-RETS is working with the parties responsible for maintaining the other regional registries to develop the importing and exporting process. Here is a list of those registries and an update on the status of importing and exporting:
NARR: The North American Renewables Registry (NARR) was developed by APX to serve the needs of states and regions that have not implemented a REC tracking system. This covers most of the Southeastern U.S., Alaska and Hawaii. NARR has already established importing/exporting procedures with NC-RETS.
MRETS: The Midwest Renewable Energy Tracking System (M-RETS), the registry that tracks the generation of SRECs in 8 Midwest U.S. states and the Canadian province of Manitoba, has approved the exportation of SRECs and is implementing the necessary software upgrades.
GATS: Generation Attribute Tracking System covers the Mid-Atlantic states and currently tracks the majority of SREC volume due to member states like New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland. GATS is expected to allow importing/exporting soon.
WREGIS: The Western Renewable Energy Generation Information System (WREGIS), the registry that tracks the generation of SRECs in 14 Western U.S. states, Baja California, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, is capable of managing exports and is in the process of making a policy decision to allow the system to export SRECs.
ERCOT: Texas, the sixth state to adopt an RPS in 1999, was the first to implement a procedure for meeting the RPS. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) was the first registry of its kind. Unfortunately, it does not currently have the capability to export SRECs and it may require legislative approval to make the necessary changes to the system’s software. However, NC-RETS and APX are working with ERCOT to come up with a solution.
Tags: APX, California SREC, California SRECs, California TREC, California TRECs, ERCOT, M-RETS, Midwest SREC, NC-RETS, selling SREC out of state, selling SRECs, SREC, SRECs, Texas SREC, Texas SRECs, WREGIS
Posted in Arizona, California, Cross-Listing, Illinois, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, SREC Markets, Texas, Wisconsin | No Comments »
Monday, May 10th, 2010
DC Eligibility
For customers looking to register systems in the DC SREC market, as we have previously stated, DC will accept applications from customers sited in the PJM regions and states adjacent to the PJM region where electricity is eligible to be transmitted into the PJM region. SRECTRADE will manage the application process for our EasyREC customers to ensure the system is approved.
DC Facility Rejections
We previously reported that a facility was rejected out of New York state and have learned that the application provided that the electricity was not capable of being transmitted into the PJM region. The DC PSC was subsequently unable to get clarification in order to approve the facility.
A second facility in New York has also been rejected because there was “no basis to conclude that the facility generates electricity consumed within the PJM Interconnection region.” We are currently seeking clarity on how these determinations are made and will post them when we have more information. In the meantime, here are some details:
DC rule 945-E-1764 (http://www.dcpsc.org/pdf_files/commorders/dcmr15/Chapter29.pdf) defines a renewable energy credit as “a credit representing one megawatt hour of electricity consumed within the PJM interconnection region that is derived from a tier 1 renewable source, a tier 2 renewable source, or a solar source that is located:
“In the PJM Interconnection region or in a state that is adjacent to the PJM Interconnection region.”
The same document describes New York as an “Adjacent PJM State” and the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) as an “Adjacent Control Area”. The crux of the issue seems to be the wording “consumed within the PJM interconnection region”. Electricity flows bidirectionally between PJM and NYISO every day, the amount varying based on supply and demand in the two ISOs. An electron generated in NYISO clearly can’t be tracked (Heisenberg and all), so there is no way to know if a given electron generated by the grid-tied solar installation makes its way into PJM and is consumed. In fact there is no way to know if a given electron generated by any installation in any “Adjacent PJM State” makes its way to PJM and is consumed there, although it is possible that any electron generated in an adjacent PJM state will. Going even further, an electron generated by a system located in DC might actually be consumed outside PJM! As we see it, this leaves two choices on how to interpret the DC RPS rules. Either every grid tied generator in an “Adjacent PJM State” could be delivering their electrons to be consumed in PJM and therefore all are eligible to create DC renewable energy credits, or none can prove that their specific electrons where consumed in PJM and so none are eligible.
How far back will DC accept SREC generation?
We also get questions about systems that were installed prior to the application date in DC. Customers and installers will ask how far back DC will count solar generation for SRECs. DC will only count SRECs created in the current energy year (same as calendar year) as long as generation is inputted before the last business day in January. This means that, as of this blog post, any generation for a facility in 2009 will not count. Only generation from January 2010 onwards will be eligible for the creation of SRECs.
Subscribe to the SREC Blog by Email
Tags: DC SREC, DC SRECs, New York Solar Renewable Energy Credits, New York SREC, New York SRECs, NY Solar Renewable Energy Credits, NY SREC, NY SRECs
Posted in Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, DC, West Virginia, Wisconsin | No Comments »
Sunday, March 28th, 2010
The PJM Interconnection is a regional transmission organization. It serves to connect the electricity produced by the various utilities across a region. In several states, the Renewable Portfolio Standard legislation lets utilities count renewable electricity produced within the PJM region towards meeting the state’s renewable goals.
In Pennsylvania, for example, a resident within the PJM region can apply for certification in the Pennsylvania SREC program. If your system is convered in this map, you can sell SRECs to PA!
Washington, DC is similar to Pennsylvania in that both allow SRECs from anywhere within the PJM region, however DC will also qualify facilities that are eligible to deliver their electricity into the region. This may include facilities in states that are adjacent to the PJM region such as New York or Wisconsin.
Ohio is another state that allows SRECs from out of state. In that specific case, the utilities are limited to buying 50% from out of state and only from states within the region that are contiguous: Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Michigan and Indiana.
Washington, DC is similar to Pennsylvania in that both allow SRECs from anywhere within the PJM region, however DC will also qualify facilities that are eligible to deliver their electricity into the region.
For these reasons, it is important to know what constitutes the PJM region to determine whether or not you qualify. Here is a map of the region, along with the retail electricity companies who are served by PJM.
Posted in Cross-Listing, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, DC, West Virginia | 6 Comments »
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
We recently received additional clarification on the rules governing acceptance into the District of Columbia SREC Program. Previously we noted that DC will approve facilities in states adjacent to the PJM region. However, the actual requirements are more specific than that. A facility sited in a state adjacent to the PJM Region must also demonstrate that the electricity produced by the facility can be served into the PJM Region. This will likely be an important distinction for residents of New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee who are hoping to register and sell SRECs in DC.
We are working with the DC Public Service Commission to get clarity on how to determine whether facilities sited in states adjacent to the PJM Region are indeed eligible for the DC SREC program and will provide an update as soon as possible.
Posted in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, New York, Tennessee, Washington, DC, Wisconsin | No Comments »
Monday, January 25th, 2010
The District of Columbia is one of the states that will allow its electricity suppliers to procure SRECs from out-of-state solar generating facilities. There are no defined boundaries for what states may qualify for certification in the DC SREC market. According to information received by SRECTrade, the DC PSC will approve SRECs for states in the PJM region and states adjacent per the following guidelines:
The DC Public Service Commission is responsible for approving applications to the DC SREC market. Their rule of thumb is that if your state has an RPS similar to DC you are guaranteed certification in DC. Currently those states include Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and Ohio.
Solar facilities built in all other PJM area states AND adjacent states are reviewed closely and the DC PSC will determine if they can be granted certification. Currently, they have not declined a registration from any of those states because of location. Based on the map of the PJM region, these states include: Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
Here is a link to get you started:
DC Certification Instructions
Tags: DC SREC, Michigan, New York, SREC, SRECs, Tennessee, Wisconsin
Posted in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, DC, West Virginia, Wisconsin | 2 Comments »
