Archive for the ‘Ohio’ Category
Monday, February 11th, 2013
On January 1, 2013 the Ohio Public Utilities Commission (PUCO) stopped allowing SRECs to be created from power generated prior to the date of application for state certification. The official reference to this rule change can be found on the OH PUCO website.
What this means:
- Starting in January 2013 SRECs are created from the date of application (this is in line with the rules for the PA SREC market).
- SRECTrade applications should be submitted as soon as possible for all systems or some SREC opportunity will be lost.
- Online monitoring software cannot be used to create SRECs retroactive to the date of interconnection.
Tags: OH, OH PUCO, OH SREC start, OH SRECs, PUCO, rule change, SREC eligibility, SRECs
Posted in Ohio | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 15th, 2011
FirstEnergy’s Ohio utilities announced the close of its Request for Proposal (RFP) for 10 year SREC and REC contracts. The utility issued the RFP seeking 5,000 Solar Renewable Energy Credits and 20,000 Renewable Energy Credits per year for the compliance periods covering 2011-2020.
The utility noted they were able to successfully fill the requested volumes. The contracted supply will allow FirstEnergy to meet its 2011 RPS requirements including the SRECs not retired under their 2010 compliance obligations. The RFP received submissions from 28 qualified participants offering more than two times the requested SREC volumes and four times the requested REC volumes. Contract pricing was not disclosed.
Tags: FirstEnergy, Ohio, REC, RFP, Solar, SREC
Posted in Ohio, SREC Markets | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 10th, 2011
On August 3, 2011, FirstEnergy was granted its “force majeure” application to reduce its 2010 in-state solar requirement from 3,206 Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs) to 1,629 SRECs by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO). The shortfall of 1,577 SRECs will be added onto FirstEnergy’s 2011 solar energy resource (SER) requirements.
On April 15, 2011, FirstEnergy filed an application for force majeure to reduce its SER benchmark from 3,206 SRECs to 1,629 SRECs, the amount it actually acquired in 2010. In its motion, FirstEnergy claimed that it attempted to procure SRECs through requests for proposals (RFPs), SREC brokers, and SREC auctions. Despite its good faith efforts, it only managed to obtain 1,629 SRECs, or 51% of its SER requirements. FirstEnergy cited a lack of supply of in-state SRECs being reasonably available in the market, as well as the impracticability of constructing solar facilities as reasons for its inability to reach its SER target. Further, FirstEnergy was recently approved to conduct an RFP to purchase SRECs through 10 year contracts. The RFP will be used to meet future compliance requirements including any shortfall in 2010 that will be incorporated into its 2011 benchmark.
The full order from the PUCO website can be found here: PUCO FirstEnergy Order.
Tags: FirstEnergy, OH RPS, OH SRECs, Ohio SRECs, Solar Capacity, SREC, SREC Programs, srec requirements
Posted in Ohio, SREC Markets | 1 Comment »
Thursday, July 28th, 2011
In October of 2010, American Electric Power (AEP) Ohio announced plans to partner with Turning Point Solar to build a 50 MW solar project in southeastern Ohio. The first panels are expected to go online in late 2012, and the final panels should be operational in late 2014. A project of this size is expected to cost approximately 200 million dollars, some of which has already been secured. AEP Ohio plans to invest 20 million in the project, and Agile Energy, the developer for the project, has also secured $37 million from Good Energies Capital, up from the previous commitment of $13 million. Low-interest loans and tax credits are coming from the Rural Utilities Service, and the state of Ohio is providing $7 million in assistance. This project is not falling under the umbrella of the DOE loan guarantee program, and thus will not be subject to any potential federal budget cuts.
According to projected construction schedules, the first 20 MW will begin construction in the summer of 2012 and online in late 2012, with another 15 MW coming online in late 2013, and the final 15 MW in late 2014. This will significantly increase the number of SRECs available in the Ohio market, and will assist in providing the necessary SRECs for AEP to reach its solar RPS requirements. Currently, AEP obtains a significant number of required SRECs from the 12 MW Wyandot Solar Facility in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. With both facilities scheduled to be online for the entire 2013 reporting year, this will make up approximately 24% of the total Ohio SREC requirement and approximately 48% of the In-State Ohio SREC requirement. It remains to be seen as to whether the constructoin of such a large generating facility in addition to other in state and out of state OH project development will drive down the prices of Ohio SRECs, but the construction of large solar farms moves the market away from the decentralized, local power generation that solar is capable of providing.
The chart below shows the projected SREC requirements for Ohio through 2015. As the Turning Point Solar Facility capacity increases, SRECs controlled by AEP will comprise approximately 25% of the solar RPS requirement in each of 2013-2016 compliance years. Because these are in-state SRECs, approximately half of the in-state solar requirement will be controlled by AEP. How this will play out in terms of SREC prices is yet to be seen, but in other state markets organizations have stepped in to buy the SRECs from large producers to avoid SREC oversupply. However, there has been no indication that this may happen in Ohio.
Ohio SREC Requirements and AEP controlled SRECs
Note: SREC forecast based OH RPS requirements and SRECTrade estimates. Turning Point Facility online dates based on projected construction schedules. Forecast assumes majority of generation produced in first full year following online date. Project assumed to generate 1,200 MWhs annually per 1 MW installed.
Tags: OH SRECs, Solar Capacity, SREC, SREC Programs
Posted in Ohio, 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 »
Tuesday, November 16th, 2010
In October AEP Ohio announced a 50 MW solar project to be built in southeastern Ohio. The facility will be developed by Turning Point Solar and the electricity and SRECs will be purchased by AEP. The announced project will be phased in over 3 years, starting with 20 MW by 2013, 15 MW by 2014 and the remaining 15 MW by 2015. This is not the first time that AEP has elected to procure SRECs from utility-scale facilities. AEP met its 2010 and 2011 SREC requirement primarily from a 10 MW facility built in Upper Sandusky, OH.
Although the announced project may still see some hurdles before all contracts are finalized and construction commences, the prospect of 50 MW worth of SRECs flooding the market in the next few years will likely have an impact on the growth of the Ohio solar industry. Ohio currently allows buyers to source 50% of the SRECs from out-of-state. Since there is more supply in the out-of-state market, prices will likely be lower than the in-state market. In 2011, the existing 10 MW project will represent 23% of the total market in Ohio, meaning that roughly half of the SRECs required from in-state will come from the Upper Sandusky project next year. In 2012, the Upper Sandusky project will represent 11% of the overall market, roughly one-fourth of the in-state market. Then, in 2013, when the first 20 MW of the Turning Point project comes online, the 30 MW available to AEP will represent 23% of the total market, again, roughly half of the in-state market. These percentages increase slightly to 25% and 26% in 2014 and 2015 when the additional 15 MW tranches are turned online.
Although the argument can be made for the jobs created by the project and the progress towards the ultimate goal of solar energy, projects of these size can impact SREC markets in a way that could halt the development of a sustainable in-state solar industry. Other states have dealt with this issue in various ways that could hopefully serve as an example for Ohio to follow.
In New Jersey, up until 2010, facilities over 2 MW were ineligible for the SREC program. When the requirements increased to 160 MW, while the state only had 80 MW installed, the legislature passed a bill opening the doors to larger projects. This made sense both because New Jersey was so far behind and because the exponential growth in the increasing requirements made it impossible to keep pace without projects above 2 MW. The legislature also limited the ability of investor-owned utilities from building large projects, requiring approval from the BPU based on the projected impact in SREC pricing.
In Delaware, a 10 MW Delmarva Power project threatened to collapse the SREC market when it was still in its infancy. The Delaware Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU) stepped in to purchase the SRECs and take them out of the market. The SEU is a quasi-governmental organization that used its funding to support the SREC market. In response to this, and the fact that most Delaware solar owners were selling in Pennsylvania, the Delaware legislature increased the fines and requirements in Delaware in 2010.
In Massachusetts, the state recently voted to increase the ceiling on solar project sizes eligible for the solar carve-out from 2 MW to 6 MW. This increase was needed to help the state kick-start the SREC market which was well-behind the target midway through 2010. Though the market will do very well for reasons stated here, the 6 MW cap re-iterates Massachusetts commitment to developing a solar industry, not just a few giant solar farms.
If more states could follow the lead put forth by New Jersey, Massachusetts and Delaware, the SREC program would be far more effective in promoting solar in a way that best benefits society. While the utility lobby would prefer to maintain the status quo of centralized power generation since generation and distribution are their primary purposes, the solar industry is best suited to promote distributed, decentralized power generation. If every SREC market were overcome by the generation of a few behemoth solar farms, each state would be left with several solar projects and a few successful developers, instead of an industry. Meanwhile, the states that temper the growth of utility-scale solar and focus the SREC markets on residential and commercial solar will see electricians, general contractors, roofing companies and heating & air conditioning companies build sustainable businesses around solar. This will lead to jobs and job growth far more effectively than the influx in short-term construction jobs created by the occasional 50 MW solar project.
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Tags: 50 MW Solar Project, AEP, ohio srec market, Ohio SREC Prices, Turning Point
Posted in Ohio | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
SRECTrade’s State of the SREC Markets in 2010
The New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware Energy Years came to a close on May 31, 2010. The following is a report of the solar capacity in megawatts (MW) certified and registered to create SRECs in all states at that time.
Solar generators by state located: This table is based solely on the location of the facility and does not include multiple state listings. All facilities must have been registered by May 31st, 2010.
As you can see New Jersey has by far the largest amount of solar installed and eligible for SRECs with 146 MW. Pennsylvania is a distant second at 17 MW. Meanwhile, Ohio and Illinois are third and fourth respectively, however of the 16 MW in Ohio, 12 come from one facility and of the 10.1 MW in Illinois, 10 come from one facility. Delaware and Maryland both have sizable markets at around 6 MW each. Volumes in other state are much smaller since there is no local SREC market.
Solar generators by size: Projects certified for SREC markets range in size from as small as 0.5 kW to as large as 12 MW, however, only 20 out of the 7,700 projects are over 1 MW. Of those 20 projects all are well below 5 MW, with the exception of a 10 MW facility in Illinois and 12 MW facility in Ohio. The lack of multi-MW facilities in the SREC markets is a function of both the complexity involved and constraints on demand. The only state SREC market today with any legitimate appetite for multi-MW facilities is New Jersey.
Solar generators by state eligibility: Because some states accept out-of-state SRECs, the in-state supply listed above differs from the total supply available to buyers in that state. For instance, Ohio’s market also includes facilities located in PA, WV, KY, IN, and MI. The table below lists the total solar capacity in megawatts eligible for each SREC market, along with the percent of the market that is sourced in-state. Note: many facilities will be counted multiple times in this table since they are eligible in several states. For example, the 10 MW facility in Illinois is eligible in both DC and PA.
In Ohio 89.6% of the market is in-state SRECs. Some of our customers have asked why in-state Ohio SRECs do not sell at a premium because of the 50% in-state requirement. The reason is that, as you can see, buyers are not having difficulty meeting the 50% requirement with the large supply of in-state SRECs. In the future as the requirements increase, in-state SRECs could be harder to come by and may indeed sell for more than out-of-state SRECs.
Interpreting the data: One important thing to notice is that the 2010 Capacity Requirement column details the capacity required to be sustained throughout the entire energy year. The Volume column shows the capacity registered through May 2010. For example, New Jersey needed approximately 160 MW of capacity running on average from June 2009 through May 2010 in order to meet the 2010 SREC requirement. The state is actually farther away from the 160 MW capacity mark than the 145.69 MW volume would suggest. Capacity in New Jersey grew approximately 65 MW over the course of the year and so there were probably only enough SRECs created to meet approximately 110-115 MW of the 160 MW requirement. That requirement increases in the 2011 Energy Year to approximately 260 MW. For more information on the growth of the New Jersey market and any other state market, please visit our page devoted to State SREC Markets.
Assumptions used in calculations: Solar capacity required is based on 2007 Department of Energy electricity sales figures, assuming a 1.5% growth rate. The resulting solar megawatt-hours required (i.e. SRECs) are converted to megawatt capacity requirement at a rate of 1200 MWhs per MW.
Tags: dc srec market, delaware srec market, maryland srec market, new jersey srec market, new jersey srec shortage, ohio srec market, pennsylvania srec market, Solar Carve-Out, srec market capacity, srec market data, srec production, srec requirements, srec sales figures, srec targets, state srec capacity, state srec sales
Posted in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, SREC Markets, Washington, DC | No 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.
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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 »
