Archive for May, 2014

OH State Legislature Passes Anti-Renewable Energy Bill with 53-38 Vote

Posted May 29th, 2014 by SRECTrade.

May 28, 2014 – The Ohio State House passed SB 310 in a historic 53-38 vote today. SB 310, touted as a pro-consumer, pro-business bill, weakens Ohio’s existing Alternative Energy Portfolio, calling it too expensive for Ohio ratepayers. This despite analysis that shows the actual cost to Ohio ratepayers is likely less than $5 per household per year. Instead, SB 310, freezes the current standards in place through 2016 and allows all of Ohio’s renewable energy requirement to be met by facilities located in Ohio and bordering states. Should Ohio Governor Kasich sign SB 310, (the bill passed the Ohio Senate on May 8, 2014), Ohio ratepayers will subsidize renewable energy in other states, without any state-level guarantee for renewable energy in Ohio itself.

Click here for Twitter-based public reaction.

Regardless of your sentiments about renewable energy, SB 310 is overtly anti-ratepayer and bad for renewable energy jobs in Ohio. This is a step back for Ohio’s renewable energy economy and sends a clear signal to the business community that Ohio’s commitments are not to be trusted.

SB 310 will be immediately sent to Governor Kasich’s desk to sign a day after his office launched a new OhioMeansJobs website. Kasich’s decision to veto or sign SB 310 will test the meaning of his commitment to Ohio’s economic future.

If you are an Ohio resident, please contact Governor Kasich’s office and let him know your opinion.

Governor Kasich

Phone Number: (614) 466-3555

Complete List of Kasich Office Staffers’ Names and Contact Information

 

 

Ohio House Public Utilities Committee Passes SB 310: Full House Vote Imminent

Posted May 27th, 2014 by SRECTrade.

Today, May 27, 2014, the Ohio State House Public Utilities Committee passed the House version of SB 310 by a vote of 13-9. It is likely that the Ohio House will vote on the bill sometime this week.  If passed by the House and signed by  Ohio Governor Kasich, SB 310 would freeze Ohio’s renewable energy targets through 2016 and allow all of the state’s renewable energy targets to be met by facilities located in Ohio and bordering states.  The bill already passed the Ohio Senate on May 8, 2014.

SB 310 faces clear opposition from members of Ohio’s business and renewable energy stakeholder groups. Notably the Ohio Manaufacturers’ Association (OMA) testified before the House Public Utilities Committee on May 14th saying that SB 310 is bad for business. SB 310 is a step back for renewable energy advocates in Ohio and as written does not serve the general interests of Ohio ratepayers. In effect, the bill would have Ohio ratepayers subsidize renewable energy in other states while undermining the renewable energy economy within Ohio.

If you are an Ohio resident with an interest in continuing to grow Ohio’s clean energy industry, please use this list to express your point of view by contacting your State House Representative.

http://www.ohiohouse.gov/members/member-directory

SRECTrade will continue to posts updates as appropriate.

 

Ohio Legislature poised to pass legislation freezing Renewable Portfolio Standard

Posted May 21st, 2014 by SRECTrade.

As mentioned in our May 9th blog post, the Ohio State Senate passed SB 310. If signed in to law, the bill that would reduce the Ohio mandate for renewable energy installations, and allow the mandate for renewable energy in Ohio to be completely met with out-of-state facilities. The house version of the bill is up for consideration this week and is supported by Ohio Governor John Kasich who is quoted as saying that Ohio’s RPS mandates are, “simply unrealistic and will drive up energy costs for job creators and consumers.”

Overall, however, the financial impact of the Ohio RPS on ratepayers is likely quite low and represents approximately 0.45% of the total cost of electricity that Ohioans pay, or about $5 per average ratepayer per year. A more in depth analysis by SRECTrade of the RPS cost to OH ratepayers can be found here.

Breaking News: Ohio State Senate Passes Renewable Portfolio Standard Freeze

Posted May 9th, 2014 by SRECTrade.

Yesterday, May 8, 2014, the Ohio State Senate passed SB 310. The legislation calls for a temporary freeze of the Ohio Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) at current levels through 2016. The legislation must also pass the Ohio State House and be signed by the Governor before becoming law. Please see the proposed amendment to the percentage of renewable  in the image below.

The Ohio RPS defines the amount of SRECs required each year in Ohio. The number of OH certified SRECs increases annually according to a schedule defined by the RPS. If the RPS is frozen at current levels, the number of SRECs required will remain at approximately 194,178 SRECs per year (through 2016), rather than increasing next year to approximately 246,363 SRECs*.  The legislation also calls for removal of the requirement that at least 50% of the state’s renewable energy requirement be met by facilities physically-sited in Ohio. Instead, the RPS would be amended to allow the entire requirement to met by facilities located in Ohio and neighboring states.

The outcome of these two changes in policy would likely lower the value of SRECs generated in Ohio. Further, the policy precedent that this legislation sets might increase the cost of financing renewable energy projects,  an outcome that is counter to the assumed justification (the supposed high cost of renewable energy) for freezing the RPS at current levels.

If you are an Ohio resident we recommend contacting your state representative immediately. Let them know that you don’t support the move to reduce the Ohio RPS. Click below for the contact information for all members of the Ohio House of Representatives.

Ohio House of Representatives Directory

*SREC estimates are based on the Energy Information Administration (EIA) annual OH electricity usage in MW-hrs as of 10/1/2012. The 2014 OH RPS requires .12% of all electricity to come from solar. SRECs reflect one (1) MW-hr of solar power production.
Note: Ohio-sited facilities, sited in PJM territory, are eligible to cross register in the Pennsylvania SREC market. Like the Ohio SREC market, the Pennsylvania SREC market is oversupplied, but it does provide another option for monetizing SRECs. SRECTrade clients with OH-sited facilities may request PA certification through the facility “Settings” page in their SRECTrade.com accounts.

SB 310 Screenshot

Source: Ohio State Legislature website

SRECTrade Markets Report: April 2014

Posted May 8th, 2014 by SRECTrade.

The following post is a monthly update outlining the megawatts of solar capacity certified to create SRECs in the Solar REC markets that SRECTrade serves. All PJM data is based on the information available in PJM GATS as of the date noted. All MA data is based on the information provided by the DOER as of the date noted. This analysis does not include projects that are not yet registered and certified with the entities noted herein.

A PDF copy of this table can be found here.

April 2014 SRECTrade Capacity Analysis

Overview of PJM Eligible Systems

As of May 5, 2014 there were 43,267 solar PV and 855 solar thermal systems registered and eligible to create SRECs in the PJM Generation Attribute Tracking System (GATS). Of these, 281 (up 1 project since March and representing 0.64% of the total number of projects installed) have a nameplate capacity of 1 megawatt or greater and account for 43.7% of the overall capacity registered. Thirty-two (32) of these projects have a nameplate capacity of 5 MW or greater. New Jersey continues to host most of the larger scale facilities, claiming home to 21 of the 32 facilities, that are equal to or greater than 5 MW. The three largest projects are a 29.1 MW project certified in MD and PA, followed by a 25.1 MW certified in NJ and a 20.0 MW project sited in Illinois and registered in the PA market.

NJ Office of Clean Energy Estimated Installed Capacity Through 4/30/14

On May 13, 2014, the New Jersey Office of Clean Energy (OCE) announced total installed solar capacity reached 1,272.9 MW; an increase of approximately 5.8 MW over the total capacity reported at the end of March. The average last six month build rate per month, according to the OCE data, is 19.6 MW. Note that this data does not directly tie to GATS registration data because of a lag between NJ Office of Clean Energy certifications and GATS registrations. For more information on the state of the NJ market see our latest webinar.

Overview of MA DOER Eligible Systems

As of May 1, 2014, there were 11,776 MA DOER qualified solar projects; 11,612 operational and 164 not operational.* Total qualified capacity is 686.3 MW; 454.4 MW of which is operational (up 10.5 MW from the DOER’s  previous report) and 231.9 MW of qualified capacity is not yet operational under the current SREC-I program.**

*Note: not operational, qualified projects over 100 kW in size were required to demonstrate that at least 50% of the project’s costs be incurred by 12/31/2013 in order to remain qualified. Projects less than 100 kW must be interconnected by the effective date of the SREC-II program or June 30, 2014, whichever is earlier. Whereas projects greater 100 kW in capacity must have submitted application paperwork and met certain requirements by July 5, 2013. For more information refer to our blog posts covering the current SREC program.

**Note: Facilities will begin to formally apply for the SREC-II program at some point in mid-May. The DOER’s SREC-II application system is expected to be available beginning May 13, 2014.

How to Interpret This Table

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 with only that particular compliance period vintage. For example, New Jersey needed approximately 496.7 MW online for the entire 2013 reporting year to meet the RPS requirement with 2013 vintage SRECs only. SRECs still available from prior eligible periods can also impact the Solar RPS requirements. 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.

Note: SREC requirements for markets without fixed SREC targets have been forecast based on EIA Report “Retail Sales of Electricity by State by Provider” updated 10/1/12. 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.

DC and MD SREC Market Update Webinar Posted

Posted May 8th, 2014 by SRECTrade.

SRECTrade hosted a webinar on Tuesday, 5/6/2014, outlining the DC and Maryland SREC markets. A recording of the webinar is available by clicking the image below.

A link to a PDF of the presentation can be found here.

May 2014 SREC Pricing Update and Auction Results

Posted May 3rd, 2014 by SRECTrade.

As of May 1, 2014, below is a summary of indicative pricing across the SREC markets SRECTrade covers (for a PDF copy click here). For May 2014 auction results, scroll down.

2014_05_01_SRECTrade_SREC_Markets__for blog

Note: All pricing and notes included are indicative and subject to change. Please contact us for most current markets. If a market is not quoted herein, please contact us directly for further information. 

Additionally, SRECTrade’s May 2014 SREC Auction closed on 5/01/2014. The clearing prices presented below are representative of transactions executed through the SRECTrade auction. This does not include over the counter spot and forward contract transactions completed through SRECTrade’s brokerage desk. For more information on our brokerage services for corporate clients please click here.

Below are the clearing prices by vintage across the SRECs transacted in the auction.

Auction Prices SREC Vintage Year
State 2011 2012 2013 2014
Delaware $50.00 $50.00 $50.00 N/A
Maryland N/A $130.01 $130.01 $134.00
Massachusetts N/A N/A $262.01 N/A
New Jersey N/A $162.52 $167.52 $175.37
Ohio Sited N/A N/A N/A $57.01
Ohio Adjacent N/A N/A N/A $49.99
Pennsylvania N/A $48.01 $50.01 $53.00
Washington, DC N/A N/A N/A $482.00

The next SRECTrade auction for the PJM and MA SREC markets will close on Tuesday, June 3 at 5 p.m. ET.

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