Archive for May, 2016

D.C. Council Committee Holds Public Hearing on RPS Expansion Bill

Posted May 31st, 2016 by SRECTrade.

On May 23rd, Councilmember Cheh held a public hearing on three important energy and climate change bills currently under review by the Council: B21-0650, the Renewable Portfolio Standard Expansion Amendment Act of 2016; B21-0412, the Solar Energy Amendment Act of 2015; and B21-0369, the Commission on Climate Change and Resiliency Establishment Act. The Renewable Portfolio Standard Expansion Amendment Act of 2016, which was introduced to the Council in March, will increase the RPS and solar carve-out requirements to 50 percent and 5 percent by the year 2032, respectively, and increase alternative compliance payments (financial penalties) for electricity suppliers who fail to comply with RPS requirements. Additional goals of B21-0650, in conjunction with the goals of B21-0412 and B21-0369, aim to facilitate the continued growth of solar and other renewables in the District. Currently, the bills are under review by the Council’s Committee on Transportation and the Environment, which will consider the public comments and written testimony submitted in response to the Public Hearing.

With the public comment period closed, the Committee will move to hold a mark-up meeting as soon as June 1st to consider possible amendments to B21-0650. Following this meeting, the bill should be presented for a hearing on or around June 7th, with a second hearing in July, and a vote as early as mid-July.

For more information on the District of Columbia SREC market, please visit our D.C. market page.

SRECTrade will continue to provide updates on the status of the D.C. RPS bill as it progresses with the Council.

Maryland Governor Vetoes RPS Legislation

Posted May 27th, 2016 by SRECTrade.

Earlier this afternoon, Maryland Governor Hogan vetoed the Clean Energy Jobs – Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard Revisions bill (SB0921/HB1106). Gov. Hogan’s letter to the Speaker of the House regarding the veto can be read here, wherein the Governor sites “tax increases” as his sole reason for vetoing the RPS legislation, which would have increased the State’s Renewable Portfolio Standard to 25 percent by 2020 – up from the current obligation of 20 percent by 2022 – and allowed for the continued growth of solar and other renewables in the State.

Maryland Carve-Out - 2


Maryland SACP

The RPS bill passed in the House and the Senate earlier this year with veto-proof majorities, so there is potential for the bill to become law despite the Governor’s veto. In response to the veto, proponents of the RPS bill will look to meet with House and Senate leaders to discuss a strategy for moving forward with the bill.  Unfortunately, the veto override vote will not take place until January 2017 unless a special session is held before then. However, since a special session would require the Governor’s approval, it is unlikely that a special session will be held.

SRECTrade will continue to provide updates on the status of the Maryland RPS as we acquire new information. For more information about the Maryland SREC market, please visit our Maryland Market page here.

PJM Solar – Registered Capacity Update as of May 26, 2016

Posted May 26th, 2016 by SRECTrade.

The following post is a monthly update outlining the megawatts of solar capacity certified to create SRECs in the PJM Solar REC markets SRECTrade serves. All data is based on the information available in PJM GATS as of the date noted.

2016_05_26_Chart

The chart above represents the megawatts registered in PJM GATS as of May 26, 2016 (the blue bar) vs. the estimated RPS solar MWs needed to be operational all year long, in the current reporting year, to meet each market’s RPS targets (the green bar). Note, the Estimated RPS MWs does not take into consideration SRECs eligible from previous reporting years and is only used as an estimate relative to the current MWs registered in GATS. All actual RPS requirements are represented in megawatt hours (i.e. SRECs) required per year. The installed capacity operational over that time will produce SRECs, in addition to any eligible SRECs from previous periods, to end up with the final supply relative to that reporting year’s demand. For estimates on required number of SRECs per reporting year across the SREC markets SRECTrade covers, please visit our state market summary pages.

Responsibilities for tracking NJ registered capacity have transitioned to Applied Energy Group, who has projected that its first report will be available in June.  For more information see this letter.  The NJ PJM GATS Registered MW shown in the figure above is outdated and reflects the installed solar capacity as of 2/29/2016 as reported by the NJ Board of Public Utilities and Office of Clean Energy on March 24, 2016. For the full report click here.

Additionally, please note the following in the figures presented above:

OH2016: Represents all OH eligible solar facilities and includes some facilities that are cross registered in PA. If any systems were eligible in higher priced markets, such as DC, the capacity was excluded from OH eligibility as it could be sold at a higher price in DC.

DE2015: Represents all solar facilities eligible for the DE solar RPS requirement. Some facilities registered in DE are also eligible in PA and could impact that market’s supply.

DC2016: Includes all systems eligible for the DC SREC market. If a system was eligible in another market, it was not included there given the current pricing for DC SRECs.

PA2016: Represents all solar facilities eligible for the PA SREC market. Some systems are cross registered in OH as well. If a system was eligible in any higher priced markets (i.e. NJ or MD sited systems that cross registered in PA) they were not included in the total MW balance displayed above.

MD2016: Includes all MD eligible solar capacity registered in GATS as of the date noted. If projects were cross registered in Washington D.C., the capacity was not allocated to Maryland’s eligible MW total.

NJ2016: The balance noted above represents the 2/29/16 MWs installed reported by the NJ BPU on 3/24/2016.

PJM GATS Registered Solar Projects Summary

There are 88,415 facilities across 3,123.8 MW registered in GATS as of 5/26/2016.

399 projects are 1 MW or larger in capacity, representing 1,590.1 MW or 50.9% of the qualified capacity. There are 86 projects that are 5 MW or larger. These make up 31.5% of all qualified capacity, 983.7 MW total, in PJM.

Note: SREC requirements for markets without fixed SREC targets have been forecast based on EIA Report “Retail Sales of Electricity by State by Provider”. Projected SRECs required utilizes the most recent EIA electricity data applying an average 1.0% 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, generated per MW of installed capacity per year.

MA Department of Public Utilities Clarifies Net Metering Regulation

Posted May 25th, 2016 by SRECTrade.

Please note this blog post has been revised from the original May 24, 2016 post.

On Wednesday, May 18th, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) notified the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) of its intent to file its determination that the 1,600 Megawatt (MW) threshold will be met on or about June 1, 2016 and requested that the DPU clarify whether facilities with private cap allocations on or before the “Notification Date” will receive the current net metering credits or the new Market Net Metering Credits. Under the recently enacted Chapter 75 of the Acts of 2016, this determination sets into motion DPU’s charge to establish a “Notification Date”, which will serve as a deadline for systems that are under the private net metering cap to be interconnected or allocated under the cap in order to receive the current net metering credits. Furthermore, the DOER requested that the DPU clarify its Emergency Net Metering Regulations and assure those facilities in receipt of net metering cap allocations on or before the Notification Date that their projects will receive net metering credits at current rates and will not receive Market Net Metering Credits (which are effectively equal to 60 percent of the retail rate). Prior to the DOER’s request, the uncertainty around the Notification Date deadline left private-cap projects in advanced stages of construction at risk of receiving Market Net Metering Credits if they failed to be interconnected by the Notification Date, creating project financing concerns.

In its May 19th Order Clarifying Emergency Net Metering Regulations, the DPU formally recognized that systems obtaining a private net metering cap allocation are “on the path toward interconnection”, since these allocations are assurances that a system will receive net metering services upon authorization to interconnect. In clarifying its policy on net metering credit eligibility, the DPU extended retail rate credit eligibility for projects that receive a private cap allocation by the Notification Date, even if those projects are not yet interconnected. Resultantly, for the duration of the Emergency Net Metering Regulations, Solar Net Metering Facilities that are interconnected or in receipt of a private cap allocation from the System of Assurance by the Notification Date shall receive retail rate net metering credits (that is, Net Metering Credits as defined in 220 C.M.R. § 18.04(1) and (5)).

This interpretation of eligibility will remain in effect only for the effective period of the Emergency Net Metering Regulations, and it is highly probable that the Notification Deadline will be set by the DPU for a date later than June 1, 2016. Following notice by the DOER that the 1,600 MW cap has been allocated, the DPU will solicit comments on the Emergency Net Metering Regulations and related issues, conduct a public hearing, and enact Final Net Metering Regulations effective July 29, 2016. Accordingly, it is possible that the Notification Deadline will be set as July 29, 2016 or possibly later than this date.

In accordance with the Order, facilities under the private net metering cap that fail to meet the Notification Date deadline will receive Market Net Metering Credits. Residential projects 10 kW and smaller on single-phase circuits, or systems under 25 kW on 3-phase circuits, will be exempt from the new rate structure under Sections 7 and 8 of the Act and are guaranteed retail remuneration rates. To be clear, facilities under the public net metering cap will continue to receive net metering credits at the current rates and will not be impacted by this Notification Deadline. For more information on current net metering and other solar legislation in Massachusetts, please visit our previous blog post on the topic here.