Archive for May, 2017

SRECTrade Attends IPA’s 2017 RPS Workshops

Posted May 30th, 2017 by SRECTrade.

On May 17th and 18th, SRECTrade attended the Illinois Power Agency’s Renewable Resources Workshops. These workshops centered around the state’s new RPS and its components, including the Adjustable Block Program, Community Solar incentives, and the Illinois Solar For All Programs.

Overview of the New Illinois RPS and the Long-Term Renewable Resources Plan

The new RPS moves to a single compliance regime rather than having separate mechanisms for customers serviced by the alternative retail electricity suppliers (ARES). Under the old RPS, this retail choice lead to budget and target uncertainties. The goal of the new RPS will still be 25% renewables by 2025, but this target will now apply to all retail sales. The Future Energy Jobs Act, Public Act 099-0906, was signed into law on December 6, 2016 and can be read here.

The new law will take effect on June 1, 2017. Please see below for a draft timeline for the implementation of the RPS programs, as provided by the IPA in its Overview presentation:

il-rps-implementation-timeline

Under the new RPS, Illinois is moving away from structured procurements for non-utility scale solar. Projects up to and including 2 MW in size will instead be eligible for participation in the new RPS’ Adjustable Block Program, or ABP, which will provide for 15-year REC contracts.

Key components of the ABP are:

  • Blocks have set sizes and prices that adjust between blocks, which the IPA may review
  • Eligible systems are those energized after June 1, 2017 (emphasis on new projects)
  • Transparent, upfront schedule of REC prices
  • 15 year REC contracts
    • Paid upfront and in full for systems 10 kW and below
    • 20% of contract price paid at interconnection/energization and the remaining portion paid over subsequent 4 year period for systems 10 kW-2 MW (DG or community)
  • The utility will be the counterparty to the executed contracts

The goal of the ABP is to ensure that solar projects are developed in diverse locations and that they are not overly concentrated. The IPA has yet to determine the number, size, categories, and prices of blocks as well as the application, contracting and delivery process. These issues will be resolved during the implementation process.

Community Solar

Community Solar will operate as a subset of the ABP with similar features and the same goal. Under community solar, an electric generating facility credits the value of electricity generated to the subscribers of the facility. A subscriber has a subscription of no less than 200 watts to a community renewable generation project and may total no more than 40% of the nameplate capacity of an individual project. At a high level, the provision for Community Solar Projects will mirror those for larger DG systems, but may differ in project development and application requirements.

Illinois Solar for All Programs

The goal of the Illinois Solar for All Programs is to bring solar PV to low-income communities in Illinois. The programs are distinct but will share aspects with the Adjustable Block Program for DG and Community Solar. The four programs are as followed:

  1. Low-Income Distributed Generation Incentive (22.5%)
  2. Low-Income Community Solar Project Initiative (37.5%)
  3. Incentives for Non-Profits and Public Facilities (15%)
  4. Low-Income Community Solar Pilot Projects (25%)

SRECTrade will continue to participate in the implementation proceedings for the new RPS. In addition, SRECTrade will server as an aggregator in the Fall 2017 DG Procurement. You can see the results from the Spring Utility DG Procurement here.

Illinois Spring 2017 Utility DG Procurement Results

Posted May 4th, 2017 by SRECTrade.

In April 2017, SRECTrade participated in the Spring round of the Illinois 2017 Utility Distributed Generation Procurement. SRECTrade was among the six winning suppliers of the 5-year REC contracts awarded through the Spring 2017 Utility DG Procurement. A summary of average winning bid prices and number of RECs can be found below.  Please note that the number of RECs quoted by the IPA is in annual quantities. For the Illinois Power Agency’s official announcement of the results, please click here.

il-dg-rd1-2017-results_v2

The IPA procured 97,745 RECs during the Spring round, which fulfilled 70% of the 2017 procurement target (138,510 RECs over five years). The remaining volume of 40,765 RECs will be available for the Fall round.

SRECTrade will also be participating in this year’s Fall Utility DG Procurement, and we will publish application and bid details within the coming months.