Archive for October, 2017

PA Passes Act Restricting Geographical Eligibility for PA SRECs

Posted October 30th, 2017 by SRECTrade.

On October 30th, Pennsylvania Governor Wolf signed into law Act No. 40 (see HB 118), a Comprehensive Opioid Package containing, among other items, language amending the state’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards (AEPS). Originating in February 2017, HB118 was revised several times before passage in the House and the Senate in late October.

Amendments to the AEPS require solar photovoltaic systems to satisfy one of the following in order to be eligible for participation in the AEPS solar carve-out (PA SREC) program:

“(I) DIRECTLY DELIVER THE ELECTRICITY IT GENERATES TO A RETAIL CUSTOMER OF AN ELECTRIC DISTRIBUTION COMPANY OR TO THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM OPERATED BY AN ELECTRIC DISTRIBUTION COMPANY OPERATING WITHIN THIS COMMONWEALTH AND CURRENTLY OBLIGATED TO MEET THE COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS CONTAINED UNDER THE “ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PORTFOLIO STANDARDS ACT.”

(II) BE DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO THE ELECTRIC SYSTEM OF AN ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE OR MUNICIPAL ELECTRIC SYSTEM OPERATING WITHIN THIS COMMONWEALTH.

(III) CONNECT DIRECTLY TO THE ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION SYSTEM AT A LOCATION THAT IS WITHIN THE SERVICE TERRITORY OF AN ELECTRIC DISTRIBUTION COMPANY OPERATING WITHIN THIS COMMONWEALTH.”

HB118 includes the following grandfathering language to protect certain systems already certified under the AEPS, but it is unclear how the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC) will interpret the language for certified but out-of-state generators.

(2) NOTHING UNDER THIS SECTION OR SECTION 4 OF THE “ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PORTFOLIO STANDARDS ACT” SHALL AFFECT ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:

(I) A CERTIFICATION ORIGINATING WITHIN THE GEOGRAPHICAL BOUNDARIES OF THIS COMMONWEALTH GRANTED PRIOR TO THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SECTION OF A SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC ENERGY GENERATOR AS A QUALIFYING ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCE ELIGIBLE TO MEET THE SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC SHARE OF THIS COMMONWEALTH’S ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PORTFOLIO COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS UNDER THE “ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PORTFOLIO STANDARDS ACT.”

(II) CERTIFICATION OF A SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM WITH A BINDING WRITTEN CONTRACT FOR THE SALE AND PURCHASE OF ALTERNATIVE ENERGY CREDITS DERIVED FROM SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC ENERGY SOURCES ENTERED INTO PRIOR TO THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SECTION.

The revisions are effective as of the date of the Act (October 30, 2017). Accordingly, any new solar photovoltaic system seeking certification in the PA AEPS solar carve-out (SREC) program as of this date must meet the eligibility requirements above. The full text of the Act is available here.

SRECTrade will provide updates on the Act and on the PUC’s interpretation as soon as more information is made available.

PJM GATS Solar – Registered Capacity Update as of October 2017

Posted October 24th, 2017 by SRECTrade.

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

Note: Due to the convergence of SREC prices across the DE, MD, OH, and PA SREC markets, methodology for calculating PJM GATS Registered MW figures was updated to represent cross-registration between similarly-priced markets. Please see the additional notes below for more information.

The chart above compares the megawatts (MWs) registered in PJM GATS as of October 18, 2017 (the blue bar) to the estimated RPS solar MWs needed to be operational through the duration of the current reporting year (the green bar), to meet each market’s RPS targets. The Estimated RPS MW figure can be interpreted as the amount of active capacity that would need to be online throughout the year in order to produce the obligatory megawatt hours of electricity mandated by each state’s RPS schedule.

This chart is not meant to be a final representation of SREC supply for a given compliance period, but is instead a visualization of the relationship between installed capacity relative to each state’s estimated RPS requirements converted from a MWh to MW basis. Note that the Registered MW figures do not consider eligible SRECs carried over from previous reporting years and are only used as one aspect of current market supply drawn from the current MWs registered in PJM GATS. The installed capacity operational over the indicated time period will produce SRECs which, in addition to any eligible unsold SRECs from previous periods, will make up the final supply present in the market. For estimates on required number of SRECs per reporting year across the SREC markets SRECTrade covers, please visit our state market summary pages.

As of September 30, 2017, New Jersey had installed a cumulative total of 2,271.2MW of nameplate capacity. Their Solar Installation Report and Solar Pipeline Report can be found online here on the New Jersey Office of Clean Energy website.

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

OH2017: 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.

DE2017: Represents all solar facilities eligible for the DE solar RPS requirement and includes some facilities that are cross-registered in PA.

DC2017: 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.

PA2018: Represents all solar facilities eligible for the PA SREC market. Some systems are cross-registered in DE, MD, and OH as well. If a system was eligible in any higher priced markets (i.e. NJ sited systems that cross-registered in PA) they were not included in the total MW balance displayed above.

MD2017: Includes all MD eligible solar capacity registered in PJM GATS and includes some facilities that are cross-registered in PA 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.

NJ2018: The balance noted above represents the 9/30/17 Solar Installation Report reported by Applied Energy Group.

PJM GATS Registered Solar Projects Summary

There are 157,406 facilities across 5,347.7MW registered in PJM GATS as of 10/18/2017.

560 projects are 1MW or larger in capacity, representing 2,798.1MW or 52.3% of the qualified capacity. There are 135 projects that are 5MW or larger, representing 1,653.1MW or 30.9% of all qualified capacity.

Note: SREC requirements for markets without fixed SREC targets have been forecast based on the 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 1,200MWh, in PJM GATS states, generated per MW of installed capacity per year.

Disclaimer. This document, data, and/or any of its components (collectively, the “Materials”) are for informational purposes only. The Materials are not intended as investment, tax, legal, or financial advice, or as an offer or solicitation for the purpose or sale of any financial instrument. SRECTrade, Inc. does not warranty or guarantee the market data or other information included herein, as to its completeness, accuracy, or fitness for a particular purpose, express or implied, and such market data and information are subject to change without notice. Past performance should not be taken as an indication or guarantee of future performance, and no representation or warranty, express or implied, is made regarding future performance. Any comments or statements made herein do not necessarily reflect those of SRECTrade, Inc. SRECTrade, Inc. may have issued, and may in the future issue, other communications, data, or reports that are inconsistent with, and reach different conclusions from, the information presented herein.

Copyright. This document is protected by copyright laws and contains material proprietary to SRECTrade, Inc. This document, data, and/or any of its components (collectively, the “Materials”) may not be reproduced, republished, distributed, transmitted, displayed, broadcasted or otherwise disseminated or exploited in any manner without the express prior written permission of SRECTrade, Inc. The receipt or possession of the Materials does not convey any rights to reproduce, disclose, or distribute its contents, or to manufacture, use, or sell anything that it may describe, in whole or in part. If consent to use the Materials is granted, reference and sourcing must be attributed to the Materials and to SRECTrade, Inc. If you have questions about the use or reproduction of the Materials, please contact SRECTrade, Inc.

Illinois Fall 2017 Utility DG Procurement Results

Posted October 20th, 2017 by SRECTrade.

In October 2017, SRECTrade participated in the Fall round of the Illinois 2017 Utility Distributed Generation Procurement. SRECTrade was among the three winning suppliers of the 5-year REC contracts awarded through the Fall 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.

The IPA procured 40,765 RECs during the Fall round, which fulfilled 30% of the 2017 procurement target (138,510 total RECs over five years between both rounds). The remaining volume of 97,745 RECs was accounted for by the Spring round.

There are no future supplemental photovoltaic or distributed generation procurement rounds announced at this time. SRECTrade will be participating in the IL Adjustable Block Program, scheduled to roll out in mid-2018. For more information on this program, please visit our blog post on the topic.

DOER Files APS Regulations with Legislature

Posted October 16th, 2017 by SRECTrade.

On October 13, 2017, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) filed an amended draft regulation with the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy. Pursuant to Chapter 251 of the Acts of 2014 and Chapter 188 of the Acts of 2016, the draft regulations add renewable thermal, fuel cells, and waste-to-energy thermal to the Massachusetts Alternative Portfolio Standard (APS). The filing follows two rounds of public hearing and comment periods occurring in the summers of 2016 and 2017. The draft regulation and accompanying guidelines are available on the DOER’s website here.

In response to stakeholder comments, the DOER made several revisions in the filed regulations. A brief summary of these changes is provided here, but the full redlined version is available for review here.

  • Woody Biomass: revised definitions and requirements, including fuel specification and performance requirements
  • Liquid Biofuels: reorganized quarterly caps to be distributed during each year and aligned requirements for Eligible Liquid Biofuels with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)
  • Compost Heat Exchange Systems: added compost heat exchange systems as an eligible Renewable Thermal Generation Unit
  • Fuel Cells: revised efficiency threshold and modified eligibility for behind-the-meter, electric only, fuels cells to those interconnected to the Massachusetts electric grid
  • Multipliers for Non-Emitting Technologies: added multiplier for compost heat recovery systems and revised multipliers for intermediate and large, partial air source heat pump systems
  • Combination of Funding Provision: removed the combination of funding provisions and increased the maximum combination of funding percentage from DOER or any other state agency to 80%

In addition to the foregoing, the DOER made several technical edits and clarifications to reconcile language inconsistencies in the regulation and Guidelines. The DOER’s announcement of the filing is available here.

SRECTrade will continue to monitor the progress of the APS regulations and will provide updates as they are made available.

Illinois Power Agency Releases Draft Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan

Posted October 5th, 2017 by SRECTrade.

On September 29, 2017, the Illinois Power Agency (IPA) released its Draft Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan (the Draft Plan). The Draft Plan has been released for comment pursuant to Section 16- 111.5(b) of the Public Utilities Act and Sections 1-56 (b) and 1-75(c) of the Illinois Power Agency Act as recently modified by Public Act 99-0906, which went into effect on June 1, 2017.

The Draft Plan sets out the procurements and programs that the IPA has proposed in order to meet the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) requirements contained in Section 1-75(c)(1) of the Illinois Power Agency Act, including the Adjustable Block Program and the Illinois Solar for All Program. This post provides a summary of the statutory process and a brief overview of the Adjustable Block Program (ABP) as presented in the Draft Plan, but does not contain detail on other elements of the plan, including competitive procurements, the Illinois Solar for All Program, or the Community Renewable Generation Program. For more details on these elements of the plan, please refer to the Draft Plan here.

Statutory Process

The IPA is accepting public comments on the Draft Plan for 45 days. Comments must be submitted to Mario Bohorquez, Planning and Procurement Bureau Chief, at mario.bohorquez@illinois.gov by November 13, 2017.

In addition to accepting public comments on the Draft Plan until November 13, 2017, the IPA will host three public hearings to accept in-person public comments. The dates and locations of these meetings are as follows:

  • Thursday, October 26, 2017, 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm CT: Illinois Commerce Commission Springfield Office, 527 East Capital Ave, Springfield, Illinois. Hearing Room C.
  • Tuesday, October 31, 2017, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm CT: Illinois Commerce Commission Chicago Office, 160 North LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois. Room N808.
  • Friday, November 3, 2017, 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm CT: MidAmerican Moline Customer Office, 716 17th Street, Moline, Illinois.

The IPA has 21 days following the end of the 45-day comment period to revise the Draft Plan and to file the Plan with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). Based on the timeline presented by the IPA, April 3, 2018 is the deadline for the ICC to enter its order confirming or modifying the Plan. Please refer to the IPA Cover Letter and Hearing Notice for a full overview of the statutory deadlines and timeline.

Adjustable Block Program Overview

The Adjustable Block Program (ABP) features capacity-based blocks set at pre-determined prices for 15-year REC contracts. Key elements of the ABP model include the following, which are detailed in turn:

  1. Project Eligibility
  2. Program Administration & Application
  3. Block Structure & Transition between Blocks
  4. REC Target & Allocation
  5. Pricing
  6. Contract Payment Terms
  7. Performance Assurance & Delivery Requirements

Project Eligibility

There are two types of “new” projects that are eligible for the ABP. “New” is defined in the Draft Plan as “energized on or after June 1, 2017”.

The two project types are:

  1. Photovoltaic distributed renewable energy generation devices (i.e., DG solar); and
  2. Photovoltaic community renewable generation projects (i.e., community solar)

DG solar must be Illinois-sited and interconnected, behind-the-meter, and less than or equal to 2,000 kW AC. Refer to Section 2.5.1.1 of the Draft Plan for full project eligibility requirements.

Section 6.12.1 of the Draft Plan sets forth additional technical system requirements, including system documentation and metering requirements.

Program Administration & Application

The IPA will conduct an RFP for a Program Administrator to run the day-to-day operations of the Adjustable Block Program. The Program Administrator responsibilities will include program and contract management, application review and approval, providing program information for the public, and more.

Participation in the ABP “will take place through, and conditional upon, an Approved Vendor process” proposed by the IPA. Approved Vendors will be required to meet certain criteria and agree to certain terms set forth in the Draft Plan. The use of Approved Vendors will ensure program efficiency and protect Illinois consumers from “bad actors”.

Approved Vendors will submit projects bundled into batches of at least 100 kW and up to 2 MW. Once an Approved Vendor has successfully submitted five batches, the minimum size of a batch for that Approved Vendor will increase to 250 kW. However, the IPA sets forth special exemptions for minority-owned and female-owned businesses. For each project, there will be a non-refundable application fee of $10 per kW, not to exceed $5,000.

Once approved, each batch will result in one contract with one utility. That is, a batch of systems will be contracted with one utility on a portfolio basis. However, the price for the RECs for each system within a batch will be based on the price available within the applicable block on the date of the submittal (see sections below for more on blocks, categories, and pricing). In addition to the non-refundable application fee, there are collateral requirements. See below for information regarding contracting credit requirements.

Project Development Timeline and Extensions

It is not required that projects be energized or interconnected at the time of application. However, all projects will be subject to the following timelines and extensions (based on the contract execution date):

  • DG projects: one year to be developed and energized
  • Community solar projects: 18 months to be developed and energized and to demonstrate that they have sufficient subscribers

The IPA sets forth certain permissible extensions under Section 6.15.2.

Block Structure & Transition between Blocks

Each block will be for a specified quantity of nameplate capacity with a specific REC price. When a block reaches its subscription capacity, projects will be eligible for the next block and its block price.

For each Block 1 as summarized in the table below, all projects submitted within 60 days of the program opening date will be included in that Block 1, regardless of subscription to the block.

For subsequent blocks, each block will be held open for 14 days after the block is fully subscribed. The IPA will announce when a block has been filled and when the closing date will be.

REC Target & Allocation

The initial REC target for the ABP is to have 1,000,000 RECs delivered annually by the end of the 2020-2021 delivery year (i.e., May 31, 2021). Based on a blended 17% capacity factor, this amounts to roughly 666 MW of new photovoltaic generation. However, the IPA notes in its Draft Plan that this goal is not a cap and that, subject to demand and budget constraints, there is potential for additional capacity.

The blocks will be divided into two groups by service territory/geographic category and then further allocated by project category as follows:

Block Groups
  • Group A: for projects located in the service territories of Ameren Illinois, Mt. Carmel Public Utility, and rural electric cooperatives.
  • Group B: for projects located in the service territories of ComEd, MidAmerican, and municipal utilities.
Project Category Allocations

Section 1-75(c)(1)(K) of the Act requires a 25% each allocation for four categories:

  1. DG PV systems less than or equal to 10 kW (“Small systems”);
  2. DG PV systems greater than 10 kW and up to 2,000 kW (“Large systems”);
  3. PV community solar; and
  4. remainder to be allocated by the IPA.

Since it is too soon for the IPA to appropriately allocate the “remainder” category in any other manner, the IPA will distribute the 25% remainder amount evenly, for an allocation of 33.3% in each category 1-3. The IPA will revisit, review and reallocate the 25% remainder amount as needed in the Plan Update.

Accordingly, the 666 MW allocation is summarized by the IPA as follows:

Illustrative Block Opening Volumes (MW)

Capacity Factors

The IPA set a 16.4177% capacity factor for fixed-mount systems and a 19.3149% capacity factor for tracking systems. Accordingly, the estimated REC production would be as follows:

  • Fixed-Mount Systems: 21 RECs over 15 years per 1 kW AC
  • Tracking Systems: 25 RECs over 15 years per 1 kW AC

Pricing

The IPA adapted its REC Pricing Model from the CREST model developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The IPA modified the CREST model’s “input assumptions and post processing of the results.” IPA cautions in its Draft Plan that the prices summarized in the table below “should be viewed as preliminary in nature and not necessarily the prices that will be offered once programs launch, and parties should not take actions in reliance on the availability of these preliminary proposed incentive levels.” Parties can review, explore and comment on the data used, assumptions made, and the REC Pricing Model itself through the public comment process.

Block Group REC Prices ($/REC)

For systems in the Large DG PV and Community Solar categories, the IPA set a base price for each category at the >500 kW – 2,000 kW level with adders to differentiate the price for RECs from different sized systems, as summarized above. The IPA proposes these adders in lieu of sub-dividing project categories by project size or type. Adders are discussed in further detail in Section 6.5 (Tables 6-3 and 6-4) of the Draft Plan.

As shown in the table above, REC prices will step down by 4% in each block after Block 1. However, the IPA will monitor performance during the blocks and may modify the price step-down based upon the speed at which each block is filled.

Contract Payment Terms

For systems that are accepted into the ABP with an executed contract for 15 years of REC deliveries, payment will be made as follows:

  • Full Prepayment for DG systems of no more than 10 kW, paid “at the time that the facility producing the [RECs] is interconnected … and energized.”
  • 5-Year Payment Term for systems larger than 10 kW and community solar projects, with 20% paid at the time of interconnection and energization and the remaining portion “paid ratably over the subsequent 4-year period.”

The standard for “energized” as it applies to contract payment is the “completion of the interconnection approval by the local utility and the registration of the system in GATS or M-RETS so that generation data can be tracked and RECs created.”

Performance Assurance & Delivery Requirements

The Draft Plan sets forth certain credit and delivery requirements to manage performance over the life of the contracts. The Approved Vendor will be required to post collateral equivalent to 10% of the total contract value when each Batch’s contract is approved.

The collateral amount will be maintained for the life of the batch contract, but can be reduced in the later years of the contract when the collateral amount exceeds the remaining value of the contract. This requirement will be maintained at the portfolio level, not the individual system level, to manage the risk of systems that under-perform or have other issues, balanced against projects that over-perform. Under certain conditions, failure to deliver RECs will result in the utility drawing on the collateral to be compensated for undelivered RECs.

Next Steps

SRECTrade intends to participate in the continued statutory process set forth above, and plans to participate in the ABP as an Approved Vendor in a capacity similar to its role in the SPV and DG procurements.

The IPA issued an Errata on the Draft Plan on 10/06/17, which is available here. The Block Group REC Prices ($/REC) table in this post has been updated to reflect these corrected prices.