Archive for March, 2018

PJM GATS Solar – Registered Capacity Update as of March 2018

Posted March 27th, 2018 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 March 21, 2018.

Notes: 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.

Due to the October 30, 2017 passage of Act No. 40 (see HB118) in Pennsylvania, the PA SREC market borders were closed to all future applications from out-of-state facilities. The PA Public Utilities Commission (PUC) will be determining whether or not to grandfather and protect certain out-of-state facilities already certified under the AEPS. At present, it is unclear what the outcome or timeline of this decision will be. Given the nuances of the law, it is possible that facilities that have existing SREC contracts in place will be allowed to maintain their PA SREC eligibility. This decision will naturally have a large impact on certified capacity in the PA SREC market; as a result, this monthly post considers both decision scenarios in the chart below. Please note that SRECTrade is uncertain of the final capacity that will be PA SREC eligible; the figures below represent all capacity available and all in-state capacity available today. Additionally, eligible SRECs issued in previous compliance periods will have an impact on available supply.

Please also note the additional column for each state added to this month’s capacity update to display the capacity total from the previous month and help illustrate the growth from last month to the present.

The chart above compares the megawatts (MWs) registered in PJM GATS as of the date noted (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 February 28, 2018, New Jersey had installed a cumulative total of 2,422.8MW of nameplate capacity. Their Solar Installation Report and Solar Pipeline Report can be found on the New Jersey Office of Clean Energy website here.

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

OH2018: 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.

DC2018: 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. Please note the additional figures for PA In-State systems.

MD2018: Includes all MD eligible solar capacity registered in PJM GATS and includes some facilities that are cross-registered in PA. 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 February 28, 2018 Solar Installation Report reported by Applied Energy Group.

PJM GATS Registered Solar Projects Summary

There are 171,815 facilities across 5,929.2MW registered in PJM GATS as of March 21, 2018.

602 projects are 1MW or larger in capacity, representing 3,246.4MW or 54.8% of the qualified capacity. There are 145 projects that are 5MW or larger, representing 1,981.7MW or 33.4% 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.

House Economic Matters Subcommittee Votes Against Maryland RPS Bill

Posted March 15th, 2018 by SRECTrade.

On Wednesday, March 14th, the Maryland House Economic Matters subcommittee voted against the Clean Energy Jobs Act of 2018 (HB 1453), a bill that would have expanded the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). Among other measures, the bill aimed to increase the state’s RPS solar requirement to 14.5% by 2030 and its total RPS requirement to 50% by 2030; at present, the state’s RPS solar requirement is 2.5% by 2020 and total RPS requirement is 25% by 2020. A majority of the Public Utilities Subcommittee voted for an “unfavorable motion” on the bill.

The bill’s lead sponsor, House Majority Leader C. William Frick (Dem), announced the night of the 14th that he was withdrawing the bill before a full vote of the Economic Matters Committee. The 100% Clean Renewable Energy Equity Act of 2018 (HB 878), a bill designed to raise the state’s RPS to 100 percent by 2035, was also withdrawn on the 14th.

The Clean Energy Jobs Act of 2018 was supported by more than 660 faith groups, environmental organizations, unions, and civic leaders. Proponents of the bill are looking to pass the bill in 2019 after making it an important election issue this year.

For our latest Maryland SREC Market update click here. For more information on the Maryland Clean Energy Jobs Act’s proposal, please view our previous blog post on the topic here.

Illinois Commerce Commission Issues Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan (LTRRPP) Draft Order

Posted March 12th, 2018 by SRECTrade.

On February 26th, the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) issued its Proposed Order of the Illinois Power Agency’s (IPA) Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan (LTRRPP). A range of issues were raised by stakeholders and commented on by the ICC in the draft order.

The ICC has also made a variety of significant changes to the Draft Plan as it was filed on December 4, 2017. One of the most substantial changes is as follows:

  • Exclusion of IL municipal, rural cooperative, and Mt. Carmel service territories from participation in the Draft Plan. Reasoning behind this includes the fact that these utility groups were not specified in enabling legislation, not included in past Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), and did not contribute to renewable energy funds. Details of the comments from the intervenors and the ICC can be found in Section X on Page 163 of the proposed order.

A summary of other changes can be found below and as outlined in this article from PV Magazine.

  • Ruling on the IL Solar For All program that a minimum floor of 50% of energy savings must be passed on to low and moderate income households by approved vendors.
  • Adjustments to adjacent state requirements’ five public interest category scoring weights, potentially impacting the eligibility of in-state and out-of-state solar facilities.
  • Adjustments in designating brownfields for the funds allocation for solar development in this sector.
  • Reduction of requirements for producing permits in project approval process.
  • Allowances for direct current installations in net-metering and system sizes.
  • Adjustments to true-up payment process for community solar.

There is reportedly one more round of responses by intervenors and the ICC during March before the Final Plan is released on April 3rd. The changes listed above will not be finalized until the Final Plan is released.

For more information on the original Draft Plan or the revised Draft Plan that was filed with the ICC, please view our previous blog posts on those topics in the links provided.

Massachusetts Alternative Portfolio Standard (APS) Webinar Recording

Posted March 7th, 2018 by SRECTrade.

Earlier today, SRECTrade hosted a webinar covering the Massachusetts Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard Program (APS) and the SRECTrade application process for eligible renewable thermal systems.

SRECTrade’s application for the APS Program is now open and can be accessed through the standard SRECTrade online application.

For access to the presentation slides, please click HERE. To view a video recording of the webinar, please click the image below.

We have included a few resources from the DOER website for your reference:

Eligibility Criteria:
Air Source Heat Pump
Ground Source Heat Pump
Solar Thermal
Biomass

Metering Guidelines:
Small Systems
Intermediate and Large Systems
List of Independent Verifiers

This document and recording is protected by copyright laws and contains material proprietary to SRECTrade, Inc. It or any components may not be reproduced, republished, distributed, transmitted, displayed, broadcast or otherwise exploited in any manner without the express prior written permission of SRECTrade, Inc. The receipt or possession of this document 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 these materials is granted, a link to the current version of this document on the SRECTrade website must be included for reference.

Massachusetts Alternative Portfolio Standard (APS) Webinar

Posted March 1st, 2018 by SRECTrade.

SRECTrade, Inc. is pleased to announce that our online application for the Massachusetts Alternative Portfolio Standard (APS) program is now open. We will be hosting a webinar covering the APS program and the SRECTrade on-boarding process on Wednesday, March 7, 2018 at 2:00pm EST.

This program provides Alternative Energy Credits (AECs) to renewable thermal energy facilities including solar thermal, heat pump, biomass, and biogas technologies. All facilities interconnected after January 1, 2015 are eligible.

To register for the webinar, please click HERE.

For more information on the passage of the APS legislation, please visit our previous blog posts on the topic, “DOER Files Proposed Final APS Regulations” and “DOER Files APS Regulations with Legislature“.