Archive for the ‘West Virginia’ Category

West Virginia SRECs

Posted August 28th, 2009 by SRECTrade.

For people interested in the West Virginia SREC market, unfortunately there is currently no market within West Virginia for solar RECs (SRECs). The existence of SRECs, as opposed to regular RECs, is predicated on specific renewable portfolio legislation that says x% of the state’s energy has to come from solar.  West Virginia has a generic renewable standard, but no specific solar carve-out.  This means that the RECs that are applied to the West Virginia renewable portfolio standard are not considered SRECs, but rather generic RECs.  RECs trade at a fraction of the price of SRECs because the alternative compliance payments for solar tend to be higher when there is a carve-out. This is primarily because solar is still more expensive than other renewable energies and needs additional incentives in order to compete.

In addition, the renewable portfolio standard requirement of 10% in West Virginia does not come into effect until 2015.  Utility companies have until 2011 to develop a plan for procuring renewable energy to meet the requirements beginning in 2015.  An SREC market in West Virginia, if it were to develop would both take time and adjustment to the state legislation as it is today.  Even the REC markets won’t pick up in West Virginia until 2015.

However, West Virginia is within the PJM regional transmission organization which means that residents may be able to certify their solar systems in Pennsylvania.  We highly recommend doing this because they would be considered SRECs in PA and therefore have a much higher value than they ever would in West Virginia.  You can find the information to register here on our Pennsylvania Cross-List Blog.  North Carolina and DC are two other markets where West Virginia residents may consider selling their SRECs.  Our Cross-Listing section covers most of this information.

See also the West Virginia Renewable Porfolio Standard.

SRECTrade Expands to Virginia & West Virginia

Posted June 18th, 2009 by SRECTrade.

In Virginia and West Virginia, SREC markets do not currently exist. However SREC generators in these markets are able to sell out-of-state in other markets.

Virginia enacted a voluntary Renewable Portfolio Goal in 2007. Investor-owned utilities are encouraged to obtain a percentage of power sold in Virginia from renewable sources. There are various incentives for the utilities that participate, however, since solar is still more costly than other types of energy, it is unlikely in the short term that utilities in Virginia will be looking to buy SRECs. Meanwhile, in West Virginia there is no RPS program. States with stringent RPS standards still need SRECs, and your SRECs from Virginia or West Virginia can be sold into some of the other PJM states. In this year, SRECs have been fetching prices from $200-$250 in other markets, and this is forecasted to increase.

Getting Started in Virginia and West Virginia:

Talk to your installer to get your PV installation certified in states where it is eligible. Once you have these state certification numbers, we’ll be able to help you establish an account and manage your SRECs. We’ll cross-list your SRECs on our multi-state auction platform every month to make sure you get the best price for your SRECs. Alternatively, if you choose to manage your own SRECs, you would need to register with the appropriate state SREC agency. After that you can choose to sell your SRECs month-to-month on SRECTrade.com.

New State Auctions for SRECs

Posted June 18th, 2009 by SRECTrade.

SRECTrade Expands!
We are pleased to announced that SRECTrade will now be available for the rest of the PJM Regional Transmission Organization.  In addition to New Jersey, seven new markets have been added: DC, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia.  Over the next few weeks, we will be putting up information on the SREC Programs in these states.

Cross-listing your SRECs
While not every state has an RPS with a solar carve-out, homeowners may find themselves eligible to generate and sell their SRECs in other states.  We’ll be working out the details of what is eligible and where.  However, as far as our auctions go, it will be pretty simple.  If you want us to sell your SRECs in any eligible state, simply check the Cross-List option.  We will then include it in every state auction in which it would be eligible and it will only sell in the auction with the highest price.  If you do not want to Cross-List your SRECs and prefer to sell them in your home state, just uncheck this option and we’ll only include your listing in your home state’s auction.

Next Auction
Our next auction closes on July 10th.  If you have SRECs in any of the states listed above, we invite you to join us as we embark on this journey across the PJM region!