Archive for the ‘Maryland’ Category

MEA Statement on SRECs from Maryland’s Mount St. Mary’s Project

Posted November 27th, 2012 by SRECTrade.

Today, the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) released a letter to Maryland solar industry stakeholders announcing how the Department of General Services (DGS) and the University System of Maryland (USM) will be managing SRECs purchased from the 17.4 MW project sited at Mount St. Mary’s (MSM) University in Emmitsburg, MD.

The letter explains that DGS and USM are responsible for purchasing electricity and SRECs from 10.67 MW and 5.33 MW of the project, respectively. The MEA goes on to explain DGS will act as a “provider of last resort” and will sell SRECs only if the market needs them. The letter also states the MEA suggested DGS set an offer price of 90% of the SACP for these excess SRECs.

Furthermore, the administration’s letter covers USM’s management plan stating that, “USM is committed to using SRECs to meet its RPS requirements, and could potentially use any surplus to meet future RPS requirements, voluntary carbon reductions, and/or potential future utility budget shortfalls. USM is cognizant of the fact that MSM’s SRECs represent a significant share of the market in 2013 and 2014, when the market is most vulnerable to potential oversupply. USM does not currently intend to sell the excess SRECs in 2013 or 2014.”

These statements demonstrate the volume of SRECs owned by DGS will only be sold in under-supplied compliance periods. USM’s management plan states the current intention to hold SRECs in the near term, but appears there could be instances in which USM’s excess SRECs are sold to help bridge budget shortfalls.

For a full copy of the MEA letter click here.

A more detailed analysis of this statement’s impact on Maryland SREC supply will be available in the SREC Market Monitor, a joint-venture between SRECTrade and Greentech Media’s GTM Research.

Tags: DGS, Maryland, MEA, Solar, SRECs, USM
Posted in Maryland, SREC Markets | Comments Off on MEA Statement on SRECs from Maryland’s Mount St. Mary’s Project

Maryland Solar Bills S.B. 791 and H.B. 1187 Signed Into Law

Posted May 22nd, 2012 by SRECTrade.

Today, Maryland Solar Bills S.B. 791 and H.B. 1187 were signed into law by Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley.

The passage of these bills will increase the near term Solar Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) requirements and reach the state’s 2% solar target two years ahead of the original RPS schedule; compliance year 2020 instead of 2022. The RPS requirements will increase beginning in the 2013 compliance year (January 2013 – December 2013).

Estimates show that the 2013 RPS increase equates to approximately 34,150 more SRECs required in 2013 under the new bills. This represents an additional 28.5 MW of solar capacity required, assuming all 2013 RPS requirements are meet using only 2013 vintage SRECs. After 2013, the RPS requirements continue to increase over the old goals, with some of the largest requirement increases estimated to begin in 2016 and onward.

As of the April 2012 SRECTrade Solar Capacity Update, total eligible Maryland solar capacity reached 45.6 MW. Based on projects registered in PJM GATS, over the last twelve months average MW capacity added per month has been 2.6 MW. The 2012 compliance year requires approximately 67,310 SRECs to be retired. As of May 11, 2012, PJM GATS reported the issuance of approximately 10,200 MD2012 SRECs. Under the new requirements, it is estimated that the MD2013 Solar RPS will require 170,800 SRECs, the equivalent of 142.3 MW operational all year long assuming only 2013 vintage SRECs are utilized to meet the state’s SREC targets.

Tags: Maryland, RPS, SB791, Solar, SRECs
Posted in Maryland, SREC Markets | Comments Off on Maryland Solar Bills S.B. 791 and H.B. 1187 Signed Into Law

Selling SRECs from Solar Hot Water Systems

Posted May 18th, 2012 by SRECTrade.

It’s been a while since we last updated our readers on the fundamentals of SRECs for solar hot water (SHW) systems. Currently two markets, Washington DC and Maryland, allow for SRECs sold from solar hot water systems. There have been proposals to create SREC markets for SHW in other markets, but no other states have concrete plans to do so.

Key concepts:

SRECs from SHW systems are calculated by using the annual energy estimate provided by the Solar Rating and Certification Corporation (SRCC) OG- 300 Water Heating System Rating or by converting BTUs to kW-hr equivalents from BTU meters. BTU meter readings are provided directly to the tracking registry (PJM GATS) in BTU’s and PJM GATS converts the BTUs into kilowatts. Calculate kW-hr equivalents by multiplying system BTUs by .000293 and 1,000 kW-hrs = 1 SREC.

Maryland SHW Registration Rules

Must be located in MD
Only systems commissioned with passing plumbing inspections issued after June 1, 2011 or later are eligible
Single dwelling residential systems are capped at 5 SRECs per year
Commercial systems are not capped
SHW systems cannot be used for heating a pool or hot tub
Systems must be certified by the SRCC OG-300 reporting protocol or have an International Organization of Metrology (OIML) compliant meter
SHW modules must be SRCC OG-100 compliant

District of Columbia SHW Registration Rules

Must be located in DC
Residential system must be SRCC OG-300 certified
Commercial systems producing >10,000 kW-hr equivalents must be SRCC OG-100 certified and have an OIML compliant meter
Commercial systems producing <10,000 kW-hr equivalents must be SRCC OG-100 certified, have an OIML meter or be certified to the SRCC OG-300 reporting protocol

If you’d like to utilize SRECTrade to monetize SRECs produced from SHW systems in either MD of DC please fill out this application and follow the directions on the form.

Tags: solar hot water, Solar Thermal, solar thermal srecs, SRECs
Posted in Maryland, Solar Thermal, Washington, DC | Comments Off on Selling SRECs from Solar Hot Water Systems

Maryland Update – Senate Passes SB791

Posted April 4th, 2012 by SRECTrade.

Today, the Maryland Senate voted 37-9 in favor of Senate Bill 791. We have been following this piece of legislation closely and have provided estimates and analysis around its impact on the Maryland Solar REC market.

Overall, the legislation pulls forward the Solar RPS requirements, reaching the existing 2022 Solar % requirements in 2020. The chart below demonstrates the existing requirements vs. the proposed requirements under the new legislation.

MD Solar RPS Current vs. HB1187

The next step for the bill is to move on to the Governor’s office to be signed into law. Maryland stakeholders expect the legislation to be well received by the Governor who will likely sign the bill in May.

We’ll continue to provide updates as the bill is finalized and signed into law. Before then we should point out this bill was successfully promoted in part due to the efforts of the Maryland-DC-Virginia Solar Energy Industries Association (MDV-SEIA) and strong grassroots support from Maryland stakeholders at large.

Tags: legislation, Maryland, RPS, SB791, Solar
Posted in Maryland | 1 Comment »

Update – Maryland Proposes New Solar Legislation

Posted April 2nd, 2012 by SRECTrade.

Since our last update on legislation to adjust the Solar RPS requirements in Maryland, there has been some movement in both the House and the Senate.

After HB1187 passed out of the House Economic Matters Committee, the bill was heard on the floor of the House and passed unanimously 131-0. Earlier last week, the Senate version of the bill, SB791, was voted down in the Senate Finance Committee, 4-7. The bill was then reconsidered by the committee the other day with the original vote being overturned, 8-2 (with one abstention).

The next stage for SB791 is to bring it up for vote on the floor of the Senate. Stakeholders expect this will take place Monday or Wednesday of this week. Some have expressed that the bill may be met with some resistance from the Senate, but it is expected that should it pass out of the Senate it will be well received by the Governor.

If you have an interest in voicing your thoughts on this piece of legislation, feel free to visit this link to find your appropriate representative. We’ll continue to provide updates through our blog as the bill makes its way through the process.

Tags: legislation, Maryland, RPS, SB791, Solar
Posted in Maryland | 1 Comment »

Maryland Proposes New Solar Legislation

Posted March 22nd, 2012 by SRECTrade.

For a PDF copy of this analysis please click here: Maryland Proposes New Solar Legislation

In February 2012, the Maryland legislature introduced legislation that directly impacts the MD solar industry. Two sets of legislation are proposed. The first set, House Bill 1187 (HB1187) and Senate Bill (SB791) seek to adjust the solar goals outlined in the MD Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). The second set House Bill 864 (HB864) and Senate Bill 595 (SB595) propose adjustments to the state law to allow for “Community Solar.”

In order for either sets of legislation to be signed into law, both the House and Senate versions must be passed and a final bill signed by the Governor. We detail both sets of legislation below.

Maryland RPS Adjustment

Companion bills HB1187 and SB791, pull forward the percentage requirement of the solar portion of the MD RPS, reaching its 2.0% solar target in 2020 instead of 2022. In addition to pulling the RPS % forward, the percentage requirements in the interim, beginning in 2013, would also increase.

The chart below demonstrates the existing RPS % versus the proposed percentage requirements under HB1187/SB791.

MD Solar RPS Current vs. HB1187

While the overall MD RPS solar goal does not change under HB1187/SB791, the amount of SRECs required increases in each of the interim years beginning in 2013 (SREC requirements are directly tied to the RPS % requirements). These increases could have a positive impact on SREC pricing if the market is unable to develop the needed supply during these future periods. Although the increases are meaningful (especially in the later years, see charts below), large projects such as First Solar’s20 MW Hagerstown, MDproject and Constellation Energy’s16.1 and 1.3 MW Emmitsburg, MDprojects can still substantially impact the SREC market.

Current vs. Proposed and Additional

As of March 7, 2012,PJM GATS reported 41.8 MWof operational MD eligible capacity. Under the existing MD2012 RPS requirements, Maryland needs an average of 56.1 MW operational all year long, or 67,310 SRECs. Additionally, any left-over supply from 2010 and 2011 also can be used to meet MD2012 compliance requirements. Given continued development in the state, which has averaged approximately 2.3 MW/month over the last 12 months (LTM), and the larger projects noted above, the increase in capacity as proposed by HB1187 and SB791 would help absorb continued solar build out.

Maryland could expect to see approximately 102.2 MW of operational capacity at the beginning of 2013. This figure takes into consideration the online capacity as of 3/7/12, the impact of the Constellation and Maryland Solar projects (assumed to be fully operational by the end of 2012), and continued development at the same pace as the LTM period. The table below demonstrates how our estimated 2013 beginning balance capacity compares to the number of SRECs required under the current 2013 RPS requirements versus the proposed requirements under HB1187/SB791.

estimated 2013 beginning balance

Where Does HB1187/SB791 Currently Stand?

Earlier this week, HB1187, the House version of the bill, was heard in the House Economic Matters committee. A couple panels with industry analysts and regional installation professionals presented their thoughts on the impact of pulling forward the Solar RPS requirements. After the reading and the presentations, the bill was unanimously passed out of committee.

It is expected that the House bill will reach the floor for final vote later this week or early next week. Additionally, the Senate bill needs to be heard in the Senate Finance Committee before it can make it to the floor of the Senate. Should both sides of the legislature vote in favor of the bills, the final step would be to have it sent to Governor O’Malley to be signed into law.

Community Energy Bills HB864/SB595

In addition to HB1187/SB791, there are 2 bills in the MD House and Senate,HB864andSB595, which provide guidelines and regulations for investing, operating, and participating in the usage of electricity generated from shared community energy generation facilities. While Annapolis insiders suggest that these “community solar” bills have a way to go before they are implemented, important initial legwork is being completed to make community solar projects feasible. The highlights of the current versions of the bills include:

– Defining that community energy-generating facilities and their subscribers or subscriber organizations are not considered Electric Companies or Electricity Suppliers

– Provides a frame work for crediting generated electricity to the subscribers of the facility

– Outlines who can be a qualified project owner

– Explains how energy not fully allocated to users of the project’s electricity will be credited/purchased as wholesale electricity

– Implements nameplate megawatt capacity caps, currently 2 MW, on projects that participate in a community energy project structure

SRECTrade will continue to keep a close eye on the legislative process across these bills and provide updates as they become available.

Tags: Community, Maryland, RPS, SB791, Solar, SRECs
Posted in Maryland, SREC Markets | 2 Comments »

MD Solar Thermal Systems Await Application from MD PSC

Posted October 25th, 2011 by SRECTrade.

On January 1st, 2012 the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) will begin accepting applications for MD-sited Solar Water Heating Systems (SWH) to become certified to sell SRECs in the MD SREC market. As this law allows eligible systems to be installed on or after June 1, 2011, many MD customers are anxiously awaiting their turn to participate in the MD SREC market. As long as a SWH facility meets the necessary metering standards described in an earlier blog post, the facility can produce SRECs for each MWh-equivalent of thermal energy consumed. For single-dwelling residential systems, there is a maximum 5 SRECs per year that may be produced.

The MD PSC will release the formal application form and list of necessary requirements over the next few weeks. While the MD PSC finalizes their application process, MD SWH systems are encouraged to check out our EasyREC SREC management service and to fill out the SRECTrade Solar Thermal EasyREC form. SRECTrade will guide your system through the registration phase and alert you to any supporting documentation that we will need. Check back on our blog for further updates as we approach the new year.

Tags: Maryland Public Service Commission, Maryland SRECs, MD Solar Thermal, MD SREC, MD SRECs, solar hot water, Solar Water Heating Systems
Posted in Maryland, Solar Thermal, SREC Markets | Comments Off on MD Solar Thermal Systems Await Application from MD PSC

DC Closes Borders to Out-of-State Solar Systems

Posted July 12th, 2011 by SRECTrade.

The Council of the District of Columbia unanimously voted, today July 12th, to close the DC SREC market to out-of-state systems. The Distributed Generation Amendment Act of 2011 (Bill 19-10) increases the SREC requirement in 2011 as well as establishes an SACP schedule through 2023. Once in effect, the bill will allow out-of-state systems registered prior to 1/31/2011 to continue to sell SRECs in the DC market. The DC Public Services Commission has not provided clarification on how the bill will affect out of state systems that have already granted DC registrations after the January 31st 2011 grandfather date. For more information on the bill please refer to our previous blog postings here and here.

The bill is not yet law. It first must go through a 30-day Congressional Review process before it can go in to effect. Given these mechanistic delays we don’t expect the bill to go in to effect for at least another month.

The following chart illustrates which out-of-state systems will be effected by the legislation.

State	Eligible Markets (after B19-10 is effective)
DE	DE, PA
IN	OH; PA (if in American Electric Power territory)
IL	PA (if in Com Ed territory)
KY	OH; PA (if in American Electric Power territory)
MD	MD; PA
MI	OH; PA (if in American Electric Power territory)
NC	NC; PA (if in Dominion Electric Territory)
NJ	NJ, PA
NY	–
OH	OH; PA
PA	PA; OH
TN	PA (if in American Electric Power territory)
VA	PA
WV	OH; PA
WI	–

Posted in Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, SREC Markets, State RPS, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, DC, West Virginia, Wisconsin | 2 Comments »

MD to Accept In-state Solar Water Heating Systems for SREC Market

Posted May 27th, 2011 by SRECTrade.

Maryland recently passed legislation which will allow residential-scale in-state solar water heating systems (SWH) installed on or after June 1^st 2011 to sell SRECs into the MD SREC market. Eligible systems will, at a maximum, be able to produce 5 SRECs per year. The law does not go in to effect until January 1^st 2012, so even if the system is installed now it will be another few months before they can monetize their SRECs. The bill states that eligible SWH systems are those that are not used solely for heating a pool or hot tub and are either metered by a device that meets the standards of the “International Organization of Legal Metrology” (OIML) or be OG-300 certified.

Another requirement is that the SWH collectors (the product that captures the sun’s heat) must be a “glazed liquid-type flat-plate or tubular solar collector by the OG-100 standard of the Solar Ratings and Certification Corporation (SRCC).”

Because SWH systems produce heat and not electricity, output is measured in British Thermal Units (BTUs) and not kW-hrs. In order for these systems to produce SRECs equivalent to their PV-system counterparts, they must be certified and metered in a way that can allow for accurate measuring and unit conversions. By multiplying each BTU by a conversion factor of .000293, one can determine the kWh equivalent production from the system. As a point of reference, a single a 21 ft² flat plate solar thermal collector located in Baltimore, MD that has a conversion efficiency of 60% may produce as many as 2 SRECs per year. Conversion efficiencies and BTU output will vary depending on the type of SWH panel used.

Tags: aggregator, Maryland, MD, MD SREC aggregation, solar hot water, Solar Thermal, SREC, SREC Aggregator, SRECS. MD SRECS, SWH, thermal
Posted in Maryland, Solar Thermal, SREC Markets | 1 Comment »

Maryland SREC Market and Out-of-State SRECs

Posted March 14th, 2011 by SRECTrade.

The March SREC auction saw a drop in pricing in Maryland that accompanied the more predictable price drops in DC and Pennsylvania. March marks the first month that 2011 SRECs are available for sale in Maryland and it is not uncommon to see a slump in SREC pricing at the beginning of the trading year. However, there were a few notable changes to the SREC market in Maryland over the past few months. As we pointed out earlier, there has been a lot of uncertainty around how the state was interpreting a seemingly contradictory law with respect to out-of-state SRECs. It seemed that the state would allow SRECs from anywhere within the PJM region and adjacent areas, which could be interpreted to include New York and North Carolina.

In the past few months Maryland approved facilities grew from our December report of 12.2 MW total (2.3 MW from out-of-state) to our January report of 27.6 MW total (15 MW from out-of-state). The majority of that increase comes from the inclusion of the 10 MW Exelon solar farm in Chicago. That project resides in the PJM Region and is therefore eligible for the Maryland market. In addition to that project, an additional 2.7 MW of out-of-state facilities were approved, an indication that Maryland is definitely taking on out-of-state facilities, and at a fast rate.

Maryland may have also clarified what constituted an “adjacent” area to the PJM region. On February 10th, GATS sent out an update that included the following: “There are also some MD facilities that are no longer eligible beginning January 2011 and those certification numbers will be removed prior to the certificate creation this month.” This would explain why our January report of 27.6 MW total (15 MW from out-of-state) turned into a February report of only 26.7 MW total (13.9 from out-of-state). It seems a big part of that reduction came from the exclusion of the SAS 1.2 MW facility in North Carolina. So at the same time that the out-of-state supply was growing in Maryland, some facilities were removed from eligibility.

For the time being, Maryland is a market open to out-of-state facilities, but according to the law:

(a) Utilities must prove that they are unable to meet their requirements with in-state SRECs: “only to the extent that Maryland Tier 1 solar RECs are insufficient, a supplier may satisfy the statutory requirement with RECs from a solar renewable energy facility not connected with the electric distribution grid serving Maryland.”

Note: The concern here is how does a utility demonstrate that they are unable to procure from in-state prior to purchasing out-of-state? In 2010, according to one contact at the PSC, it seemed that the utilities were not willing to make the effort. Perhaps this has changed in 2011.

(b) Starting in 2012, the market becomes an in-state market only: “On or after January 1, 2012, a supplier’s Tier 1 solar REC obligation under Public Utilities Article, §7-703, Annotated Code of Maryland, shall be satisfied only with RECs from a solar renewable energy facility connected with the electric distribution grid serving Maryland.”

Note: This statement is clearly intended to close off the Maryland SREC market only to in-state solar after 2011, but the “electric distribution grid serving Maryland” is not clearly defined in the law. Based on discussions with the PSC, the likely interpretation is that, although the “transmission” grid serving Maryland (used in other places in the law) can include the rest of the PJM region, the actual distribution grid is most likely limited to Maryland. The likelihood of distribution level facilities originating in a bordering state would be rare, if non-existent, according to the PSC.

To summarize, there has been a significant uptake in out-of-state facilities being registered in Maryland, but the law should protect the in-state solar market from being affected by these facilities. In addition, those facilities should be ineligible for the market from 2012 onwards, so the long-term outlook for in-state solar should be secure. Barring any alternative interpretations of the Maryland RPS, the in-state Maryland solar market should be healthy in 2011. There are currently ~13 MW in Maryland and the state needs to have ~30 MW on average in 2011 to meet the requirement of approximately 34,000 SRECs in 2011. If the state can get there on its own, then it limits the opportunity for Exelon and other out-of-state facilities. If Maryland falls short, their will be a market for out-of-state facilities but only in 2011.

Tags: Maryland out-of-state SRECs, Maryland SREC prices, Maryland SREC pricing
Posted in Maryland | 8 Comments »