Archive for the ‘New Jersey’ Category

New Jersey Successor Solar Incentive (SuSI) Program – Webinar

Posted October 7th, 2021 by SRECTrade.

Earlier today, SRECTrade hosted a webinar for New Jersey Successor Solar Incentive (SuSI) Program stakeholders. The webinar reviewed many important facets of the SuSI Program including pricing, the registration process, and market parameters as well as SRECTrade’s participation as a REC management and transaction service provider.

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

New Jersey Successor Solar Incentive (SuSI) Program Webinar

Posted October 1st, 2021 by SRECTrade.

SRECTrade is presenting a webinar on the New Jersey Successor Solar Incentive (SuSI) Program on Thursday, October 7th at 2:00 PM EST. The webinar will review many important facets of the SuSI Program including pricing, the registration process, and market parameters as well as SRECTrade’s participation as a REC management and transaction service provider.

To register for the webinar, please click HERE.

Please note that a webinar recording will be made available on the SRECTrade Blog after the webinar.

New Jersey Successor Solar Incentive Program Approved

Posted July 30th, 2021 by SRECTrade.

On Wednesday, July 28th, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) unanimously approved the highly anticipated Successor Solar Incentive Program (“SuSI Program”). The SuSI Program will support the development of 3,750 megawatts (MW) of new solar generation by 2026, effectively doubling the state’s current solar capacity and driving solar to become approximately 10 percent of the state’s total electricity supply.

Importantly, the SuSI Program will take effect on August 28, 2021, and contains two sub-programs detailed below. Thus, the New Jersey Transition Incentive (TI) Program will close at midnight on Friday, August 27th. TREC applications will be accepted until that date and will be provided with a 5-business day window to correct minor deficiencies, if required, after their review.

  1. The Administratively Determined Incentive (ADI) – a 15-year, fixed-price incentive payment for net-metered solar projects less than or equal to 5 MW in size. This sub-program is inclusive of all residential projects and most commercial and industrial projects, with pricing varying based on project type and size (see table below).
  2. The Competitive Solar Incentive (CSI) – a competitive solicitation for grid supply projects and net metered commercial and industrial projects larger than 5 MW. The first competitive solicitation is projected to launch in early-to-mid 2022.
Incentive levels for the ADI Program, ranging from $70-$120 per SREC-II.

Notably, net-metered residential projects will receive pricing only $1.20/megawatt-hour (MWh) less than their current effective TREC pricing of $91.20/MWh. The incentive value for public entities in each market segment is $20/MWh than their non-public counterparts. Public entities include school districts, municipalities, and public colleges and universities.

SRECTrade will continue to post significant updates on the transition between the current Transition Incentive program and the upcoming SuSI Program as they become available.

New Jersey TREC Program – Webinar

Posted October 1st, 2020 by SRECTrade.

Earlier today, SRECTrade hosted a webinar for New Jersey Transition Incentive (TI) Program stakeholders. The webinar presented an overview of the TI Program, which features fixed-price, factorized Transition Renewable Energy Credits (TRECs), and also outlined SRECTrade’s services and onboarding process.

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

New Jersey TREC Program Webinar

Posted September 23rd, 2020 by SRECTrade.


SRECTrade, Inc. is hosting a webinar to review the New Jersey Transition Incentive (TI) Program and SRECTrade onboarding process on Thursday, October 1st, at 2:00pm ET. The new program features fixed-price, factorized Transition Renewable Energy Credits (TRECs). SRECTrade is currently accepting NJ TREC facility applications, which can be submitted from your account on the SRECTrade online platform.

To register for the webinar, please click HERE.

Please note that a webinar recording will be made available on the SRECTrade Blog after the webinar.

New Jersey SREC Program Expected To Close In Late April

Posted April 2nd, 2020 by SRECTrade.

April 6, 2020 EDIT: The BPU ordered the following earlier today:

  • The registration portal for new projects to the SREC Registration Program will be closed on April 30, 2020.
  • Only previously approved Subsection (t.) projects dated prior to October 29, 2019 will be exempt from the market closure on April 30th.
  • Projects must have a PTO granted from an electric distribution company by April 30, 2020 to qualify for inclusion in the legacy SREC program. The post-construction (as built) certification package will be due 90 days after the PTO date (not 90 days after April 30th).
  • The registration portal will be closed on the 91st day after April 30th (July 30th).
  • All extensions granted by Board staff (either 1st or 2nd extensions) will expire on April 30th. Post-construction (as built) certification package due 90 days after April 30th.

On Tuesday, March 31st, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) announced that it forecasts that 5.1% of state electricity sales will be supplied by operational solar projects around or before May 2020. It is therefore expected that the current SREC program (“Legacy Program”) could close to new applications as soon as April 30th.

In order to qualify for the current SREC Program, solar projects 1) need to obtain a Permission to Operate (PTO) by the SREC program closure date (estimated April 30th) and 2) submit their final-as-built application within 90 days from receiving PTO.

Solar systems that receive PTO after the SREC market closure date will be eligible for the new Transition Incentive program (“TREC Program”). Many details regarding the 15-year, fixed-price TREC Program structure have been finalized, including a flat pricing schedule of $152.00 per SREC. However, many important details surrounding the implementation and administration of the TREC Program Administrator have not been finalized yet. As a result, it is expected that TREC approvals and payments will not be made for several months after the program opens.

SRECTrade will continue to monitor the Legacy Program’s closure and the development of both the TREC Program and the eventual Successor Incentive program.

New Jersey Governor Murphy Signs SB S-4275, Resolving Transition Incentive “Kink Year” Issue

Posted January 22nd, 2020 by SRECTrade.

On Tuesday, January 21st, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed Assembly Bill 6088 (AB-6088) / Senate Bill 4275 (SB-4275) into law in a victory for New Jersey “Transition Incentive” program stakeholders. A New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) order last month established that the Transition Incentive program’s structure will feature a factorized, fixed-price, 15-year Transition Renewable Energy Certificate (TREC), but did not finalize the pricing schedule that will be used throughout the program.

SB-4275 helps address a “kink year” component in one of the pricing schedule options by allowing the BPU to increase costs to electricity customers in energy years (EY) 2022-2024, such that the average cost to electricity customers from EY2019-2024 does not exceed a 9% cost cap during EY2019-2021 and a 7% cost cap for EY2022-2024. This cost cap flexibility allows the BPU to set higher TREC prices in the near term while still remaining below the legislated cost cap. Prior to this legislation adding flexibility, the BPU had proposed drastically lower TREC pricing during the first three “kink years” of the program, followed by higher pricing in later years.

For example, the two pricing schedules that the BPU had considered are: 1) a flat 15-year price of $152 and 2) a lower price of $65 for the first three years followed by a higher price of $189 for the last twelve years. The BPU still has not finalized some key aspects of the TREC program, including the final price levels. SRECTrade will continue to monitor the development of the Transition Incentive program and provide updates.

New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Approves Solar Transition Incentive Program

Posted December 18th, 2019 by SRECTrade.

On Friday, December 6th, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) issued an order approving a new SREC program to aid in the transition from the current SREC program to the yet-to-be-determined “Successor Incentive” program. This “Transition Incentive” program will feature a factorized, fixed-price, 15-year Transition Renewable Energy Certificate (TREC). All projects that submitted complete SREC Registration Program (SRP) applications after October 29, 2018, but do not reach commercial operation at the time the BPU determines the 5.1% target has been reached, will qualify for TRECs.

The BPU will hold a cost-cap proceeding in early 2020 to finalize the annual value of the fixed-price TREC. Specifically, the BPU will evaluate two pricing scenarios: 1) a flat 15-year price of $152 and 2) a lower price of $65 for the first three years followed by a higher price of $189 for the last twelve years.

The different TREC project types and factorizations are displayed below:

TRECs will have a useful life of two energy years, including the energy year in which they were generated. If a TREC is not issued or sold during its two-year useful life, it will become an NJ Class I REC. The order further clarifies that Transition Incentive projects will be eligible to generate NJ Class I RECs after their 15-year TREC Qualification Life.

The BPU order also directs electric distribution companies to procure a TREC Administrator. Although the exact mechanics for how TRECs will be transacted are still being determined, the TREC Administrator will ultimately purchase all generated TRECs and allocate them to load-serving entities for compliance based on their market share of retail sales.

SRECTrade will continue to monitor the development of the final TREC levels and the Successor Incentive program.

NJ SREC Market Update: Market Nearing Closure and Transition Program

Posted December 2nd, 2019 by SRECTrade.

The Clean Energy Act, signed by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy in May 2018, states that new rules and regulations will be adopted to close the NJ SREC program upon attainment of 5.1 percent of the kilowatt-hours sold in the state by solar electric power generators. Based on recent build rates, the NJ SREC market is expected to reach the program’s maximum capacity of 5.1% by mid-2020, at which point, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJ BPU) will transition the state to a new program. While the NJ BPU released a straw proposal in 2018 on the anticipated market closure, the exact strategy of determining the 5.1% attainment and eventual transition program is yet to be confirmed.

The enclosed analysis further details the implications of this market close and SRECTrade’s estimated market dynamics through 2022. The analysis assumes flat load through 2022 and utilizes a capacity factor of 12.56%, the approximate running average capacity factor across NJ certified solar facilities since 2012. In each depicted build scenario, the market will close to new capacity once 3,460 MW is hit, or on June 1, 2021, whichever occurs first.

On September 6, 2019, the NJ Board of Public Utilities (“BPU”) released a memo that detailed Basic Generation Service Provider (“BGS”) load exemptions in 2019. This exempt load dynamic has an impact on market demand through EY 2023 and is further detailed in the analysis.

Data from the New Jersey Office of Clean Energy (“NJOCE”) shows that solar build rates have increased slightly over the past six months in comparison to the past twelve months, increasing by 3.6% in that time frame. With this data from NJOCE and credit data from GATS, SRECTrade estimates that the market is over-supplied by 7.5% for the 2020 Energy Year. Assuming flat load growth and no drastic increase in build rates, the market will likely become under-supplied in 2021 and 2022.

In line with this market dynamic, NJ SREC pricing has seen an upward trend over the past twelve months. The enclosed analysis further details the current standing as well as future scenarios for the NJ SREC market.

 

New Jersey BPU Publishes Guidance on SREC Market Closure & Transition Program

Posted January 2nd, 2019 by SRECTrade.

As per The Clean Energy Act, which was signed by the New Jersey Governor into law in May, “the [New Jersey Board of Public Utilities] shall adopt rules and regulations to close the SREC program to new applications upon the attainment of 5.1 percent of the kilowatt-hours sold in the State by each electric power supplier and each basic generation provider from solar electric power generators”. On December 26th, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (“BPU”) published a straw proposal which provides further guidance to the closure of the current SREC program and implementation of a “transition program” in New Jersey. The proposal provides the following guidance:

  • Provide maximum benefit to ratepayers at the lowest cost
  • Support the continued growth of the solar industry
  • Ensure that prior investments retain value
  • Meet the Governor’s commitment of 50% Class I Renewable Energy Certificates (“RECs”) by 2030 and 100% clean energy by 2050
  • Provide insight and information to stakeholders through a transparent process for developing the Solar Transition and Successor Program
  • Comply fully with the statute, including the implications of the cost cap
  • Provide disclosure and notification to developers that certain projects may not be guaranteed participation in the current SREC program, and continue updates on market conditions via the New Jersey Clean Energy Program (“NJCEP”) SREC Registration Program (“SRP”) Solar Activity Reports

In addition, the proposal schedules a robust stakeholder process for the 2019 calendar year to discuss the logistics of the closure of the current SREC program and implementation of the subsequent transition program. Specifically, the BPU requests that stakeholders provide input on:

  • How the attainment of 5.1% of electricity sales coming from solar will be calculated
  • How the pipeline projects (non-operational assets with SRPs) will be treated at market closure
  • Ensuring cost caps are not exceeded during an “18-month period”

SRECTrade will continue to monitor this process and provide updates accordingly.