SRECTrade hosted a webinar on April 8, 2014, covering the PA and OH SREC markets. The webinar is approximately 25 minutes long and is broken in to three main categories:
The slides from the webinar are available here and the webinar recording can be viewed by clicking the image below.
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SRECTrade will host a webinar covering the latest pricing and supply numbers for the OH and PA SREC markets.
The webinar is open to the public and will be held on Wednesday, 4/8/14, at 2 pm ET.
In July 2012 Pennsylvania State Senator Dave Argall (R-29th District) introduced PA Senate Bill (SB) 1350 with 18 co-sponsors. The bill was then submitted to the Pennsylvania Consumer Protection and Licensure Committee in August. The earliest the Bill could be reviewed is in the 2013 legislative session, so there is little to report right now.
Senator Argall’s website describes SB 1350 as an updated adoption of Representative Chris Ross’ (R-Chester) failed House Bill 1580 which we described in these previous blog posts.
Key points proposed in SB 1350 are:
**Update: As of this writing (Tuesday, June 12th) HB 1580 has not gone up for vote. However, the PA legislator extended the legislation session through the end of June, allowing for some hope that with enough grassroots pressure from supporters of the PA solar industry the bill will go up for vote. PASEIA encourages supporters of HB 1580 to continue to call into the offices of the PA House leadership. The applicable phone numbers are listed below.
A coalition of solar industry groups led by PASEIA, SEIA, PennFuture and Vote Solar are making one last push to revive Pennsylvania House Bill (HB) 1580 before the close of the work week on Friday, 5/25. HB 1580 was first introduced in October 2011 by Rep. Chris Ross (R-Chester) as a fix for what many in the PA solar industry view as an SREC market with prices trading at unsustainable levels. The bill’s core proposal is to move forward the Pennsylvania SREC requirement by three years – effectively accelerating SREC requirements in an attempt to stabilize the market. A hearing was held in the Pennsylvania House Consumer Affairs Committee in January 2012 and 108 (enough to pass the bill in the House) committed to vote for the bill if it passed out of committee. Lobbyists were also able to garner a substantial amount of support in the Senate.
Why hasn’t the bill passed yet?
Despite the January hearing on HB 1580 the bill was never put up for vote in the House Consumer Affairs Committee. The decision to do so is the responsibility of Committee Chair Rep. Bob Godshall (R-Montgomery) who has taken counsel from stakeholders both for and against the bill. The coalition of groups supporting HB 1580 emphasize in their communication with stakeholders that HB 1580 is meant to provide support for jobs created by the nascent Pennsylvania solar industry at little to no additional cost to ratepayers. However, the Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce along along with other groups representing natural gas and other interests are opposed to the bill. Furthermore, strong pressure for and against the bill has made it a tough topic to address amid the latest election cycle.
Another push
Pennsylvania stakeholders that support HB 1580 have the option to lobby key members of the Pennsylvania legislator to get the bill put up for vote. HB 1580 advocates are encouraged to call the following three members of the PA House leadership.
SRECTrade has printed auction prices for Pennsylvania ranging from a high of $310 in June 2010 and a low of $20 for SRECs created in the same energy year. The drop in Pennsylvania SREC prices is due to a severe over-supply of SRECs above the amount of SRECs that buyers (electricity producers) need to acquire each year, but how did the market become over-supplied and is anything being done to address the over-supply?
Background
The Pennsylvania SREC market was created as a state-level, long-term incentive for homeowners and businesses to go solar, but around the same time that the SREC market was created, other, more generous solar rebate programs like the Pennsylvania Sunshine Program were created that caused a short-term boom in solar installations. In addition to this, the Pennsylvania SREC market is one of two markets (OH is the other) that accept SRECs from out-of-state sited solar systems, including from states that don’t have their own SREC markets. This means that Pennsylvanians are effectively subsidizing solar in other states and ensuring that Pennsylvania SREC prices remain low.
The Proposed Fix
The Pennsylvania SREC market was created by the state legislature and amendments to the market must go through the legislature first. In the spring of 2011, Rep. Chris Ross (R-Chester) proposed House Bill (HB)-1580 to address some of the key factors behind low Pennsylvania prices. The crux of HB 1580 is a proposal to move up the SREC requirement by three years. This would mean that if the bill passed, Pennsylvania SREC requirements would increase beginning in 2013. A detailed schedule of the proposed increase can be found in the bill.
We’ve followed the progress of HB 1580 over the last year and periodically posted updates to our blog. Most recently the bill went before the House Consumer Affairs Committee on January 11, 2012 where it met resistance from Committee Chair Rep. Bob Godshall (R-Montgomery) and various entrenched groups representing the Pennsylvania electricity industry. Since the January hearing Rep. Chris Ross has worked hard to develop compromise amedments to HB-1580 that might help the bill survive a tough Committee vote. If the bill makes it out of Committee it has 110 co-sponsors in the House and substantial Senate support in a companion bill.
According to PennFuture, a Pennsylvania environmental and renewable energy advocacy group, Ross’ proposed the following compromises:
What Can You Do?
Pennsylvania solar advocates are hoping that they can convince the House Consumer Affairs Committee to vote on HB 1580 when the legislature reconvenes in mid-March. If you are a Pennsylvania resident, please feel free to contact House Majority Leader Turzai at 717-772-9943 to express your support for seeing the bill go up for vote.
TweetOn Wednesday, 1/11/12, Pennsylvania House Bill (HB) 1580 sponsored by Rep. Chris Ross (R-Chester) was presented to the House Consumer Affairs Committee for debate. HB 1580 is a proposal to move forward the Pennsylvania SREC requirement to the current compliance requirement for 2015 without changing the overall number of SRECs required after 2015. This would alleviate the over-supply of SRECs and increase the value of Pennsylvania SRECs. While the hearing was a critical first step for HB 1580, followers of the Pennsylvania solar industry will have to wait on the Consumer Affairs Committee’s vote before the fate of the bill is known. Should the bill make it out of committee it will also need to pass the House and Senate where both the House and Senate have voiced initial majority support for bill.
During the hearing solar industry representatives and solar consumers testified in support of the bill while utility groups and the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business spoke against it. The PA Environment Digest put together a detailed account of the testimonies. Generally those in support of the bill argue: 1) that the bill is essential for maintaining highly skilled solar jobs in Pennsylvania; 2) doesn’t increase the overall requirement for SRECs; 3)merely accelerates the requirement and 4) brings Pennsylvania’s SREC market more in line with the design of other SREC markets by closing the market to out-of-state sited systems (currently PA accepts SRECs from anywhere in the PJM region i.e most states in the mid-Atlantic and some states in the Midwest). Utility companies that testified against the bill argue that it would place an undue burden on rate payers by forcing utilities to charge more for the electricity that they supply. According to the PA Environment Digest article, there was some disagreement over the actual cost of the bill to rate payers, but on the high side utilities estimate that it would be an increase of $120 million over four years to four million Pennsylvania rate payers, which equates to an increase of about $3.33 per year to each rate payer.
SRECTrade will continue to closely monitor the development of HB 1580. Stay tuned to our blog for updates.
TweetThe PA Alternative Energy Program Administrators (AEPS) have changed the requirements for applying for SREC certification numbers. Any systems that apply for PA certification after 1/1/2012 must now provide the following:
Photos of the array- The photos must show the entire array. Multiple photos should be provided if necessary.
Photos of the meter- The photos of the solar production meter or inverter (if no solar prooduction meter is installed) must show the kW-hr production at the time that the application is submitted. This meter reading will be the starting point for earning SRECs. For example, if the meter reads 500 kW-hrs at the time that the application is submitted then any future meter readings submitted will have 500 kW-hrs subtracted from them to determine SREC production.
TweetHouse Bill (HB) 1580 will go before The Pennsylvania Commerce Committee on Wednesday, 1/11/12. This is the third date that has been scheduled for the committee hearing. HB 1580 is a proposal to accellerate the Pennsylvania SREC requirement by three years from 2013 to 2015. If the Bill passes committee on Wednesday then it will also need approval by the House and Senate. Currently the House is majority in favor of the current bill and the Senate looks to be in favor of passing a similar version should the House come to a resolution. SRECTrade will post a blog update once we get word on the Commerce Committee decision.
TweetA critical Pennsylvania House Consumer Affairs Committee hearing on the Pennsylvania Solar Jobs Bill (HB 1580) scheduled for Thursday, December 8th was delayed again, according to a news flier sent out by the Pennsylvania advocacy group PennFuture. This is the 2nd time that the hearing has been delayed in as many weeks. According to the PennFuture flier, the bill hearing was delayed due to a death in Committee Chair Rep. Godshall’s family. No reschedule date has been announced yet.
TweetOn November 16th, 2011, the Pennsylvania Solar Energy Industries Association (PASEIA) released its Ratepayer Cost Analysis regarding PA House Bill #1580. HB1580 was introduced on October 3rd, 2011 by Rep. Chris Ross, and includes 109 co-sponsors as of November 10th, 2011.
The Bill was introduced to address the recent collapse of the PA SREC market by accelerating the solar share requirement from 2012 through 2015. While the solar share requirements from 2012 through 2015 have been accelerated, the solar share requirements in 2016 through 2018 remains the same as SREC prices are expected to have stabilized by then regardless of the present situation. HB1580 will also close the solar market in Pennsylvania to out-of-state systems, thus limiting the supply of SRECs available which will drive up their value. While undoubtedly a blessing for the solar industry within Pennsylvania, some concerns have been raised regarding the impact this program will have on ratepayers. The Ratepayer Cost Analysis aims to address these issues.
Here is the breakdown of HB1580, using figures derived from the Cost Impact Report. The introduction of HB1580 imposes an additional $113,315,417 distributed amongst all residential and commercial power users in Pennsylvania.
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Current Scenario |
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| Reporting Year | Solar Share | SRECs | SREC Price* | Cost | |
| 2012 – 2013 | 0.0510% | 75,189 | $50 | $3,759,453 | |
| 2013 – 2014 | 0.0840% | 123,012 | $50 | $6,250,621 | |
| 2014 – 2015 | 0.1440% | 216,338 | $50 | $10,816,879 | |
| 2015 – 2016 | 0.2500% | 379,150 | $70 | $26,540,513 | |
| 2016 – 2017 | 0.2933% | 449,047 | $80 | $35,923,723 | |
| 2017 – 2018 | 0.3400% | 525,500 | $85 | $44,667,471 | |
| Total | – | 1,770,235 | – | $127,958,661 | |
|
Proposed Scenario (HB1850) |
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| Reporting Year | Solar Share | SRECs | SREC Price* | Cost | Increment |
| 2012 – 2013 | 0.1500% | 221,144 | $190 | $42,017,420 | $38,257,967 |
| 2013 – 2014 | 0.1700% | 253,001 | $150 | $37,950,200 | $31,699,579 |
| 2014 – 2015 | 0.2040% | 306,478 | $125 | $38,309,780 | $27,492,901 |
| 2015 – 2016 | 0.2500% | 379,150 | $100 | $37,915,019 | $11,374,506 |
| 2016 – 2017 | 0.2933% | 449,047 | $90 | $40,414,188 | $4,490,465 |
| 2017 – 2018 | 0.3400% | 525,500 | $85 | $44,667,471 | $0 |
| Total | – | 2,134,320 | – | $241,274,078 | $113,315,417 |
* SREC price is based on aggregator feedback, as well as average weighted PA SREC prices in GATS
The cost imposed on each ratepayer is than calculated based on an estimated use of 10,716kWh/yr for residential and 150,000kWh/yr for commercial usage.
| Reporting Year | Estimated Elect Sales | Estimated Increased Cost |
Cost Increase per kWh |
Estimated Increased Residential Cost | Estimated Increased Commercial Cost | ||
| Annual | Monthly | Annual | Monthly | ||||
| 2013 | 147,429,544 | $38,257,967 | $0.0002595 | $2.78 | $0.23 | $38.93 | $3.24 |
| 2014 | 148,824,315 | $31,699,579 | $0.0002130 | $2.28 | $0.19 | $31.95 | $2.66 |
| 2015 | 150,234,430 | $27,492,901 | $0.0001830 | $1.96 | $0.16 | $27.45 | $2.29 |
| 2016 | 151,660,076 | $11,374,506 | $0.0000750 | $0.80 | $0.07 | $11.25 | $0.94 |
| 2017 | 153,101,443 | $4,490,465 | $0.0000293 | $0.31 | $0.03 | $4.40 | $0.37 |
| 2018 | 154,558,725 | $0 | $0 | – | – | – | – |
| Total | $113,315,417 | – | $8.14 | $0.68 | $113.97 | $9.50 | |
| Average | – | $0.0001520 | $1.63 | $0.14 | $22.79 | $1.90 | |
As the table shows, the residential bill on average increases by less than 14 cents over five years and under $2 for commercial customers with an assumed annual electric usage of 150,000kWh/yr. This amounts to less than half a penny a day for residential owners. In addition, these are pre-tax costs, so for-profit commercial and industrial customers will pay less than these estimates based on their effective tax rates..
For more information, please contact: Ron Celentano PASEIA – President CelentanoR@aol.com