The District of Colombia’s Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS) requires that 11 percent of the energy sold in the District must come from renewable sources by 2022. This standard includes a solar set-aside, requiring .4 percent of electricity to come from solar by 2020. Much like other states, electricity suppliers must make an alternative compliance payment (ACP) should they not meet each yearly requirement. In D.C., the ACP goes to the District’s Renewable Energy Development Fund.

Due to the area’s small size, the government has imposed fairly modest requirements for renewable energy provided by electricity suppliers, compared to those of neighboring states. However on a per capita basis, owners of photovoltaic solar systems in the D.C. area are equally well positioned to benefit from RPS requirements through federal incentives and the ability to sell self-generated SRECs. The government offers grants for installation of solar systems based on the size and capacity of the system, with a maximum receivable amount of $33,000. Once the system is installed and registered, owners can sell their SRECs to electricity suppliers in D.C., namely PEPCO, relative to the price dictated through supply and demand in the area.  SRECTrade hopes to be an integral part of matching that supply with demand through facilitating the sale of credits generated in D.C. with electricity suppliers in both D.C. as well as neighboring states.

Getting Started in D.C.

If you wish to generate and sell SRECs in D.C., you must first apply for certification as a Solar Renewable Energy Facility through the Washington D.C. Public Service Commission. Once your system is certified, you must register with the PJM-EIS Generation Attribute Tracking System (PJM-GATS), which serves as the renewable energy generation tracking system for Washington D.C. and several surrounding states. Generators interested in having SRECTrade manage their SRECs can simply sign up for our EasyBid service and send the forms to us. We’ll handle the rest. Find out more on our EasyBid page.