Archive for the ‘SREC Markets’ Category

Massachusetts Update: SREC I Cap Released, SCCA Clears, and H4185 Quashed

Posted August 2nd, 2014 by SRECTrade.

It has been an extremely active week for the Massachusetts solar market. The DOER made an important announcement regarding the Solar Carve-Out Program Capacity Cap for the RPS Solar Carve-Out (SREC I) Program, the Solar Credit Clearing House Auction pushed through three rounds before clearing, and the uncertainty surrounding H. 4185 was finally settled by the House in a critical 11th hour amendment to S.2214.

SREC I Capacity Cap Released by the DOER

On July 31, 2014, the DOER announced that the final Solar Carve-Out Program Capacity Cap for the RPS Solar Carve-Out (SREC I) Program is 658.915 MW DC. Pursuant to 225 CMR 14.07(2)(e), this capacity figure will be used to calculate the final 2015 Minimum Standard by no later than August 30, 2014.

2013 Solar Credit Clearing House Auction Clears in Third and Final Round

On August 1, 2014, the third and final round of the 2013 Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction* fully cleared, with bids outweighing available SRECs by 162.5%. The DOER’s announcement can be found here. There were a total of 232,060 bids placed for the 142,786 SRECs that were offered for sale. The final auction results are posted on the DOER’s website.

As reported by the DOER, depositors will receive $285 for every SREC that they deposited into the auction account. Bidders will receive their pro-rata share of the auction volume based on their bid volume. The SRECs purchased through the auction are eligible to be used for compliance in 2014, 2015, or 2016.

*The SCCA consists of three distinct “rounds” or opportunities for buyers to purchase SRECs at a fixed price. The incentive to purchase the SRECs increases with each round. A more complete description of SCCA can be found here.

Clients of SRECTrade who were successful in the SCCA should expect to receive confirmation of the sale sometime next week, after the SCCA Operator and Manager has confirmed the sale with SRECTrade.

SREC-II Continues Ahead – H. 4185 quashed, caps raised in an Amendment to S.2214

On the last day for Formal Sessions in the 2014 Legislative Session, the Massachusetts House attached a rider to S.2214‘s Amendment 1, H.4385 to address the net energy metering caps and the future of the state’s solar incentive structure. Ultimately, the legislation increased the state’s net metering caps to allow for continued growth of the MA solar industry while keeping in place the state’s successful SREC program under the new SREC-II incentive structure.

The Amendment was sponsored by the House Committee on Ways and Means after the controversial H.4185 failed to make it out of the committee as a result of the conflicting pushback that the Committee received from stakeholders of the solar industry. For additional information on H.4185 and perspectives to amend the legislation please visit www.competitivesolar.org.

In relevant part, the rider made the following amendments to lift the cap on public projects from 3 percent to 5 percent of a utility’s total power generation, while the cap for private projects would rise from 3 percent to 4 percent: “SECTION 5. Subsection (f) of section 139 of chapter 164 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 68, the figure ‘3’ and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- 4.

SECTION 6. Said subsection (f) of section 139 of chapter 164, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 70, the figure ‘3’ and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- 5.” Additionally, H.4385 would create a task force “to review the long-term viability of net metering in the commonwealth and develop recommendations on incentives and programs that will support the deployment of [Governor Deval Patrick’s stated goal of installing] 1600 MW of solar generation facilities in the commonwealth [by 2020].” The task force would “convene its first meeting on or before October 1, 2014, and shall submit its report, along with any recommendations for legislative or regulatory reforms, on or before March 31, 2015,” providing for ample opportunity for stakeholder input and public commentary.

As of August 1, 2014, the House and the Senate have both enacted S.2214. Governor Patrick will still need to sign the bill into law.

Posted in Massachusetts, SREC Markets | Comments Off on Massachusetts Update: SREC I Cap Released, SCCA Clears, and H4185 Quashed

Massachusetts Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction Update: Round 2 Does Not Clear – Final Round on Friday

Posted July 30th, 2014 by SRECTrade.

The second round of the Massachusetts Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction (SCCA) did not clear today, Wednesday July 30th. The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) announcement can be found here. As a result, the 2015 compliance obligation will be adjusted by doubling the amount of volume deposited into the auction account.

The SCCA consists of three distinct “rounds” or opportunities for buyers to purchase SRECs at a fixed price. The incentive to purchase the SRECs increases with each round. A more complete description of SCCA can be found here.

The third and final round of the SCCA will be held this Friday, August 1st. Any SRECs not purchased in the SCCA will be returned to the seller’s accounts.

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Massachusetts Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction – Round 1 Begins Tuesday, July 29th

Posted July 28th, 2014 by SRECTrade.

The Massachusetts SREC-I Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction (SCCA), for 2013 vintage SRECs, will start on Tuesday, July 29th. Depending on how things go, the SCCA can run up to three separate rounds. A detailed schedule of the Department of Energy Resources (DOER) auction can be found here.

Round 1: Tuesday, July 29th
Round 2: Wednesday, July 30th
Round 3: Friday, August 1st

Why three rounds?

SRECs are not guaranteed to transact in the SCCA, but there are scenarios in which buyers are encouraged to participate and purchase SRECs. With each round the incentive for purchasing SRECs increases. Here is a summary of how the stakes change with each round.

Round 1: SRECs available for sale in the first round have a 2 year useful life (i.e. 2013 SRECs purchased in round 1 can be used towards 2014 or 2015 compliance obligations). Note, the 2015 compliance obligation was increased by the number of SRECs deposited into the auction. If all of the SRECs are not purchased in the first round, the auction will move on to round 2.

Round 2: The auction is repeated, but all SRECs now have a 3 year useful life (i.e. 2013 SRECs purchased in round 2 can be used towards 2014, 2015, or 2016). If all the SRECs are not purchased in the second round, the auction will move on to round 3.

Round 3: If round 3 needs to be held, the 2015 year compliance obligation will now be increased by 2 times the number of SRECs deposited into the SCCA account (i.e. the original amount already added on to the 2015 compliance obligation times 2). Any SREC purchased in round 3 will continue to have a 3 year useful life (i.e. 2013 SRECs purchased in round 3 can be used towards 2014, 2015, or 2016). If the auction doesn’t clear (i.e. all SRECs are not purchased) then there will be a proportional distribution to successful sellers. Any unsold SRECs will be transferred back to the original depositor and the SRECs will maintain a useful life through the next 3 compliance years (i.e. 2016 for 2013 vintage SRECs).

A few important additional things to note:

SRECs sold in the SREC-I SCCA are sold at a fixed value of $285/SREC to sellers.
The summer 2014 SCCA is for unsold MA SREC-I 2013 vintage SRECs only. There are no 2012 or 2014 vintage SRECs in the SCCA.
Any Massachusetts SRECTrade clients (that utilize SRECTrade’s management services) with unsold MA SREC-I 2013 vintage SRECs had their SRECs automatically deposited in the SCCA. The original deadline was June 15, 2014.
The SCCA’s multiple round nature and review process means that the complete results of the auction may not be known until after round 3.
Clients utilizing SRECTrade’s management services, with SRECs deposited into the SCCA, will be notified of the auction results when they are made available by the DOER. Any funds due from sales made in the SCCA will be remitted by SRECTrade after the DOER transfers the funds. For a complete schedule click here.

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SRECTrade Markets Report: June 2014

Posted July 22nd, 2014 by SRECTrade.

The following post is a monthly update outlining the megawatts of solar capacity certified to create SRECs in the Solar REC markets that SRECTrade serves. All PJM data is based on the information available in PJM GATS as of the date noted. All MA data is based on the information provided by the DOER as of the date noted. This analysis does not include projects that are not yet registered and certified with the entities noted herein.

A PDF copy of this table can be found here.

Overview of PJM Eligible Systems Through 7/9/2014

There are 46,641 facilities registered in GATS as of 7/9/2014. See below for a more detailed breakdown.

There are 284 projects over 1 MW in capacity, representing 823.0 MW or 43.7% of the qualified capacity. The largest projects in the PJM are concentrated in NJ and MD. There are 35 projects over 5 MW. These make up 18.7% of all qualified capacity in the PJM. The top 5 largest projects are listed below.

NJ Office of Clean Energy Estimated Installed Capacity Through 7/8/14

On July 8, 2014, the New Jersey Office of Clean Energy (OCE) announced total installed solar capacity reached 1,319.2 MW; an increase of approximately 21.1 MW over the total capacity reported at the end of May. The average last six month build rate per month, according to the OCE data, is 22.5 MW. Note that this data does not directly tie to GATS registration data because of a lag between NJ Office of Clean Energy certifications and GATS registrations.

Overview of MA DOER SREC-I and II Eligible Systems

SREC-I Program

The Massachusetts SREC-I program was capped on June 30, 2014, however 125.1 MW of solar is still listed as “Qualified” but not operational on an update report issued by the DOER on 7/9/2014. In total, 660.5 MW of capacity is listed as currently qualified, of which 535.4 MW of capacity is operational.

SREC-II Program

The SREC-II program opened on April 25, 2014. The program is broken in to Market Sectors. For a detailed overview of the regulations regarding SREC-II please visit here. Overall 117.4 MW of capacity is currently qualified under the SREC-II program, but only 8.1 MW is operational.

How to Interpret The Capacity Table at the Top of this Post

The tables above demonstrate the capacity breakout by state. Note, that for all PJM GATS registered projects, each state includes all projects certified to sell into that state. State RPS programs that allow for systems sited in other states to participate have been broken up by systems sited in-state and out-of-state. Additional detail has been provided to demonstrate the total capacity of systems only certified for one specific state market versus being certified for multiple state markets. For example, PA includes projects only certified to sell into the PA SREC market, broken out by in-state and out-of-state systems, as well as projects that are also certified to sell into PA and Other State markets broken out by in state and out of state systems (i.e. OH, DC, MD, DE, NJ). PA Out-of-State includes systems sited in states with their own state SREC market (i.e. DE) as well as systems sited in states that have no SREC market (i.e. VA). Also, it is important to note that the Current Capacity represents the total megawatts eligible to produce and sell SRECs as of the noted date, while the Estimated Required Capacity – Current and Next Reporting Year represents the estimated number of MW that need to be online on average throughout the reporting period to meet the RPS requirement within each state with only that particular compliance period vintage. For example, New Jersey needed approximately 496.7 MW online for the entire 2013 reporting year to meet the RPS requirement with 2013 vintage SRECs only. SRECs still available from prior eligible periods can also impact the Solar RPS requirements. Additionally, the data presented above does not include projects that are in the pipeline or currently going through the registration process in each state program. This data represents specifically the projects that have been approved for the corresponding state SREC markets as of the dates noted.

Note: SREC requirements for markets without fixed SREC targets have been forecast based on EIA Report “Retail Sales of Electricity by State by Provider” updated 11/8/13. Projected SRECs required utilizes the most recent EIA electricity data applying an average 1.5% growth rate per forecast year. The state’s RPS Solar requirement is then multiplied by forecast total electricity sales to arrive at projected SRECs required. Projected capacity required is based on a factor of 1,200 MWh in PJM states and 1,160 MWh in MA, generated per MW of installed capacity per year.

Posted in Capacity Summary, SREC Markets | Comments Off on SRECTrade Markets Report: June 2014

July 2014 SREC Pricing Update and Auction Results

Posted July 17th, 2014 by SRECTrade.

As of July 17, 2014, below is a summary of indicative pricing across the SREC markets SRECTrade covers (for a PDF copy click here). For July 2014 auction results, scroll down.

Note: All pricing and notes included are indicative and subject to change. Please contact us for most current markets. If a market is not quoted herein, please contact us directly for further information.

Additionally, SRECTrade’s July 2014 SREC Auction closed on 7/15/2014. The clearing prices presented below are representative of transactions executed through the SRECTrade auction. This does not include over the counter spot and forward contract transactions completed through SRECTrade’s brokerage desk. For more information on our brokerage services for corporate clients please click here.

Below are the clearing prices by vintage across the SRECs transacted in the auction.

Auction Prices	SREC Vintage Year
State	2011	2012	2013	2014
Delaware	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Maryland	N/A	$122.01	$126.01	$126.01
Massachusetts SREC-I	N/A	N/A	N/A	$271.00
New Jersey	N/A	$152.55	$153.55	$162.51
Ohio Sited	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Ohio Adjacent	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Pennsylvania	N/A	$30.05	$31.05	$32.05
Washington, DC	N/A	N/A	$472.50	N/A

The next SRECTrade auction for the PJM and MA SREC markets will close on Friday, August 1st, at 5 p.m. ET.

This document is protected by copyright laws and contains material proprietary to SRECTrade, Inc. It or any components may not be reproduced, republished, distributed, transmitted, displayed, broadcast or otherwise exploited in any manner without the express prior written permission of SRECTrade, Inc. The receipt or possession of this document does not convey any rights to reproduce, disclose, or distribute its contents, or to manufacture, use, or sell anything that it may describe, in whole or in part. If consent to use these materials is granted, a link to the current version of this document on the SRECTrade website must be included for reference.

Tags: SREC Prices
Posted in SREC Markets, SREC Pricing | Comments Off on July 2014 SREC Pricing Update and Auction Results

Massachusetts 2015 SREC-I obligation announced

Posted July 8th, 2014 by SRECTrade.

Today, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) announced preliminary numbers for the 2015 SREC-I obligation. Assuming no changes, the 2015 SREC-I obligation will be 909,837 SRECs. The announcement can be found here.

In Massachusetts, the SREC compliance obligation, the amount of SRECs power suppliers are required to purchase in any given year, is determined by a formula that takes in to account the amount of SRECs to be generated, SRECs banked from previous periods, and the number of SRECs deposited and purchased in the Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction (SCCA). For the 2013 compliance period, 138,685 SRECs were deposited in the SCCA. If the SCCA does not clear in the first or second round, the preliminary 2015 compliance requirement will increase by a multiple 2 times the number of deposited SRECs. The first round of the 2013 SCCA will begin on Tuesday, July 29, 2014. For more information on the SCCA and the auction schedule click here.

For more details on how the 2015 compliance obligation was calculated click here: Preliminary Determination of CY 2015 Total Compliance Obligation and Minimum Standard

The table below demonstrates the 2015 compliance obligation if the SCCA clears in the first or second round or if the auction goes to the third round:

2015 Compliance Obligation

UPDATE: The DOER revised the 2015 SREC-I Minimum Standard percentage numbers on July 10, 2014. The DOER did not adjust the SREC compliance numbers. Original email can be found here. Please see the revised percentages below.

2015 Revised Compliance Percentage

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Mass. DOER Seeks Stakeholder Input on Residential Solar Loan Program Design

Posted June 27th, 2014 by SRECTrade.

The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) recently announced a plan to solicit stakeholder input regarding the implementation of a Residential Solar Loan Program. The goal of this program is to provide homeowners with access to solar loans while providing new business opportunities for local lenders. This new program is anticipated to launch in the fall of 2014.

Feedback will be solicited during three public stakeholder meetings hosted by the DOER. The time and locations of these meetings are as follows:

Eastern Massachusetts
Monday June 30th, 10am – 12pm, Conference Room C & D, Second Floor, 100 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA

Western Massachusetts
Tuesday July 1st, 1pm – 3pm, Dining Commons, 1 College Drive, Greenfield Community College, Greenfield, MA

Central Massachusetts
Wednesday July 2nd, 10am – 12pm, Weiss Room, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, 75 North Drive Westborough, MA

To RSVP for a meeting please email: (emma.krause@state.ma.us )

A copy of the official announcement letter can be found here.

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Massachusetts Telecom Utilities and Energy (TUE) Committee reports adverse SREC legislation to Ways and Means Committee

Posted June 17th, 2014 by SRECTrade.

On Friday, June 13, 2013, the Massachusetts Telecom, Utilities and Energy (TUE) Committee voted to report H. 3901 / S. 2019 to the Joint Ways and Means Committee. The legislation could be put up for consideration by the Ways and Means Committee as early as Wednesday, June 18th. If adopted in to law, without amendments, the controversial bill would remove the existing net metering capacity limits in exchange for the implementation of a utility administered declining block incentive program (in lieu of the current SREC program) and institute a minimum surcharge for all ratepayers. Facilities interconnected in areas operated by Municipal Light Districts would not have access to the new declining block program.

What does net metering have to do with SRECs?

SRECs and net metering are the key components of the performance based value that solar investors realize for installing solar facilities, but the relationship stops there. Net metering (credit for electricity delivered to the electric grid) is accounted for as a bill offset that utility customers are credited for on their electric bill. SRECs are purchased by the competitive power suppliers that sell electricity to the electric distribution companies (note: regulated utilities may also purchase SRECs to cover the standard offer service load delivered by competitive power suppliers).

The fast moving H. 3901 / S. 2019 bills were first publicly announced June 11th, during a meeting facilitated by the Department of Energy Resources (DOER) in Boston. Born initially from a need to negotiate a means to raise the net metering caps in Massachusetts, H. 3901 / S. 2019 would remove the net metering caps in exchange for allowing a change in MA’s solar incentive, a reduction in net metering and virtual net metering values, and a minimum bill charge.

Filed Bill and 6/11/2014 Stakeholder Presentation

Filed bill – H.3901 / S.2019

Summary – H.3901 / S.2019

Meeting Presentation – June 11, 2014 Stakeholder Meeting

An advocacy group named the Massachusetts Stakeholders for Competitive Solar has been formed. The group advocates that while a resolution must be reached to raise the net metering caps, it is unreasonable to prematurely replace a successful incentive program that is a proven success (for another unproven incentive) without appropriate input from the greater Massachusetts solar stakeholder community. Here is a copy of the letter covering this position. If you share the views in this group, you can sign on and show your support for the position here.

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Ohio SB 310 Signed into Law by Governor Kasich

Posted June 16th, 2014 by SRECTrade.

Friday, 6/13/2014, Ohio Governor John Kasich signed Ohio SB 310, bringing about major changes for Ohio’s renewable energy economy. Most importantly, the bill will place a two year freeze on Ohio’s Renewable Portfolio Standard requirements and end Ohio’s in-state purchasing requirements for SRECs. Pro-business and pro-utilities interests insist that the original legislation set unrealistic goals and placed unnecessary economic strain on Ohio ratepayers, despite evidence that the costs were less than $5 annually per household.

Here are the details of how this bill will affect SREC producers in and around Ohio:

Ohio RPS requirement frozen at 2014 levels through 2016. The original RPS schedule will resume with a two year delay after the freeze. The adjusted schedules are detailed in the following table:

SB 310 Screenshot

Ohio’s Solar Alternative Compliance Payment (SACP) will be similarly frozen at 2014 levels through 2016. The SACP is currently set at $300, and after 2016 will begin to decline by $50 every two years to reach a minimum of $50 by 2026.
The 50% in-state purchasing requirement for SRECs has been eliminated. All of Ohio’s SRECs may now be purchased from adjacent states.

Because the freeze on the RPS and SACP requirements is set to this year’s levels, impacts of these changes will not be felt until the beginning of 2015. The end of the in-state purchasing requirement, however, is effective immediately.

Though presented as a bill to buy time for Ohio’s legislature to discuss a responsible path forward for their state’s renewable energy economy, SB 310 is a significant step in the wrong direction for Ohio’s renewable energy future.

Tags: SB 310
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MA DOER Solar Stakeholder Meeting Recap

Posted June 11th, 2014 by SRECTrade.

Today, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (MA DOER) and representatives from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), New England Clean Energy Council (NECEC), and the Massachusetts regulated utilities presented their legislative proposal to address lifting solar net metering caps.

What This Legislation Covers

While the issue at hand is solar net metering, the bill also addresses several other areas, including the following:

Shifting the state’s successful, competitive Solar Renewable Energy Credit (SREC) incentive program to a declining block incentive program centrally administered by the MA regulated utilities (note SREC-I and SREC-II would be left in place as is. New capacity under SREC-II could be qualified through 2015);
Restructuring the rules associated with behind the meter, virtual meter, and non-net metered “merchant” projects; and
Implementing a minimum bill, regardless of electricity used, for all regulated utility customers.

Unknown Aspects To Be Determined

Under the current version of the legislation, pricing for the declining block incentive program has not yet been set. It is proposed that the, “declining block values will be established through a DOER stakeholder process and DPU adjudication and will consider differential economic needs of various market sectors”. Additionally, “the amount of the minimum bill will be set in a DPU proceeding”.

Moving Forward

At this point, the bill is subject to a legislative process. The state’s Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy (TUE) is expected to move to refer a version of the legislation out of committee by Friday, June 13th. From there it is believed to be reviewed by the Joint Committee on Ways and Means. If this legislation were to move forward, it would then need to be moved to the floor of the senate or the house, passed, referred to the other side of the legislature and passed, and then signed into law by the Governor.

For access to the latest draft of the legislation click here. For a summary of the points as prepared by the MA DOER click here.

If you would like to influence the legislative process, we suggest you reach out to the TUE or Ways and Means committees and express your thoughts. Additionally, for a directory of MA legislators click here.

This process remains fluid with more information and updates forthcoming. We’ll continue to provide updates on our blog as they are available.

Posted in Massachusetts, SREC Markets | Comments Off on MA DOER Solar Stakeholder Meeting Recap