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New Improvements for EasyREC customers!

Posted October 10th, 2011 by SRECTrade.

SRECTrade is launching a new round of website updates to provide customers with greater ease and versatility in selling SRECs. Some of these changes are already visible for customers when they log onto their EasyREC account. Here are two of the important new features released this week:

A New Account Home Page! This new home page is designed to provide you with all the information you need to know about your unsold SRECs in an streamlined, easy-to-read format. You can simply hover your cursor over your SRECs “Eligible Markets” to see in which states (and which Energy Years) they are eligible, as well as alter their minimum prices. The “Notices” section of the account page will keep you up-to-date on the most recent actions involving your SRECs, so check back whenever you want to get a quick update on your status!

Account

Multiple Minimum Prices! This feature allows customers to set different minimum prices for each of their SREC vintages. This provides customers the ability to stagger their offer prices, potentially selling some of their SRECs now and placing a higher value on others. The “Future Minimum SREC Price” acts as the default minimum price that will be applied to new SRECs as they get created at the end of the month:

Prices

SRECTrade will be adding more new features to your account over the next few months, so stay tuned! Many exiting things are on the way!

We’re continually working to improve our service and would love to hear what you make of these latest improvements.  Send us some feedback »

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Posted in SREC Markets | Comments Off on New Improvements for EasyREC customers!

NJ Capacity Update

Posted October 10th, 2011 by SRECTrade.

The New Jersey Office of Clean Energy (NJ OCE) recently released installed solar capacity figures as of August 31, 2011. After the first three months into Energy Year (EY) 2012, the state has averaged a rate just over 30 MW/month, bringing the total installed capacity to more than 430 MW, up from 339.6 MW at the end of EY2011. In order to meet the state’s fixed production requirement of 442,000 SRECs this year, approximately 370 MW needs to be online throughout the entire compliance period.

The 2012 spot market traded up to $200+/SREC in recent periods with the October auction clearing at $205. The estimated average installed capacity needed to meet the EY2013 requirement is approximately 500 MW. To reach this target by the beginning of EY2013, the state would have to install an additional 70 MW, or an average of 7.8 MW/month for the remainder of EY2012. This calculation takes into consideration the capacity needed to generate enough EY2013 vintage SRECs, which could be reduced based on EY2012 vintage SRECs used to meet the EY2013 compliance obligation.

The surge in installed capacity is partially due to the anticipated expiration of the federal 1603 grant, an upfront cash payment for commercial projects of up to 30% of system costs, at the end of the calendar year. As more projects aim to take advantage of the grant before it expires, the total installed capacity will continue to approach the EY2013 target.

Upon their return from recess, state legislators will consider an amendment to the RPS to pull 2014 and future year requirements forward one year in attempt to prevent a prolonged oversupply in the SREC market. The chart below demonstrates monthly installed capacity and corresponding increases since December 2010.

NJ Capacity Aug 31 2011

Note: This analysis is based on capacity as of the dates noted and does not take into consideration the impact of EY2012 vintage SRECs used to meet the EY2013 requirement.

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Posted in New Jersey, SREC Markets | 1 Comment »

MA Capacity Update

Posted October 6th, 2011 by SRECTrade.

The MA Department of Energy Resources (DOER) recently published an updated qualified solar projects list as of September 23, 2011. The state currently has a total of 982 solar projects, 957 operational and 25 not operational, eligible for the SREC program. 11 of the 982 projects are greater than 1 MW, 3 of which are currently operational. The largest project, located in Sheffield, MA and approximately 2.0 MW, is not yet operational. The second largest project is 1.8 MW, located in Dartmouth, MA, and has been operational since March 2011. The table below demonstrates the change in capacity and # of projects from the last update on August 15, 2011.


 8/15/11 9/23/11 Change % Change
Capacity (MW)
Operational 23.0 26.6 3.7 15.9%
Not Operational1 14.9 14.0 (1.0) -6.6%
Total 37.9 40.6 2.7 7.0%
Projects (#)
Operational 829 957 128 15.4%
Not Operational1 32 25 (7) -21.9%
Total 861 982 121 14.1%
1. A decline in capacity and # of projcts can be explained by not operational projects converting to operational.

Overall, the total qualified capacity currently stands at 40.6 MW, of which 26.6 MW is operational. The next SREC issuance period is scheduled for October 15, 2011. This will cover all SRECs generated during Q2 2011. Based on the information provided by the DOER as of 9/12/2011, 2,358 SRECs were issued in Q1 2011 (issuance date was 7/15/11). Additionally, based on the data provided, 5,652* MWh have been reported to the MassCEC Production Tracking System (PTS) for the period covering April – June 2011. An another 3,929* MWh have been reported during July and August 2011.

Taking into consideration the estimated load exemptions for the TransCanada settlement, MA electricity suppliers need to acquire approximately 63,000 SRECs during the 2011 compliance year.  According to the DOER 2012 minimum standard announcement, the forecast generation for the 2011 compliance year is 29,056 SRECs.

The chart below demonstrates the qualified capacity as of 9/23/11 compared to the estimated MW requirements needed to be online and operational during the entire 2011 and 2012 compliance years to meet the state’s solar obligations.

MA Capacity 9_23_11

Note: The 2011 and 2012 estimated megawatts required in the chart above have been adjusted for the impact of the TransCanada settlement.

* These figures represent the MWhs reported to PTS on a monthly basis. The DOER notes that the data from PTS is not finalized and the actual number of SRECs minted by NEPOOL GIS may differ.


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Posted in Massachusetts, SREC Markets | 1 Comment »

PA State Rep. Chris Ross Introduces HB 1580

Posted October 4th, 2011 by SRECTrade.

State Representative Chris Ross’ (R-Chester) long awaited House Bill 1580 was formally introduced on Monday, 10/4/2011. Solar industry advocates interested in stabilizing SREC prices are closely watching the progress of HB 1580, hoping that the bill will receive widespread support within the Pennsylvania House and Senate. Christina Simeone of PennFuture mentioned that the bill currently has the support of 104 co-sponsors, over half of the 203 member PA House (40 of the co-sponsors are Republicans).

The amendment would modify the solar carve-out requirements for energy years 2013, 2014, and 2015 would increase from approximately 71 MW, 118 MW and 205 MW to 207 MW, 238 MW, and 290 MW, respectively. Language in HB 1580 also proposes changes to the eligibility criteria so that only in-state systems registered after January 1, 2011 would be able to sell SRECs in the PA market.

Once HB 1580 is submitted to committee it must contend with other pressing issues before the House and Senate such as state budget deliberations. Given the current issues before the House, it may be several months before the bill can go to vote, however local advocacy groups are committed to raising the profile of the bill over the next several weeks to ensure that it receives the full attention of House members in these critical initial stages. SRECTrade will continue to closely monitor the bill as it moves forward.

For more information on HB 1580 please go here and here.

The Vote Solar Initiative has put together a “contact your Representative” link for HB 1580.

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Posted in Pennsylvania | 1 Comment »

October 2011 SREC Auction Results

Posted October 3rd, 2011 by SRECTrade.

SRECTrade’s October 2011 SREC Auction has completed. Below are the clearing prices at which SRECs traded this month.

October SREC Prices Energy Year Ending
State 2010 2011 2012*
Delaware – – $90.00
Maryland In-State – $200.00
Maryland Out-of-State – –
Massachusetts – –
New Jersey $670.00 $670.00 $205.00
Ohio In-State – $395.00
Ohio Out-of-State – –
Pennsylvania – – $24.99
Washington, DC $61.00 $101.00

Notes:
*Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania operate on a June-May energy year.
“-” reflects no sale, which would result if there were no matching bids and offers that cleared for a sale in the auction.

State Market Observations:

Delaware: Legislation increasing the SREC requirement went into effect this past June but the market has yet to pick up in response. Stakeholders in DE continue to work to wards a long-term SREC contract solicitation program for new facilities. Meanwhile, the SREC market will likely pick up at the end of the energy year when electricity suppliers are more active.

Maryland: SRECs continue to hover around $200, as the in-state supply of 28.3 MW grows near the ~29 MW of capacity that was required on average throughout 2011. The state seems on a good pace to maintain a balanced supply relative to demand. As 2011 comes to an end, a shortage of SRECs in the state, if any, will be reflected by an increase in prices at the end of the trading period in the first quarter of 2012. Out-of-state SRECs continue to be a non-factor in Maryland.

Massachusetts: The next batch of SRECs will be created on October 17th for Q2 2012 generation. SRECTrade holds special quarterly auctions for Massachusetts SRECs on the day they are created. The next quarterly MA SREC auction closes on Monday October 17th.

New Jersey: Last minute purchasing fueled by the predicted shortage of 2011 SRECs drove pricing up for the few remaining 2011 SRECs in the market. Meanwhile, the 2012 market rebounded to $205 after dropping to $165 last month. As more buyers become active in the 2012 market, prices should continue to correct, though, given the continued influx of supply (now at 430 MW), any price corrections will be limited unless the state takes some action.

Ohio: In-State SRECs continue to be in high demand as prices clear at or near the SACP again. Meanwhile, the demand for out-of-state SRECs has slowed down at this time, likely due to the effects of a significant oversupply in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania: HB 1508 was recently introduced to address the state’s SREC market. This marks the beginning of a long process to rescue the PA SREC market. Until then, SRECs will continue to bottom out.

Washington, DC: New legislation closing the DC market borders and increasing requirements is having an impact as prices jumped back up over $100 for the first time this year.

For historical pricing please see this link. As mentioned the Massachusetts quarterly auction order period will close on Monday October 17th. For all other states, the order period for the November auction will close on Monday, October 31, 2011 at 5:00 p.m Eastern. For more information, please visit www.srectrade.com.

Posted in SREC Markets, SREC Pricing | 1 Comment »

$4.5M solar grant bridges Connecticut’s transition to SRECs (a.k.a. ZRECs)

Posted October 3rd, 2011 by SRECTrade.

After successfully passing Bill 1243, Connecticut will be moving to an SREC-based solar financing program in 2012 (technically referred to as ZREC or LREC for “low-” or “zero-” emission). Per the guidelines set forth in the legislation, the state’s electricity suppliers must propose plans for the SREC solicitation program by the end of this year. Given that the law doesn’t require the first contracts to be signed until the end of 2012, we expect the details for the Connecticut SREC program to be finalized in mid- to late-2012.

In an effort to bridge the time until SRECs launch in Connecticut, the Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority (formerly CT Clean Energy Fund) has developed a solicitation for solar projects by experienced developers. $4.5M in solar funding is available through the competitive RFP. The solicitation period will be open until December 30, 2011 and results will be announced in March 2012. However, any projects that take the grant will not be eligible for the SREC program commencing in late 2012. The CEFIA will hold an information session at the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, 79 Elm Street, Hartford, CT on October 12, 2011. See below for more information and check out this website for complete details.

The Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority (CEFIA), formerly the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF), has combined the former Best of Class and Public Buidlings solicitations.  The new solicitation, the On-Site Renewable Distributed Generation (OSDG) Program Best of Class, Public Buildings and Affordable Housing Request for Proposals (RFP) solicits applications from eligible entities working with experienced renewable energy developers. There will be a strong emphasis on evaluating the financial feasibility of proposed projects as well as the ability of applicants to complete project construction in a timely manner. The intent of the funding is to enable owners of eligible renewable energy systems to “break even” over the life of the equipment, with a fair and reasonable return on investment compared to purchasing the equivalent amount of power from an electric utility company.

CEFIA is currently offering OSDG grants through an RFP format. The OSDG Best of Class, Public Buildings and Affordable Housing RFP will be offered to bridge the time until the launch of the Zero-Emission and Low-Emission Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) programs become available to the market and to prepare the market for the transition from a grant-based program model to a REC-based program model. The competitive, solar photovoltaic (PV) only RFP will close at 5:00 p.m. EST on December 30, 2011. The closing date for the rolling submission, other technologies RFP will be announced in early October 2011.

Funding available under this RFP is as follows:

Best of Class, Public Buildings and Affordable Housing

 Type of RFP

PV

$4,500,000

 Competitive

Fuel Cell

To Be Announced

 Rolling Submission

Other Technologies

To Be Announced

 Rolling Submission
Competitve, PV-only RFP Timeline Activities
Activity Date
Issue RFP document
September 12, 2011
Issue press release
September 12, 2011
Questions accepted in writing – E-mail only – info@ctcleanenergy.com
September 12, 2011 to
October 12, 2011

Information session – Phoenix Room, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, 79 Elm Street, Hartford
4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
October 12, 2011
Final question responses posted on CEFIA Website
October 31, 2011
RFP response due date – Competitive solicitation only
December 30, 2011
5:00 p.m. EST
Eligibility rejection/acceptance letters issued – Competitive solicitation only
January 2012
CEFIA staff recommendations to the Board – Competitive solicitation only
February 2012
Funding authorization letters issued – Competitive solicitation only
March 2012

The timeline for the rolling submission, other technologies RFP will be announced in early October 2011.

Links to Important Information

Competitive Solicitation RFP document – PV only
Competitive Solicitation RFP application – PV only

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Posted in Connecticut | Comments Off on $4.5M solar grant bridges Connecticut’s transition to SRECs (a.k.a. ZRECs)

Distributed Generation Amendment Act of 2011 Implemented

Posted September 27th, 2011 by SRECTrade.

The Council of the District of Columbia and the city’s Mayor signed into law the Distributed Generation Amendment Act of 2011. SRECTrade closely watched this legislation as it evolved over the last 7 months. Our most recent blog on the subject is here. The Act ultimately focuses on providing a sustainable SREC market for the residents of Washington DC while containing the potential cost to ratepayers. The amendment increases the RPS solar requirements and closes the District’s boarders from out-of-district sited systems. The affect on the market is demonstrated in our Capacity Update of systems eligible to create DC SRECs moving forward.

This week, the PJM tracking registry (PJM GATS) is undergoing the process of de-certifying systems that were once eligible under the previous Washington DC RPS law. As per the new legislation, all non-Washington DC sited systems that were approved after January 31, 2011 by the DC Public Service Commission are no longer eligible to sell SRECs in the DC market. This cutoff date is clearly displayed by a customer’s DC State Certification Number; any certification number beginning “DC-10…-SUN-I” was certified before January 31, 2011, while any certification number beginning “DC-11….-SUN-I” was certified after that date.

What does this mean for the market?

While this law is not likely to cause DC SREC prices to rebound immediately to the level that was seen in 2010 (due to the fact that buyers have likely accumulated extra SRECs throughout the early part of this year, along with any forward contracts that were in place before the law was implemented), this law is an important step to alleviating the oversupply that has depressed DC SREC prices.

What does this mean for facilities certified after January 31, 2011?

Any facility not located within Washington DC with the state certification number beginning “DC-11…” has had their certification number de-activated. The facility is no longer eligible to generate future SRECs in the DC market, and any SRECs they have already created have lost their eligibility for the DC SREC market.

– If your facility falls under this category, and is already eligible to sell SRECs in another state, you will not see any disruption in your account except that you are no longer eligible for the DC market.

– If your facility is eligible to be certified for another SREC market, but you were only certified in DC, you can apply for certification in another state market. Please see this chart for more information on your eligibility.

– If your facility was originally only eligible for DC (i.e. your system is located in WI, NY, NC(non-Dominion Power territory) or you had a Solar Thermal system not located within Washington DC), PJM GATS will be listing your facility as “inactive”. Any SRECs you have created will not be eligible for sale, and you will not create future SRECs unless another market opens that allows your facility to be certified. Currently, solar facilities in this scenario are only eligible in the NC SREC market – but due to extremely low pricing in the oversaturated NC market, this option is not very viable for solar owners.

SRECTrade will continue to post opportunities for cross-listing SRECs in other state markets.

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Posted in Cross-Listing, SREC Markets, Washington, DC | 4 Comments »

Pennsylvania Solar Advocacy Day (Monday, Oct. 24th)

Posted September 27th, 2011 by SRECTrade.

On Monday, October 24th PennFuture, Vote Solar, the Solar Alliance, and SUNWPA will hold a Solar Advocacy Day and Evening Reception at the Capitol building in Harrisburg. If you are part of Pennsylvania solar community this is an opportunity to educate policymakers and the media about solar in your state. The main focus of the advocacy day will be the support of the Solar Jobs Bill, which we’ve written a few blog postings about.

Here are the websites for the participating groups:

Vote Solar: national grassroots solar advocacy group
PennFuture: Pennsylvania environmental advocacy group
Solar Alliance: state-focused solar industry group
SUNWPA (Solar Unified Network of Western Pennsylvania): sub-group of PennFuture without a formal website

Click here to take action. Use the link to let your local PA state representative know that you support solar in PA.

If you have an advocacy event that you’d like SRECTrade to know about please email installers@srectrade.com

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Posted in Pennsylvania, SREC Markets | Comments Off on Pennsylvania Solar Advocacy Day (Monday, Oct. 24th)

Solar Capacity in the SREC States – September 2011

Posted September 26th, 2011 by SRECTrade.

SRECTrade SREC Markets Report: September 2011

The following post outlines the megawatts of solar capacity certified and/or registered to create SRECs in the SREC markets SRECTrade currently serves.

For a PDF copy of this table click here.

Capacity_September2011

PJM Eligible Systems

As of the end of September, there were 18,822 solar PV (18,571) and solar thermal (251) systems registered and eligible to create SRECs in the PJM Generation Attribute Tracking System (GATS) registry. Of these eligible systems, 81 (0.43%) have a nameplate capacity of 1 megawatt or greater, of which only 6 systems are greater than 5 MW. The largest system, currently located in New Jersey, is 18.3 MW, and the second largest, located in Ohio is 12 MW. The third largest system, at 11.2 MW, is located in Delaware.

Beginning of energy year for DE, NJ, and PA

June 1, 2011 marked the beginning of the new energy year for DE, NJ, and PA. All requirements for these markets increase given their RPS solar carve out schedules. SRECs for the month of August, the third creation period for the new reporting year, will be minted at the end of September.

Delaware: The reporting year 2011-2012 requirement for DE equates to approximately 21 MW being online for the entire year or approximately 25,600 SRECs created. As of September 25, 2011, 20.8 MW of solar capacity was registered and eligible to create DE SRECs in PJM GATS. 11.2 MW of the 20.8 MW currently eligible is from the Dover Sun Park project developed by LS Power. In the 2011-12 compliance year, Delmarva Power has contracted to purchase 9,846 SRECs from the project, of which 7,000 are being held by the Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU) until 2015-16*.

New Jersey: The reporting year 2012 requirement for NJ equates to approximately 368 MW being online for the entire year with a fixed SREC requirement of 442,000 MWhs. As of September 25, 2011, 397.1 MW of solar capacity was registered and eligible to create NJ SRECs in PJM GATS. While this figure represents all projects registered in GATS, there are recently installed projects awaiting issuance of a New Jersey state certification number. This delay results in a portion of installed projects not yet represented in the 397.1 MW figure. As of July 31, 2011 the NJ Office of Clean Energy (NJ OCE) reported that 399.9 MW of solar had been installed in NJ. For more details on the increase in NJ capacity see this post.

Pennsylvania: The reporting year 2012 requirement for PA equates to approximately 44 MW being online for the entire year or approximately 53,000 SRECs created. As of September 25, 2011, 133.4 MW of solar capacity was registered and eligible to create PA eligible SRECs.

Washington, D.C. – Distributed Generation Amendment Act of 2011 Implemented

The Council of the District of Columbia and the city’s Mayor signed into law the Distributed Generation Amendment Act of 2011. The amendment increases the RPS solar requirements and closes the district’s boarders from out of district sited systems. The figures displayed above demonstrate the capacity of systems eligible to create DC SRECs moving forward.

Massachusetts DOER Qualified Projects

As of August 15, 2011, there were 861 MA DOER qualified solar projects; 829 operational and 32 not operational. Of these qualified systems, 11 (1.3%) have a nameplate capacity of 1 megawatt or greater, of which only 3 are between 1.5 and 2 MW. Three of the projects greater than 1 MW are currently operational.

Capacity Summary By State

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. For example, New Jersey needs approximately 368 MW online for the entire 2012 reporting year to meet the RPS requirement. 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.

*Source: State of Delaware Pilot Program For the Procurement of Solar Renewable Energy Credits: Recommendations of the Renewable Energy Taskforce

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Posted in Capacity Summary, SREC Markets | 1 Comment »

New Jersey Installed Capacity Update

Posted September 14th, 2011 by SRECTrade.

The New Jersey Office of Clean Energy (NJ OCE) recently released installed solar capacity figures as of July 31, 2011. After the first two months into Energy Year (EY) 2012, the state has averaged a rate just over 30 MW/month, bringing the total installed capacity to nearly 400 MW, up from 339.6 MW at the end of EY2011. These figures exceed the estimated average capacity required to meet the state’s 2012 target of approximately 370 MW.

The rapid growth in capacity corresponds with a sharp decline in prices for 2012 spot trading, with the September auction clearing at $166.79. The estimated average installed capacity needed to meet the EY2013 requirements is 500 MW. To reach this target by the beginning of EY2013, the state would only have to install an additional 100 MW, or an average of 10 MW/month for the remainder of EY2012.

The surge in installed capacity is partially due to the anticipated expiration of the federal 1603 grant, an upfront cash payment for commercial projects of up to 30% of system costs, at the end of the calendar year. As more projects aim to take advantage of the grant before it expires, the total installed capacity will continue to approach the EY2013 target.

Upon their return from recess, state legislators will consider an amendment to the RPS to pull 2014 and future year requirements forward one year in attempt to prevent a prolonged oversupply in the SREC market. The chart below demonstrates monthly installed capacity and corresponding increases since December 2010.

NJ Installs 7_31_11

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Posted in New Jersey, SREC Markets | 1 Comment »

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