Today, the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) released a letter to Maryland solar industry stakeholders announcing how the Department of General Services (DGS) and the University System of Maryland (USM) will be managing SRECs purchased from the 17.4 MW project sited at Mount St. Mary’s (MSM) University in Emmitsburg, MD.

The letter explains that DGS and USM are responsible for purchasing electricity and SRECs from 10.67 MW and 5.33 MW of the project, respectively.  The MEA goes on to explain DGS will act as a “provider of last resort” and will sell SRECs only if the market needs them. The letter also states the MEA suggested DGS set an offer price of 90% of the SACP for these excess SRECs.

Furthermore, the administration’s letter covers USM’s management plan stating that, “USM is committed to using SRECs to meet its RPS requirements, and could potentially use any surplus to meet future RPS requirements, voluntary carbon reductions, and/or potential future utility budget shortfalls. USM is cognizant of the fact that MSM’s SRECs represent a significant share of the market in 2013 and 2014, when the market is most vulnerable to potential oversupply. USM does not currently intend to sell the excess SRECs in 2013 or 2014.”

These statements demonstrate the volume of SRECs owned by DGS will only be sold in under-supplied compliance periods. USM’s management plan states the current intention to hold SRECs in the near term, but appears there could be instances in which USM’s excess SRECs are sold to help bridge budget shortfalls.

For a full copy of the MEA letter click here.

A more detailed analysis of this statement’s impact on Maryland SREC supply will be available in the SREC Market Monitor, a joint-venture between SRECTrade and Greentech Media’s GTM Research.