Posts Tagged ‘Pennsylvania’

Pennsylvania Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS) Expansion Legislation Introduced

Posted April 5th, 2021 by SRECTrade.

On Friday, March 26th, Pennsylvania State Senators Art Haywood (D-Montgomery/Philadelphia) and Dan Laughlin (R-Erie) introduced legislation that would amend PA’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards (AEPS) Act of 2004 and increase the state’s Tier I requirement from 8% to 18% by 2026. In addition, the legislation would increase the state’s solar carve-out from 0.5% at present to 5.5%, with 3.75% of the carve-out being sourced from in-state utility-scale solar (projects larger than 5 MW) and 1.75% from in-state distributed solar (smaller, interconnected residential and commercial projects). Notably, the legislation would also establish a limit on the cost of alternative energy credits (AECs, PA’s renewable energy credits) and facilitate long-term contracting in an effort to help minimize ratepayer impacts. Lastly, the legislation would also initiate a study on renewable energy storage in the state. The proposed legislation is expected to help address the state’s current economic crisis due to COVID-19 by inspiring renewable energy investment and creating jobs.

This legislation was introduced just days after PA Governor Tom Wolf’s announcement on March 22nd that 50% of the Pennsylvania government’s electricity will come from solar energy by 2023. The governor’s initiative, named PULSE (Project to Utilize Light and Solar Energy), represents the largest state government solar energy commitment in the nation. PULSE includes seven new solar arrays totaling 191 MW that will be built around the state.

While a number of steps in the legislative process must still be completed before the AEPS expansion would be passed into law, its introduction represents a continued step forward in PA’s renewable energy transition. SRECTrade will continue to monitor the legislation’s development and provide updates.

Tags: AEC, AEPS, Alternative Energy Credit, Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard, PA, Pennsylvania
Posted in Pennsylvania, SREC Markets, State RPS | Comments Off on Pennsylvania Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS) Expansion Legislation Introduced

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf Announces Support For AEPS Expansion

Posted May 3rd, 2019 by SRECTrade.

On Monday, April 29th, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf declared his support for Senate Bill 600 (SB 600). In conjunction, Gov. Wolf released the fourth iteration of the state’s Climate Action Plan, providing recommendations for how the state can mitigate climate change, and also announced that Pennsylvania joined the U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of 24 states committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Initially introduced in the Pennsylvania General Assembly on April 10th, SB 600 was referred to the Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee on April 29th. The bill updates the state’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards (AEPS) for the first time since the AEPS was established in 2004, calling for four primary changes:

Expand the AEPS Tier I requirement from 8% by 2021 to 30% by 2030
Expand the AEPS solar carve-out from 0.5% by 2021 to 10% by 2030, including 7.5% for grid-supply solar and 2.5% for distributed generation (DG) solar
Minimize rate increases for electricity customers by introducing fixed alternative compliance payment (ACP) schedules and a 15-year SREC eligibility term for solar facilities (beginning on June 1, 2021)
Direct the PA Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to explore a program for renewable energy storage

SB 600’s introduction of solar carve-out compliance categories between “customer-generators” and “non-customer-generators” marks a first for the state. Tables 2 and 3 above display the proposed solar carve-out requirements and solar alternative compliance payment (SACP) schedules between the two respective categories. The bill defines customer-generators as solar facilities that were certified on or before May 31, 2021 and also appears to define them as “behind-the-meter” facilities. Conversely, it appears that non-customer-generators are defined as grid-supply facilities, although the exact definitions of both categories may be subject to change.

Tags: PA, Pennsylvania, renewable portfolio standard, RPS
Posted in Pennsylvania, SREC Markets, State RPS | Comments Off on Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf Announces Support For AEPS Expansion

PA PUC Enters Final Implementation Order of Act 40

Posted May 10th, 2018 by SRECTrade.

On Thursday, May 3rd, the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC) entered its Final Implementation Order of Act 40 of 2017, clarifying some questions that remained from its adoption of the Final Implementation Order. Notably, the entry confirmed that PA-certified but out-of-state facilities would not be grandfathered with solar renewable energy credit (SREC) eligibility (i.e. Tier I solar), since the PUC found that grandfathering these facilities would result in minimal improvement for state SREC prices and fail to effectuate the intentions of the PA General Assembly.

The entry also clarified that PA SRECs associated with energy generated after October 30, 2017 would be re-certified to non-solar RECs (i.e. Tier I non-solar). The PA REC Program Administrator and PJM GATS have already worked together to modify the Tier I certification numbers attributed to all out-of-state facilities and SRECs that no longer qualify for Tier I solar eligibility. This means that SRECs with a Month of Generation of November 2017 and later have now been re-certified as Tier I non-solar RECs.

Some facilities that were re-certified with Tier I non-solar eligibility will be permitted to temporarily maintain SREC certification if under an SREC contract with an electric distribution company (EDC) or electric generation supplier (EGS) serving PA customers. EDCs and EGSs seeking to qualify contracted RECs as Tier I solar-eligible under the Final Implementation Order’s ruling must file a petition within 60 days of the entry date of the Order (May 3rd). Please note that such facilities will only be permitted to maintain certification until the expiration of the SREC contract.

Moving forward, it appears that the PA REC Program Administrator will be responsible for working with PJM GATS to re-certify SREC-contracted facilities for Tier I non-solar REC generation once their contract term expires.

Additionally, the entry clarified that:

Solar facilities interconnected in PJM service territory are permitted to continue generating RECs eligible to be used toward Tier I non-solar requirements in the AEPS.
Out-of-state grid-supply solar facilities must be serving end-use electricity load in PA to continue to generate energy and SRECs eligible for compliance under the Tier I solar requirement. Specifically, solar facilities must meet one of the following criteria:
- Physical connection to a PA EDC customer’s internal electrical system
- Physical interconnection to an EDC’s distribution system
- Physical connection to a PA electric cooperative’s or municipal electric system’s distribution network
- Physical connection to any PA-located transmission system, including utility-scale solar facilities that are within a PA EDC’s service territory and operating under PJM wholesale generator rules
SRECs generated by out-of-state facilities prior to October 30, 2017 will maintain their Tier I solar certification

Tags: Act 40, Final Implementation Order, PA, Pennsylvania, Public Utilities Commission
Posted in Environmental Policy, Pennsylvania, SREC Markets | Comments Off on PA PUC Enters Final Implementation Order of Act 40

PA PUC Adopts Final Implementation Order of Act 40 – Impacts Out-of-State PA-Certified Solar Projects

Posted April 19th, 2018 by SRECTrade.

On Thursday, April 19th, the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC) adopted its Final Implementation Order of Act 40 of 2017. The Order amends the qualifications to certify Tier I solar photovoltaic facilities under Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards (AEPS) Act. As summarized in our previous blog post, ambiguous language in Section 2804(2)(i) and Section 2804(2)(ii) of Act 40 made it unclear whether certified but out-of-state facilities would retain their certifications under the AEPS. The Order clarified the PUC’s interpretations of Section 2804(2)(i) and Section 2804(2)(ii) which are as follows:

Section 2804(2)(i) – “[a] certification originating within the geographical boundaries of this Commonwealth…” shall mean a facility located within PA having received an AEPS Tier I solar photovoltaic certification.
Section 2804(2)(ii) – shall only permit out-of-state facilities that are 1) already certified as AEPS Tier I Solar Photovoltaic and 2) entered into an SREC contract with a PA electric distribution company (EDC) or electric generation supplier (EGS) serving PA customers to maintain certification until the expiration of the contract.

Solar facilities that meet the two Section 2804(2)(ii) criteria listed above are limited to maintaining certification only for the applicable amount of Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs) contractually committed to an EDC or EGS. EDCs and EGSs seeking to qualify SRECs under this interpretation must file a Petition with 60 days of the entry date of the Order.

In addition, the Order clarified that SRECs generated by certified but out-of-state facilities prior to October 30, 2017 will retain their Tier I solar qualification for their standard banking lifetime (current reporting year and following two). The Order did not clarify whether SRECs generated by such facilities after October 30, 2017 will also be able to retain their Tier I solar qualification.

At this time, it is unclear how implementation of these interpretations will be administered. SRECTrade will continue to monitor the proceedings and provide updates as they become available.

Tags: Out-of-state, PA, Pennsylvania, Public Utilities Commission, PUC
Posted in Environmental Policy, Pennsylvania, SREC Markets | Comments Off on PA PUC Adopts Final Implementation Order of Act 40 – Impacts Out-of-State PA-Certified Solar Projects

OH and PA SREC SREC Market Webinar: Tuesday, 4/8 @ 2 pm ET

Posted March 27th, 2014 by SRECTrade.

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.

Click here to register

Tags: Ohio, Pennsylvania
Posted in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Webinars | Comments Off on OH and PA SREC SREC Market Webinar: Tuesday, 4/8 @ 2 pm ET

Why are Pennsylvania SREC prices so low?

Posted February 16th, 2012 by SRECTrade.

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:

Capping the Alternative Compliance Payment (ACP) for solar at $325, with a 2% annual decline
Offsetting early-year increases in the solar requirement with decreases in later years and extending the SREC program through 2026
Allowing solar hot water (SHW) systems to qualify for SREC sales
Making slight adjustments to the language of the in-state requirement, aimed at preventing net-metered systems from inadvertently being disqualified
Ensuring that utilities cannot procure any AEPS resource above the ACP price

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.

Tags: HB 1580, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania SREC, Solar, Solar Cost, SREC Prices, SRECs
Posted in Pennsylvania, SREC Markets | Comments Off on Why are Pennsylvania SREC prices so low?

Hearing on Pennsylvania SREC Bill (HB 1580) delayed again

Posted December 7th, 2011 by SRECTrade.

A 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.

Tags: HB 1580, Pennsylvania, renewable portfolio standard, RPS, SREC, SRECs
Posted in Pennsylvania | Comments Off on Hearing on Pennsylvania SREC Bill (HB 1580) delayed again

PSEIA: HB1580 creates thousands of jobs for less than half a penny a day

Posted November 23rd, 2011 by SRECTrade.

On November 16^th, 2011, the Pennsylvania Solar Energy Industries Association (PASEIA) released its Ratepayer Cost Analysis regarding PA House Bill #1580. HB1580 was introduced on October 3^rd, 2011 by Rep. Chris Ross, and includes 109 co-sponsors as of November 10^th, 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.

Current Scenario
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)
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
Reporting Year	Estimated Elect Sales	Estimated Increased Cost	Cost Increase per kWh	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

Tags: Chris Ross, Cost Analysis, HB 1580, HB1580, PA, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Solar energy industries association, PSEIA, Ratepayer
Posted in Pennsylvania, SREC Markets, State RPS | Comments Off on PSEIA: HB1580 creates thousands of jobs for less than half a penny a day

Pennsylvania Legislative Update: HB 1580 Still in Committee and In Need of Support

Posted October 28th, 2011 by SRECTrade.

Over 90 members of the Pennsylvania solar industry lobbied Pennsylvania legislators on Monday, 10/28/11 to voice their support HB 1580 an SREC bill. The effort was part of an official “Pennsylvania Solar Advocacy Day” event put on by PennFuture, Solar Alliance, Vote Solar, PASEIA and others. By the end of the day more than 108 members of the Pennsylvania House (of a required 100) had offered to sponsor the legislation should it make it out of committee.

House Bill 1580 (sponsored by Rep. Chris Ross, R-Chester) proposes to move the total requirement of SRECs forward by three years to increase the number of SRECs Load Serving Entities (utility-scale “dirty” electricity producers) must purchase. The rapid implementation of Pennsylvania SREC eligible facilities over the last year has led to an SREC over-supply of more than double the amount of SRECs needed by utility-scale electricity producers. This over-supply is responsible for low SREC pricing in Pennsylvania.

SREC markets are driven by the fundamentals of supply and demand. However in Pennsylvania demand (the amount of SRECs required for a given year) is significantly lower than the number of SRECs available. The Pennsylvania SREC market is designed in such a way that every year there is a set goal for amount of power that comes from renewable energy sources and any adjustment to the yearly goal requires legislative action.

In order for the bill to move forward it needs the support of Rep. Bob Godshall, Chairman of the House Consumer Affairs Committee for Committee vote. PennFuture has asked the Pennsylvania solar community to write Rep. Godshall to show their support of the bill. However, even if the bill gets out of Committee in its current form it still needs to pass the House and Senate. With 108 state Representatives co-signing the bill it is expected to pass the House, but it’s unclear how it will fair if it reaches the Senate.

Stay tuned for more HB 1580 Updates.

Tags: 1580, HB1580, PA, PASEIA, PennFuture, Pennsylvania, Solar Advocacy Day, Solar Alliance, Solar RECs, SREC bill, SRECs, Vote Solar
Posted in Pennsylvania | 2 Comments »

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

Posted September 27th, 2011 by SRECTrade.

On Monday, October 24^th 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

Tags: grassroots, House Bill 1580, PennFuture, Pennsylvania, renewable portfolio standard, RPS, SACP, Solar, Solar advocacy, Solar Alliance, Solar Capacity, SREC, SRECs, Vote Solar
Posted in Pennsylvania, SREC Markets | Comments Off on Pennsylvania Solar Advocacy Day (Monday, Oct. 24th)