Posts Tagged ‘selling SRECs’

SRECTrade launches in Ohio

Posted June 18th, 2009 by SRECTrade.

We are really excited to announce that we will be launching our auction in Ohio next month! We are adding seven new states in our July 10th auction and giving SREC sellers the ability to cross-list their SRECs. Unlike previous years, the Ohio SREC market is going to be significant and increase rapidly every year. Our estimates show that there will be a demand for 6,200 SRECs in Ohio this year, half of which must come from Ohio generators. These numbers represent the 0.004% solar requirement for utilities in Ohio and this number will grow to 0.5% by 2024.

Utilities that fail to comply will have to pay a Solar Alternative Compliance Payment (SACP) for each SREC (i.e. 1 Mega Watt Hour of electricity) they are short. For 2009, this has been set at $450. For 2010 and 2011 it will be $400, $350 for 2012 and 2013, and will continue to drop $50 every two years until it reaches $50 in 2024.

The SACP somewhat represents the ceiling price for SRECs. This is the first year that the SREC requirement is significant in Ohio where the demand is expected to be higher than supply. This means utilities will be willing to pay prices closer to the SACP. Therefore, our suggestion would be to not enter into long-term contracts, at least for now, as the future of the SREC market is still not fully certain.

PA, MD, DC, and OH accept out of state SRECs for now. For those of you who wish to be able to sell your certificates in these states, your system needs to be registered in that state and have a separate State Certification Number. We will soon put up information on the procedure.

How to get started in Ohio:

1. Certify your PV system: your installer will provide you with the information to get your system certified by the state.

2. Start selling your SRECs:

Option A: Sign up for our EasyBid service, and we’ll handle your SRECs. We’ll take care of registering your system to generate SRECs, and cross-listing your SRECs on our multi-state auction platform every month to make sure you get the best price for your SRECs.

Option B: Users who choose to manage their own SREC accounts can register with GATS or MISO in Ohio. Then post your SRECs every month on SRECTrade.com or find a third-party to sell your SRECs.

SRECTrade Expands to Maryland

Posted June 18th, 2009 by SRECTrade.

SRECTrade is expanding into several other PJM Region states in July of 2009. As part of this expansion, we are utilizing this blog to help introduce our customers to the individual state SREC programs. Maryland’s Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS) requires electric service providers to provide 20 percent of their sales in the state from renewable energy sources by 2022. There is a specific carve-out for solar-generated electricity, currently at .01% for 2009 and set to reach 2% by 2022. Much like other states, electricity suppliers must make an alternative compliance payment (ACP) into the Maryland Strategic Energy Investment Fund should they not meet each yearly requirement.

Maryland is unique because the RPS mandates that electricity suppliers buying from individual solar owners must enter a 15-year contract for the sale of all the owner’s SRECs produced during that time. Due to uncertainty of the future, electricity suppliers have been disinclined to buy SRECs in this manner, and thus both sides have mutually used third parties (as allowed by law) as a means of transferring the credits between individuals and electricity suppliers. The SRECTrade auctions will serve as means to sell SRECs for sellers who are unable to lock into the 15-year contracts.

Meanwhile, Fred Ugast, an advocate for Maryland solar owners at U.S. Photovoltaics, has been working to secure 15-year contracts for their SRECs. He has familiarized us with the Maryland market and we are following his progress in this endeavor. According to Fred, there were 94 solar photovoltaic (PV) systems eligible to create SRECs in 2008, and 252 SRECs were created. This left estimated solar ACP payments at nearly one million dollars. The demand for SRECs in Maryland is approximately 5,000 in 2009, but supply is expected to increase at a faster rate over the next few years. SRECTrade hopes to be an integral part of matching that supply with demand in Maryland. Please check back as we learn more!