Given the relevance of SRECs in financing solar, SRECTrade has been involved with the Distributed Solar Finance & Investment Summit for the past few years and will be attending Distributed Solar East this summer in New Jersey. The event runs June 8th-10th, 2011 in Newark, NJ and is one of the best opportunities to network with a variety of stakeholders in the solar financing world.
For more information or to register, visit the event’s website.
North Carolina is a brand new market for the exchange of SRECs. There are no restrictions on selling North Carolina SRECs to eligible states in the PJM network. North Carolina has a Renewable Portfolio Standard mandated by the state, with a specific carve-out for solar energy. 12.5% of all energy sold by suppliers must be from renewables by 2021, with 0.20% of that coming from solar energy.
Utilities are required to provide the above portions of electricity from solar sources. Your SRECs help the utilities to reach this minimum threshold. Normally, if they do not reach the threshold, they are forced to pay a Solar Alternative Compliance Payment (SACP). The state of North Carolina has not yet determined what the price of their SACP will be. When this is decided, the price of SRECs will respond. For now, the price will be around the regional average, $200-$250.
Getting Started in North Carolina
Talk to your installer to get your PV installation certified in North Carolina and other states where it is eligible. Once you have these state certification numbers, we’ll be able to help you establish an account and manage your SRECs. We’ll cross-list your SRECs on our multi-state auction platform every month to make sure you get the best price for your SRECs. Alternatively, if you choose to manage your own SRECs, you would need to register with the appropriate state SREC agency. After that you can choose to sell your SRECs month-to-month on SRECTrade.com.
TweetIn Virginia and West Virginia, SREC markets do not currently exist. However SREC generators in these markets are able to sell out-of-state in other markets.
Virginia enacted a voluntary Renewable Portfolio Goal in 2007. Investor-owned utilities are encouraged to obtain a percentage of power sold in Virginia from renewable sources. There are various incentives for the utilities that participate, however, since solar is still more costly than other types of energy, it is unlikely in the short term that utilities in Virginia will be looking to buy SRECs. Meanwhile, in West Virginia there is no RPS program. States with stringent RPS standards still need SRECs, and your SRECs from Virginia or West Virginia can be sold into some of the other PJM states. In this year, SRECs have been fetching prices from $200-$250 in other markets, and this is forecasted to increase.
Getting Started in Virginia and West Virginia:
Talk to your installer to get your PV installation certified in states where it is eligible. Once you have these state certification numbers, we’ll be able to help you establish an account and manage your SRECs. We’ll cross-list your SRECs on our multi-state auction platform every month to make sure you get the best price for your SRECs. Alternatively, if you choose to manage your own SRECs, you would need to register with the appropriate state SREC agency. After that you can choose to sell your SRECs month-to-month on SRECTrade.com.
TweetFor our July 10th auction, SRECTrade plans on having a fully functional multi-state platform in place with seven new states and the ability to cross-list your SREC in multiple states. Delaware is a fairly new and liberal market for the exchange of SRECs. There are no restrictions on exporting SRECs and the state Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) has a specific carve-out for Solar through 2019. The standard is 20% renewables by 2019, with solar representing 2.005%.
If an electricity supplier (utility) doesn’t reach the solar-carve out threshold with their own solar supply or by purchasing SRECs, they must pay a Solar Alternative Compliance Payment (SACP) as an offsetting penalty into a state renewable energy fund. In Delaware, the SACP begins at $250 per MWh and increases $50 every year if a utility didn’t reach the threshold in the previous year. So there is a big incentive to buy SRECs to reach the threshold. This is why SREC prices follow SACP prices.
This year in Delaware, SRECs have fetched prices between $200-$250. However, as time progresses, if utilities don’t meet the solar threshold, you will see the SACP average price climb because of the $50 per year increase, and the SREC price will follow.
Additionally, since other states have different structures for their SACP price, they will have different prices for their SRECs. If you register your Delaware system in other states (e.g., Pennsylvania), you will be able to sell your SRECs in the states you are registered in by checking the cross-list box on the SRECTrade.com order. We’ll make sure you get the best price possible in your eligible states.
How to get started in Delaware:
1. Certify your PV system: your installer will provide you with the information to get your system certified by the state.
2. Option A: Sign up for our EasyBid service, and we’ll handle your SRECs. We’ll take care of registering your system with GATS, 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: Sign up for GATS yourself in Delaware, as well as other states that accept Delaware SRECs (Pennsylvania and Maryland to start). Then post your SRECs every month on SRECTrade.com or find a third-party to sell your SRECs.
Tweet