RPS

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The second of two bills that would drastically impact the Washington State Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) was recently introduced in the Washington State Legislature.  HB 1890 would cut in half the amount of energy utilities are required to obtain from new renewable resources, and also allow them to offset renewable energy requirements with energy from fresh…

A legal update from our colleague Seth Hilton:

Ten months after initially authorizing the use of tradable renewable energy credits (TRECs), the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today lifted its moratorium on approval of TREC transactions. CPUC Dec. 11-01-025. Today’s decision, however, retains restrictions on TREC transactions that could limit the amount of out-of-state…

An alert written by Stoel Rives partners Seth Hilton and John McKinsey:

The California Energy Commission RPS staff has proposed some significant and potentially important revisions to the RPS Eligibility Guidebook and the Overall Program Guidebook.  Written comments on the proposed revisions are due September 10, 2010, by 5:00 p.m.  The CEC will consider approval…

An alert written by Stoel Rives partner Seth Hilton:

Last night, the California legislature failed to pass Senate Bill 722—the 33% Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) legislation—by the close of the legislative session. The bill would have increased California’s RPS to 33% for both investor-owned and publicly owned utilities. It would also have placed limits on the use of renewable resources located out-of-state to meet California’s RPS—utilities would have been required to meet a certain percentage of their RPS obligations through resources whose first point of interconnection was a California balancing authority, or whose power is transmitted to California through a dynamic transfer arrangement or scheduled hourly or inter-hourly into California. The proposed legislation also would have authorized the use of renewable energy credits (RECs)—the environmental attributes of renewable power separated from the power itself—for RPS compliance, but would have imposed limits on the amount of RECs that could be used to meet the utilities’ RPS obligation.Continue Reading California Legislature Fails to Pass 33% Renewable Portfolio Standard

On Thursday March 11, 2010, the California Public Utility Commission (the "CPUC") created a market for tradable renewable energy credits ("TRECs") in the state.  That’s big news.  In its 149-page decision, the CPUC stated that investor-owned utilities ("IOUs"), energy service providers, and community choice aggregators may now use TRECs to comply with California’s ambitious renewable portfolio standard ("RPS").  These entities are now permitted to purchase a portion of their RPS compliance from generation sources other than those they own (e.g., distributed solar generation facilities within the state and certain out-of-state facilities).

Continue Reading Tradable RECs Now Count Toward California’s RPS

With 3/5 of the States having Renewable Portfolio Standard in place and the prospect of a Federal RPS, many utilities are seeking to become first time purchasers of the output from wind projects. And utilities with a history of purchasing wind are seeking additional resources. In 2009, the presenters collectively worked on over 40 wind…

The California Public Utilities Commission ("CPUC") issued a proposed decision on December 23, 2009 that would, if adopted, allow California investor-owned utilities, energy service providers, and community choice aggregators to purchase renewable energy credits alone, without the associated energy (sometimes referred to as "unbundled renewable energy credits ("RECs)" or "tradable RECs"), to satisfy their obligations…

Activity is underway in Michigan to implement the state’s recently-enacted renewable portfolio standard, which requires the state’s electric utilities to serve 10 percent of their retail sales from renewable energy resources by 2015.  In late December, Detroit Edison issued a Request for Proposals to purchase Michigan-based renewable energy credits that will help the utility meet the RPS requirements.

The RFP specifies that…

On October 28, 2008, the Ohio Power Siting Board adopted rules implementing certification requirements for wind generating facilities in the state.  The full text of the opinion and order approving the rules identifies the procedural background followed by the PSB and highlights comments received from all interested parties (including utilities, citizen groups, and AWEA).  The The rules…