Note from the Editor

Planning the Solar Highway

The transmission grid is often described as the interstate highway system of our nation’s energy supply.  It moves a lot of electricity over long distances. If you were to continue along with that metaphor, you might say that distributed generation (DG) is the newcomer to the transmission system, somewhat like the ever-increasing number of hybrid vehicles traveling on the highway system.

While around10% of our nation’s power supply currently flows from renewable energy resources, most of that comes from hydroelectric plants.  When we imagine the grid in 2020 or 2030, the picture looks much different.  Many analysts think it possible for the U.S. to achieve 25% or more renewable energy by 2025, and the SunShot initiative seeks to spur solar growth alone to 15-18% by 2030.  We’re already starting to see distributed generation facilities reach larger proportions as state policies evolve to encourage larger installations.

[Continued in Newsletter]

State News in Detail

Northeast States

Connecticut’s PURA finalizes ZREC and LREC program

Maine PUC launches voluntary green power initiative

Massachusetts DPU adopts system of assurance for net metering facilities

Mid-Atlantic States      

Virginia University projects positive outlook for renewable potential

Midwestern States       

Iowa Utilities Board declines to allow power purchase agreement

Southern States           

North Carolina utility expects growth    for net metering production incentive

Western States             

California Public Utility Commission approves expanded virtual net metering; L.A. City Council approves Feed-in Tariff

Idaho solar debate highlights potential complexities of transmission-level interconnection

Other States               

Study finds Hawaii Solar tax credits a net positive for the state

Upcoming Events

Miscellaneous News

DOE Announces new Plug and Play initiative

SEPA Announces Top 10 Solar Utilities For 2011

Download the full newsletter as a PDF: May 2012 Connecting to the Grid Newsletter

FORMAT

While customer-sited net metering and interconnection policies are primarily addressed at the state level, they are also becoming important on a regional basis. This newsletter has been designed to provide state-level policy updates and capture emerging regional trends. Connecting to the Grid is a free, electronic newsletter published each month by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, Inc. (IREC). Click here to subscribe.

Editor: Laurel Varnado

“The ZREC/LREC program will help jumpstart Connecticut’s clean energy industry,” said Daniel C. Esty, Commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.  The program will deploy hundreds of projects across the state at the lowest possible cost to ratepayers,” Esty said.  “This will support efforts to move us in the direction of the Governor’s vision of cheaper, cleaner, and more reliable energy in Connecticut.  We look forward to the results of the bidding process  –  that will show which competitors are able to produce zero and low emissions renewable power the most economically.”

Under the ZREC/LREC program, CL&P and UI will accept bids from renewable energy project developers.  The projects that require the least amount of subsidy from the program will be selected for funding. The criteria for selection of projects will also ensure the quality of the projects submitted to the program. Winning bidders will receive 15-year contracts for the payment of a set price per megawatt hour (MWh) of output in the form of renewable energy credits (RECs). By selecting quality projects that have lower costs, the ZREC/LREC program will maximize the amount of in-state economic activity generated by the program and procure the lowest priced renewable electricity possible.

The ZREC/LREC program is the result of last year’s landmark energy reform legislation (Public Act 11-80).  The program design is the result of the vision provided by Governor Malloy, the General Assembly and a collaborative process between the state, Connecticut Light & Power, and United Illuminating.  Bids will be accepted into the program soon, and the results of the first year of the process will be made public this summer.

The  PURA decision is attached and will also be posted at ct.gov/pura under Docket Number 11-12-06.

For more information see the PURA Decision.

Source: Connecticut PURA press release

“This month we reached 100 megawatts of installed solar, which is being used in 331 cities and towns across the state,” said Secretary Sullivan. “This program will help us achieve our renewable energy goals even faster, bring local clean energy jobs to our communities and stabilize our energy costs.”

Solarize Mass is a program that encourages the adoption of small scale solar PV by deploying a coordinated education, marketing and outreach effort, combined with a tiered pricing structure that provides increased savings as more people in the community go solar.

MassCEC, in partnership with the DOER’s Green Communities Division has selected the cities and towns of Acton, Arlington, Boston, Hopkinton, Melrose, Mendon, Millbury, Montague, Newburyport, Palmer, Pittsfield, Lenox, Shirley, Sutton, Wayland, Sudbury and Lincoln, to participate in Solarize Mass.

“By combining education and grassroots marketing with tiered pricing of solar PV Solarize Mass was able to help 162 residents go solar in 2011,” said MassCEC Chief Executive Officer Patrick Cloney.  “By extending this program to 17 communities, we are confident that we can help more people in the Commonwealth use solar energy to help manage their energy costs and create a cleaner energy future.”

“These communities are leading the way in clean energy adoption and we’re pleased to honor them today for their effort to take their energy future into their own hands by investing in local sources of energy,” said DOER Commissioner Mark Sylvia.

Through Solarize Mass, MassCEC will provide education and marketing support and rebates to help the 17 communities implement a community-wide solar PV program for small-scale solar projects. MassCEC will provide technical support and host free educational meetings in the pilot communities to educate people about the benefits of installing solar and to drive interest in implementing the technology. MassCEC will also issue Request for Proposals (RFP) from solar integrators for bulk purchasing business models in which solar installation costs are based on a tiered structure that provide lower costs with increased capacity of solar installed within the community.

Source: Massachusetts DOER press release

Residents and businesses that participate in Maine Green Power will be able to ensure that the electricity they use at their home or business is matched by electricity generated by solar, hydro, wind, biomass or other renewable energy projects located in Maine. The Maine Green Power program will be available to customers of Central Maine Power (CMP), Bangor Hydro Electric Company (BHE) and Maine Public Service Company (MPS).

“Maine has abundant hydro, wind, biomass and other renewable energy resources,” said Commission Chairman Thomas Welch. “Maine Green Power will enable our state’s residents and businesses to encourage further local development of these resources by choosing to power their homes and businesses with renewable energy generated in Maine.”

Maine Green Power participants can choose the amount of renewable energy they want to purchase in the form of 500 kilowatt hour “blocks” – 500 kilowatt hours represents approximately the average amount of electricity used by a Maine household in a month.

The cost for each block will be $7.50 per month in addition to the cost of electricity supply, and residential customers will be able to purchase either 0.5, 1, 2, 3 or 4 blocks of renewable energy per month.

Commercial customers will be able to participate in Maine Green Power starting at the $7.50 per 500 kilowatt-hour block. Customers signing up for Maine Green Power will continue to receive their electricity as they have in the past, with no interruption in their service.

Customers interested in participating in Maine Green Power can currently learn more about the program and pre-enroll by visiting the Maine Public Utility Commission’s website at http://www.maine.gov/mpuc/greenpower/.

Only renewable energy generated in Maine will be used to supply Maine Green Power. Moreover, the program will seek to secure approximately 25 percent of its green power from new renewable energy projects that have been placed into service or refurbished on or after January 1, 2005.

The types of green power projects that are eligible to generate and supply renewable energy to the Maine Green Power program include:

• Solar photovoltaic systems

• Hydroelectric projects that meet state and local fish passage requirements

• Wind turbines

• Biomass facilities that use wood, wood waste, landfill gas or agricultural biogas

• Tidal power projects

• Geothermal projects

• Fuels cells that utilize landfill gas or agricultural biogas

All purchases through Maine Green Power are voluntary and represent the generation of green power above and beyond the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). As such, none of the renewable energy purchased by Maine Green Power program participants can be utilized by Maine’s electricity suppliers to fulfill their RPS requirements.

Source: Maine PUC press release

On April 19, 2012, the Commission approved Energy Division Resolution E-4481, approving the advice letters of the utilities that would implement the expanded VNM program. VNM will now apply to all multi-tenant and multi-meter properties, with the limitation that sharing of bill credits can only occur for accounts served by a single Service Delivery Point (SDP).

In the resolution, the CPUC agreed with solar stakeholders that a site assessment fee is duplicative of the Rule 21 interconnection process and prohibited an imposition of such a fee. Second, and perhaps most significantly, the final resolution recognized that the definition of SDP was too strict, and would exclude many multi-tenant properties from participating in expanded VNM. The Resolution therefore allows an exception to the single SDP rule where a customer owns the service extension facility that provides service multiple buildings and multiple

The CPUC’s expansion of VNM is a significant development in the growing market for distributed generation, promoting the benefits of Net Energy Metering to all multi-tenant and multi-meter properties. This decision is a critical step forward that signals to the public and to the retail solar development community that these expanded VNM tariffs are soon to be available. Most importantly, VNM extends Net Energy Metering benefits to renters or condominium owners who previously could not participate in this program.

Resolution E-4481 is available here.

Note from the Editor

Distributed Energy Storage, coming soon to a grid near you

Energy storage technologies have existed as long as the grid itself. As a result of several recent advancements in smart grid communications and material sciences, however, distributed energy storage is primed to become a much bigger player in the next few years. As the crucial link between variable renewable energy resources and a stable utility load, it has the potential to add considerable value to many renewable energy applications. Why focus on distributed, rather than utility-scale storage?  While both are important, distributed storage is often smaller in size so it can be placed along multiple different points on the utility grid, making it a more flexible option than many utility-scale facilities.

Energy storage facilities can generally be categorized based on the amount of time they can store energy and the types of applications for which they are best suited.   For example, the type of energy storage facility needed for long-term bulk energy storage will differ greatly from one needed for shorter-term storage to maintain the power quality of a distributed generation facility. The technologies that have been developed also vary wildly in their complexity, from low-tech pumped hydro or compressed air, to high-tech superconducting magnetic energy storage.  For a quick overview of the main energy storage technologies, their various uses and relative costs, see tables 1, 2 and 4 in this Sandia report: Energy Storage Systems Cost Update.

[Continued in Newsletter]

State News in Detail

Northeast States

New York Power Authority seeks solar cost reductions

Mid-Atlantic States        

Virginia SCC announces hearing for utility community solar program

Pennsylvania PUC clarifies ownership status issue for net metering eligibility

Midwestern States       

Indiana IURC notes success of net metering program

Southern States           

Florida municipality dabbles in PACE financing

Western States             

California stakeholders reach momentous Interconnection Rule 21 Settlement; PUC seeks to clarify the net metering cap calculation

Washington UTC directs collaborative process to update state’s interconnection standards

Other States             

Hawaii PUC directs renewables-related initiative for reliability standards

Upcoming Events

Miscellaneous News

NREL releases Impact of Treasury Grant 1603 Report

Department of Energy investing in Energy Storage

Download the full newsletter as a PDF: April Connecting to the Grid Newsletter

FORMAT

While customer-sited net metering and interconnection policies are primarily addressed at the state level, they are also becoming important on a regional basis. This newsletter has been designed to provide state-level policy updates and capture emerging regional trends. Connecting to the Grid is a free, electronic newsletter published each month by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, Inc. (IREC). Click here to subscribe.

Editor: Laurel Varnado

Some of the important tasks of this group include: 1) developing technical reliability standards modeled on North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) standards; 2) developing an advanced ancillary service plan to integrate high penetrations of variable energy resources for the islands; and 3) developing protocols for telemetry/monitoring/control of DG facilities. 

The program consists of two proposals. The first proposal would permit DVP to construct and operate up to 30 megawatts of company-owned solar generation facilities at various commercial, industrial, and public locations. DVP proposes the placement of company-owned solar installations on 30 to 50 sites in its service area. According to DVP, the estimated construction cost of the program is $111 million excluding financing costs.

Second, the company’s application includes plans for the purchase of up to 3 megawatts of electricity from customer-owned solar installations. The company would file a rate with the SCC establishing what the company would pay for such purchases.

A public hearing on the proposals is scheduled for 10 a.m. on September 19, 2012. It will be held in the Commission’s second floor courtroom located in the Tyler Building, 1300 East Main Street, in downtown Richmond. Any person wishing to comment at the hearing should arrive early and notify the SCC bailiff.

Written comments on the proposals must be submitted by September 12, 2012. All correspondence should be sent to the Clerk of the State Corporation Commission, Document Control Center, P.O. Box 2118, Richmond, Virginia 23218-2118, and refer to case number PUE-2011-00117.

Interested persons desiring to submit comments electronically may do so at the SCC’s website: www.scc.virginia.gov/case. Click on the PUBLIC COMMENTS/NOTICES link and then the SUBMIT COMMENTS button for case number PUE-2011-00117.

The arrangement is known as net metering, which is where a consumer installs a renewable energy facility such as a wind turbine or solar panel and produces his or her own energy. If the amount the customer receives from the utility is less than the amount delivered to the utility, the customer receives a bill credit for the difference.

From 2010 to 2011, the number of customers participating increased from 199 to 298, a 50 percent increase. Due to the increase in customer participation, the maximum output for these renewable energy facilities also increased from 783 to 1,852 kilowatts or 136 percent. This increase in output includes wind and solar energy, which increased 187 percent and 112 percent respectively.

“Net metering is a perfect example of Governor Daniels’ Homegrown Energy Plan,” said Commissioner Carolene Mays. “We’re producing more of the energy we need from our own natural resources.”

With the expansion of the net metering rule in July 2011, the IURC included all customer classes – industrial, commercial, and residential – as the minimum standard offering. Under the previous rule, the minimum standard offering only included residential customers and K-12 schools. Other changes to the rule included:

1) An increase in the maximum size of an eligible facility from 10 kilowatts to 1 megawatt;
2) An increase in the aggregate sales level under each utility’s net metering tariff from 0.1 percent to 1 percent of annual kilowatt hour sales.

Freeing the Grid, an annual report published by the Network for New Energy Choices and The Vote Solar Initiative, highlighted the changes by awarding the IURC with a “B” grade. From 2007 to 2009, the grade was an “F,” and in 2010, it was a “D.” The grade improvement ultimately earned Indiana the title of “Most Improved,” according to the news release issued by the report’s publishers.

The net metering rule only applies to investor-owned utilities, which are required to file net metering reports with the IURC on an annual basis. For more information on the breakdown of numbers by utility, please visit: www.in.gov/iurc/files/2011_Net_Metering_Reporting_Summary.pdf.

Source: Indiana IURC

At the workshop, the Commission found wide stakeholders support to pursue the collaborative discussions proposed by WAPUDA, WRECA and AWC. The Interconnection Workgroup has therefore agreed to hold its first meeting on April 19, 2012.

At the workshop, stakeholders participating in the collaborative agreed to provide the Commission a status report by the end of May, with a final report from the Interconnection Workgroup submitted to the Commission by June 30, 2012. The report will indicate areas of agreement and proposed language for changes to the rules, as well as a description of the issues upon which the participants do not agree.

The Commission also indicated that it would request additional comments from stakeholders and to allow others to respond to comments filed in the rulemaking or to provide additional information. Comments or responses to stakeholders are due by May 14, 2012.

Source: UTC Notice of Opportunity to Submit Comments