Posts Tagged ‘renewable portfolio standard’

It’s easy to understand why states like California and Texas might opt for clean, renewable solar energy to replace fossil-fuel electricity generation. Each has large areas of solar insolation whose values approach 5.5 (on a scale of 2.0 to 9.0 in the continental United States).

Wisconsin, at 2.5 – with a peak of 3.5 – is harder to imagine. Yet Wisconsin is the only state in the union other than California and Texas to have two major cities included in the Solar America Cities program; Milwaukee and Madison.

The Solar America Cities program is an initiative of the U.S. Department of Energy, which aims to see accelerated adoption of solar energy technologies to create a cleaner, more secure energy future. Comprised of 25 major American cities, the program operates through 180 municipal, county and state agencies, as well as solar companies, universities, regional utilities and various non-profit policy organizations, all of whom are committed to seeing solar energy take a front seat at the energy table.

The fact can’t be accounted for merely by Wisconsin’s renewable portfolio standard, or RPS, since the goal is 10 percent of energy from renewables by 2105.

The law, SB 459, enacted in March 2006, allows utilities to fulfill their requirements by buying renewable resource credits (RRCs) from one another, and also allows a carry-forward method of accounting.

In spite of that, Wisconsin really is leading in renewable energy, notably solar, with a proposed $19.6 million project for Roundy’s Corp. supermarket distribution center in Oconomowoc.

Initiated by the state’s Office of Energy Independence (OEI), and funded through an $8.822-million grant that the OEI applied for in 2009 (via the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s Community Renewable Energy Stimulus program), the 12,000-panel, 3.177-megawatt installation will, when completed, become the largest solar project in the Midwest.

The project will also create 190 jobs, double the state’s solar portfolio, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 4,237 tonnes per year, and provide for almost 20 percent of distribution center’s electricity needs.

Add to that the new factory in Mazomanie, to be built by Menomonie-based Cardinal Glass, which makes low-e glass for energy-efficient windows and will now being making solar panel glass, adding about 60 jobs and competing with Corning, an industry leader in glassware production who is also thinking of expanding into solar panel glass manufacture.

Wisconsin is a leader in solar panel installation training, with more certified solar installers per capita than nearly every state in the nation, according to the Midwest Renewable Energy Association’s executive director Terri Parker, whose agency plans to train 200 instructors across six states over the next five years, thanks to a $3.3-million grant. And this isn’t even counting the cooperative, internally financed solar education “farm” being developed by the Milwaukee Area Technical College and Johnson Controls, which will consist of about 2,500 panels.

Some information in the story was provided by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Cooler Planet is a leading solar resource for connecting consumers and commercial entities with local solar Installers. Cooler Planet’s solar panel resources and solar energy page contains articles and tools to help with your solar project.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/wisconsin-leading-solar-energy-push-1730704.html

Technorati Tags: greenhouse gas emissions, renewable portfolio standard, renewable solar energy, solar energy technologies, solar insolation

Renewable energy credits (RECs), also known as credits, green certificates, green tags, or tradable renewable certificates are tradable certificates of proof that one MWh of electricity has been generated by a renewable-fueled source.

Customers can buy green certificates whether or not they have access to green power through local utility entities or a competitive electricity marketer; without having to switch electricity suppliers, thereby making REC buying and selling independent of geography.

Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS)/ Renewable Electricity Standard (RES)

Renewable Energy Credits are central to the RPS (also known as RES). The RPS requires all electricity generators (or electricity retailers, depending on policy design) to demonstrate, through ownership of credits, that they have supported an amount of renewable energy generation equivalent to some percentage of their total annual MWh sales. For example, if the RPS is set at 10%, and a generator sells 100,000 MWhs in a given year, the generator would need to possess 10,000 credits at the end of that year. Renewable Energy Credits are a tradable commodity and the pricing of RECs primarily vary by supply/ demand within a state/ region and how the RECs are packaged for sale.

The Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) is a flexible, market-driven policy that can ensure that the public benefits from wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal energy. It also ensures that renewable energy generation continues to be recognized and utilized as electricity markets become more competitive. The policy states that a minimum amount of renewable energy is included in the portfolio of electricity resources serving a state or country, and — by increasing the required amount over time — the RPS can put the electricity industry on a path toward increasing sustainability. Because it is a market standard, the RPS relies almost entirely on the private wholesale and retail electricity markets for its implementation. Private market implementation will result in competition, efficiency, and innovation that will deliver renewable energy at the lowest possible cost. The RES provides a predictable, competitive market, within which renewable generators compete with each other to lower prices (as more renewable energy is generated within a state/region, this also generates more RECs, ultimately driving the cost of the RECs in that state/region to be lowered as the supply increases). Mandatory RPS policies currently exist in 29 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

As renewable energy generators automatically earn credits (RECs), they actually earn extra income from the sale of the credits. These credits then have to be purchased by electricity generators or retailers to compensate for the electricity that is generated from non-renewable sources (i.e. mostly fossil fuels). Therefore, a mandatory RPS directly benefits the growth of the wind power industry and also provides extra income for wind farms as the RPS requirements are increased over time. As not only existing states continue these requirements, but as states that have yet to adopt a mandatory RPS develop such guidelines, the wind industry hopes to continue to see considerable growth.

Vert Investment Group (“Vert”) is a leading renewable energy investment advisory firm focused on small to medium-sized utility-scale generation projects in strong power markets. Vert utilizes its proven methodology, the Staged Progression Model, to guide development projects to construction ready and identify investment opportunities that generate out-sized returns.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/what-is-a-renewable-energy-credit-1450653.html

Technorati Tags: electricity generators, electricity retailers, renewable energy generation, renewable portfolio standard, retail electricity markets