A Compilation of Renewable
Electric Activities in the States
Prepared for the NARUC Renewable and Distributed Resources Subcommittee
[ Download PDF version: 224K ]
[ Download
Acrobat Reader 5.0 ]
Volume 12, No. 1 Winter 2003 State Activities
Connecticut
Two Green Marketers Cease Operations During the past six months, two retail green power marketers (the Connecticut Energy Cooperative and Green Mountain Energy Company) ceased operations in the state citing poor market conditions, such as low "standard offer" prices and a general lack of knowledge of electricity restructuring among the state's electricity customers. The marketer actions reinforce the findings of a joint study of the state's electricity market prepared by the DPUC and the Office of Consumer Counsel (OCC) and submitted to the General Assembly in February 2002. The report concluded that a "competitive retail market has been slow to develop" in the state. Nevertheless, the two agencies determined that although there has been very little retail switching, customers have benefited from rate stability resulting from the long-term, fixed-price contracts for standard-offer energy that were entered into by the default utility suppliers. Joint Study of the DPUC and OCC Regarding Electric Deregulation in Connecticut: http://www.dpuc.state.ct.us/FINALDEC.NSF/2b40c6ef76b67c438525644800692943/bfaaff120475df9c85256b6100705132/$FILE/011206-021502.doc (MS Word: 512 KB) Florida PSC Issues Renewables Report The PSC, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Protection, issued an assessment of renewable energy in Florida and its potential for electricity generation. The report was mandated by the 2002 Florida Legislature for the purpose of identifying public-policy approaches to increasing the use of renewable resources in the state. The two agencies found that renewables currently contribute about 680 megawatts of electric supply in the state or 1.6% of statewide generating capacity, derived primarily from biomass and municipal solid waste resources. They also found that the potential exists to add another 511 MW of renewables capacity in the near-term. The report documents current utility development activities and provides a review of policies and initiatives that other states have adopted to encourage greater use of renewable energy sources. Report: An Assessment of Renewable Electric Generating Technologies in Florida http://www.psc.state.fl.us/industry/electric_gas/Renewable_Energy_Assessment.pdf (PDF: 2.7 MB) PSC Contact: Adrienne Vining, (850) 413-6183 New Jersey Governor Establishes RE Task Force By executive order, Gov. James E. McGreevey established a Renewable Energy Task Force and charged it "with strengthening and expanding the renewable energy requirements that the state imposes on suppliers." The state's 1999 electricity restructuring law established a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) that requires electricity suppliers to provide 6.5% of all energy sold from renewable energy sources by 2012. The task force includes representatives from renewable and traditional energy suppliers, utilities, environmental and consumer groups, and other energy experts. Among the duties of the task force will be to examine whether the RPS requirements should be increased and whether a certain percentage of the energy should come from specific renewable sources. The task force will also recommend measures to help electricity suppliers comply with the RPS requirements. New Jersey Gov. McGreevey's News Release on Renewable Energy Task Force: http://www.state.nj.us/cgi-bin/governor/njnewsline/view_article.pl?id=1028 Governor's Office Contact: Micah Rasmussen, (609) 777-2600 BPU Approves "Green" Pilot Program The BPU approved the results of a sealed bid process to secure 200 MW of green energy to meet the electric demands of Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) residential customers who have not selected an alternative supplier. This will be the first time that customers have the option to choose cleaner energy as part of Basic Generation Service (BGS). There will be no difference in price between those who choose to participate in the Green Pilot Program and other residential customers with BGS service. The power will be supplied by FirstEnergy Solutions Corporation. To qualify as "green" for the bidding process, at least 9.75% of the energy provided must come from renewable sources, such as wind, solar or biomass, which is three times the state RPS standard that retail companies must currently meet. Customers will have the option to join the pilot program; but if too few customers choose to participate, JCP&L will assign them on a random basis. The 150,000 residential customers who can participate in the pilot program represent approximately 7% of JCP&L's total BGS fixed-price load. Separately, the BPU approved $2.7 million in funding to develop renewable energy markets, businesses, and technologies in the state. The board seeks to fund proposals for research, business development, commercialization, and technology demonstrations of innovative products and services that will advance the delivery of renewable energy systems to the marketplace. Eligible technologies include photovoltaics, wind energy, fuel cells that use renewable fuels, wave, tidal, renewably generated hydrogen, and sustainably harvested biomass. Funding for the projects will be provided through a competitive solicitation from the New Jersey Clean Energy Program. New Jersey Clean Energy Program Web Site: http://www.njcep.com/ New Mexico PRC Adopts RPS Rule The PRC adopted a rule that requires all jurisdictional utilities in the state to include increasing amounts of renewable energy in their energy portfolios. The RPS requires that at least 5% of a utility company's retail sales be generated through renewable energy by January 1, 2006. The requirement then increases by no less than 1% each year until a standard of 10% is attained in 2011. The state's rural electric cooperatives are exempt from the rule, which takes effect July 1, 2003. The rule requires all transactions between the public utilities and suppliers of renewable energy to be documented through renewable energy certificates, which may be traded, sold, or otherwise transferred by their owner to any other party. Each kilowatt-hour of electricity generated by biomass, geothermal, landfill gas, or fuel cell technologies will receive double credit toward meeting the RPS and each kilowatt-hour generated from solar technologies will receive triple credit. Electricity generated from all other renewable energy sources will be counted at par value. The rule also requires all utilities operating in the state to offer a voluntary renewable energy tariff for those customers who want the option to purchase additional renewable energy. It also establishes a formal preference for renewable energy over nonrenewable sources when utilities procure, acquire, or construct new generating facilities. New Mexico Renewable Portfolio Standard Rule: http://www.nmprc.state.nm.us/3619finalrule.pdf (PDF: 157 KB) New York Governor Calls for 25% RPS In his annual State of the State address to the Legislature, Gov. George E. Pataki called for the PSC to implement a renewable portfolio standard, "which will guarantee that within the next 10 years at least 25 percent of the electricity bought in New York will come from renewable energy resources like solar power, wind power, or fuel cells" in order to "make New York a national leader in renewable energy usage." The state currently obtains about 17% of its electricity supply from renewables, mostly hydropower. In response, the PSC has initiated a collaborative process for developing and implementing an RPS. Some of the key issues to be examined include:
New York Gov. Pataki's State of the State Address: http://www.state.ny.us/03sosaddress/sos2003text.html North Carolina NCUC Approves Statewide Program The NCUC approved a stakeholder-developed plan to offer two green power products to utility customers statewide. The first product is a "mass-market" product consisting of a resource mix of new solar, wind, and methane from biomass, which will be offered primarily to residential customers at a cost of $4.00 per 100-kWh block or 4.0¢/kWh. The second product is a "large-volume" product, which will include a resource mix of new and existing solar, wind, small hydro, and biomass and be offered to larger-volume customers at a "target price" of $2.50 per 100-kWh block or 2.5¢/kWh. The primary objective of the NC GreenPower program is to promote the use and development of green power generated in North Carolina through a simple purchase option available to all electricity customers, supported by a statewide advertising and communications campaign. Beginning in the summer, the green power products will be offered by all of the state's electric utilities, including cooperatives. The program is being administered by Advanced Energy, a Raleigh-based nonprofit research organization. North Carolina Green Power Program Plan: http://www.advancedenergy.org/root/greenpower/program_plan_revised.pdf (PDF: 133 KB) Advanced Energy Contact: Carl Wilkins, (919) 857-9008 Oregon No Competition for Residential Customers In a report to the Legislature, the PUC concluded that residential customers would not benefit from a choice of competing suppliers. The commission found that only a few states that have opened their retail electric markets to competition have multiple suppliers serving residential consumers, and any reduction in their electric rates is largely the result of requiring competing offers to be lower during a transition period. The PUC also argued that residential customers are not well suited to assess or manage the risks of a competitive retail market for electricity. Under the state's 1999 electricity restructuring law, commercial and industrial customers of investor-owned utilities (IOUs) have direct access to competitive electricity suppliers. The IOUs are required to provide several different regulated rate options to residential and small nonresidential customers, including a renewable energy supply option. The PUC concluded that the new utility rate options give residential consumers meaningful choices without the risks of a competitive power market. As of October 1, 2002, about 30,000 residential customers (2.8% of all eligible customers) had chosen one of the new options, with the majority of these customers purchasing the renewable energy option. Oregon PUC Report on Competitive Access for Residential Customers: http://www.puc.state.or.us/agenda/pmemos/2002/120302/reg4att.pdf (PDF: 230 KB) PUC Contact: Jack Breen, (503) 378-5942 Rhode Island State Announces Green Power Incentives The Rhode Island Renewable Energy Fund announced a second round of incentives for green power marketers and renewable energy suppliers. The fund is providing $1.36 million for rebates to encourage enrollment of Rhode Island residential and small-business customers in green power programs and $500,000 to support green power purchases by large electricity customers including business, government, and institutional groups. Finally, $1.25 million in funding will be used to encourage the development of renewable energy projects located in Rhode Island and New England. The residential customer rebates amount to $125 each for the first 5,000 residential sign-ups and $75 per customer thereafter. For small-business customers, the rebates are $250 each for the first 1,000 customers and $125 thereafter. The funds are provided from the state's system benefits charge on electricity sales. Rhode Island Renewable Energy Fund Web Site: http://www.riseo.state.ri.us/riref.html State Energy Office Contact: Janice McClanaghan, (401) 222-3370 Texas PUC Reports on Retail Competition The PUC issued a report to the Legislature documenting the results of the first year of retail electric competition in the state and recommending certain changes to both the state's Public Utility Regulatory Act and Gas Utility Regulatory Act. These changes would increase the commission's ability to enforce the law and market rules developed to implement restructuring, as well as enhance competition in the electric market. After nearly one full year of competition, the PUC found that "competitive forces appear to be working to reduce the electricity rates paid by consumers in Texas." The PUC estimates that residential customers have saved approximately $900 million on electric bills in 2002 as compared to 2001 and that commercial and industrial customers paid approximately $645 million less in 2002 compared to their 2001 bills. According to the PUC, many of these larger customers — especially cities and other government entities — have achieved savings by successfully aggregating with other customers. The PUC reported that customers in all user classes have taken advantage of the opportunities to switch providers, with the percentages ranging from more than 85% for the largest customers to 6% of residential customers. The PUC also noted that construction of renewable energy facilities has proceeded significantly faster than required in the restructuring law. As of October 1, 2002, approximately 1,000 MW of new renewables capacity had been installed compared to the 400 MW required under the legislative mandate. Texas PUC Report: Scope of Competition in Electric Markets in Texas http://www.puc.state.tx.us/electric/reports/scope/2003/2003scope_elec.pdf (PDF: 2.0 MB) PUC Contact: Brian Lloyd, (512) 936-7376 Washington UTC Reports on Green Pricing Progress The UTC and the Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development (CTED) reported to the state Legislature on the progress of green pricing in the state, pursuant to a state law requiring electric utilities to offer a voluntary green pricing product to their customers. Among the findings after the first nine months of implementation are:
Green Power Programs in Washington: A Report to the Legislature http://www.energy.cted.wa.gov/Papers/Green%20Power%20Report%2012-19-02.pdf (PDF: 1.4 MB) CTED Contact: Elizabeth Klumpp (360) 956-2071
This newsletter is prepared for the Renewable and Distributed Resources Subcommittee of NARUC's Energy Resources and the Environment (ERE) Committee to promote information sharing on state-level renewable electric activities.
Return to State Renewable Energy News homepage |