Customers installing new renewable energy projects ranging from rooftop solar panels to fuel cells may soon have an opportunity to sell their renewable energy certificates (RECs) to Connecticut Light & Power (CL&P) and The United Illuminating Company (UI). CL&P and UI have filed with the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA), a joint plan for the purchase of zero- and low-emission RECs.
Under the new program, qualified bidders would be able to sell RECs from zero-emission renewables (ZRECs) such as solar panels, or low-emission renewables (LRECs) such as fuel cells, to CL&P and UI for 15 year periods. To be eligible, projects must meet criteria established in Public Act 11-80, which was signed into law by Governor Dannel Malloy in July. Some of these key requirements are that projects must have begun operation after July 1, 2011, must be located behind customers' electric meters, and are capped at 1,000 kilowatts for ZRECs, and 2,000 kilowatts for LRECs.
"We've put together a plan that incorporates customer feedback and meets the requirements of the 2011 Energy Act," said Christie Bradway, manager, Renewable Power, CL&P. "Once PURA approves the plan, we will issue a Request for Proposals."
The companies have designed a joint program and filed a joint plan with the PURA. However, each company will accept bids only for projects located in its service territory. "We believe that we have designed a program that will allow UI customers to economically invest in onsite renewable energy generation," said Alan Trotta, manager, Wholesale Power Contracts, UI.
To learn more about ZRECs, LRECs and the program, please visit www.cl-p.com and go to "Going Green" or www.uinet.com/powerprocurement and click on "Solicitation Plan for LRECs and ZRECs."
