Current Status of the Solar Carve-Out Program

Minimum Standard for Compliance Year 2013 

As required under regulation, DOER has calculated the RPS Class I Solar Carve-Out Minimum Standard for Compliance Year 2013. The Minimum Standard shall be 0.2744%, which is equivalent to a Compliance Obligation of 135,495 MWh under 2011 load assumptions. The details of how this calculation was made can be found in the Determination of CY 2013 Total Compliance Obligation  . 

DOER Announces Intention to Begin Rulemaking and Solicit Comments 

DOER intends to begin a formal rulemaking process to make targeted improvements to the Solar Carve-Out program. The rulemaking will formally insert the 10-Year Forward Rate Schedule for the Solar ACP into regulation, as was promised in DOER’s December 28, 2011 Guideline providing the schedule.

In addition, DOER intends to make a change to the Compliance Obligation adjusted formula found in 225 CMR 14.07(2)(d). This change would remove the term in the formula that subtracts the ACP volume from the Compliance Year two years prior. DOER’s intention is to have this change retroactively apply to the 2013 Compliance Obligation and Minimum Standard once the regulation is promulgated.

As part of our ongoing commitment to the Massachusetts solar market, DOER’s intended change to the adjustment formula is designed to increase the responsiveness of the formula to current market conditions. The change will have the effect of increasing the Minimum Standard in 2013 as demonstrated in the example below. The responsiveness of the formula to recent market conditions is a critical function of the adjustment to maintain market balance, avoid sustained years of over or under supply, and motivate bidding activity in the Solar Clearinghouse Auction. DOER is confident that with this modification, the exciting growth of the Massachusetts solar market to 400 MW will continue smoothly through its first period of oversupply.

DOER is also interested in receiving feedback from the public on the 400 MW cap under the current program. DOER recognizes that business planning horizons can now extend past the expected duration of the current program. DOER will take the opportunity during the period of the intended rulemaking to present and solicit policy options for the next phase of solar development in the Commonwealth.
 

Example Calculation CY 2013	Current Formula	Proposed Formula
Compliance Obligation	135,495 MWh	189,297 MWh
	=  81,559 MWh + [109,465 - 26,598] x 1.3 - 53,802 + 11 + 0	=  81,559 MWh + [109,465 - 26,598] x 1.3 + 11 + 0
Minimum Standard	0.2744%	0.3833%
	=  135,495 MWh / 49,386,169 MWh x 100	=  189,297 MWh / 49,386,169 MWh x 100

DOER plans to begin this rulemaking in September. The rulemaking will, as required, include a draft regulation that will be the topic of public hearing and comment. DOER welcomes any comments on this announcement before formally beginning the rulemaking process and issuing a draft regulation. Such comments should be sent to DOER.SREC@state.ma.us by 5:00pm on September 14th.

Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction Account Closes with No SRECs Deposited

The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) announces the close of the Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction Account for Compliance Year 2011. As of 12:00 AM EST on June 16 ^th no eligible SRECs had been deposited into the Auction Account at NEPOOL GIS. Given that there was no volume of SRECs in the Account at its closing, DOER will not hold a Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction in late July.

The lack of deposits in the Auction Account reflects the shortage of SRECs available to meet the 2011 solar compliance obligation, enabling all sellers of SRECs to find willing buyers in the market.

SRECs Minted and Expected

The following table was developed in an effort to provide transparency to the market in regards to the number of Solar Carve-Out Renewable Energy Certificates (SRECs) that have been minted at the NEPOOL GIS and the number of MWh that have been reported to the MassCEC Production Tracking System (PTS). The table will be updated monthly.

SRECs Minted and MWh reported to the PTS  - Updated April 23, 2013

Minimum Standard

Each Retail Electricity Supplier, both regulated utilities and competitive suppliers, must demonstrate to DOER in an Annual Compliance Filing that it complied with the RPS Minimum Standard for the prior calendar year (Compliance Year). The Minimum Standard for the Class I Solar Carve-Out is the percentage of a Supplier's total retail load obligation that must be met by the ownership of Solar Carve-Out Renewable Energy Certificates (SRECs) issued by the NEPOOL GIS, with each SREC signifying one MWh of electrical energy from a PV Generation Unit (or Aggregation) that has been qualified by DOER for the Solar Carve-Out.

The Solar Carve-Out Minimum Standard is part of, not in addition to, the RPS Class I Minimum Standard. The Minimum Standard for the RPS Class I Solar Carve-Out of each year is calculated and announced in accordance with the provisions of the RPS Class Regulation in 225 CMR 14.07(2).

Calculation of the RPS Class I Solar Carve-Out Minimum Standard

Compliance Year	Compliance Obligation	2 years prior	Total Retail Load Obligation	Solar Carve-Out Minimum Standard
	MWh		MWh	Percentage
2010	34,164	2008	50,321,635	0.0679%
2011	78,577	2009	48,301,821	0.1627%
2012	81,559	2010	50,025,563	0.1630%

Opt-In Term

The Opt-In Term set for projects that receive Statements of Qualification through July 19, 2013 is 40 quarters or 10 years. DOER will announce any changes to the Opt-In Term no later than July 20, 2013.

Alternative Compliance Payment Rates

The Alternative Compliance Payment (ACP) Rate is $550/MWh for Compliance Year 2013. Competitive Retail Electric Suppliers will be able to meet their Solar Carve-Out compliance obligation for load under contract prior to January 1, 2010 with an Alternative Compliance Payment at a rate equal to the RPS Class I ACP rate for the applicable Compliance Year. These eligible contracts do not include any contracts associated with Basic Service load sold by distribution companies to retail customers.

Qualifed Projects

DOER has granted Statements of Qualification for the following Generation Units: RPS Solar Carve-Out Qualified Units  - updated May 20, 2013

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This information is provided by the Department of Energy Resources.