Hi all!

We are going for the Renewable Energy credit for a solar system that will be owned by the project owner. The solar company is offering to build in ZRECs, which is an incentive structure that our state utility here in CT offers.

For the purposes of this credit, do sales of ZRECs count as "environmental attributes" that cannot be sold off, or are they something else? The solar contractor offers the following arguments for why they should NOT be counted as RECs. I would love any opinions/clarifications on whether the owner can participate in the ZREC program and still get these credit points.

  • My thinking is that a ZREC is not an “environmental attribute” to be retained but rather a utility incentive in the form of a REC apposed to an upfront rebate.
  • The ZREC was created as an incentive, specifically for CT Eversource and UI customers in order to encourage investment in renewable energy. If a ZREC were a CO2 credit it could be sold on the open market but it cannot because the only entity that can purchase a ZREC is Eversource or UI.
  •  Another point regarding the definition of the ZREC is that it is a Performance Based Incentive(PBI). This is because again, it is an incentive create to encourage business to invest in renewable energy and the state/utility wants to ensure good quality systems are installed with the incentive money and not wasted. Some states have an upfront rebate as a solar incentive but there is no accountability after a system is installed with an upfront rebate.
  • The ZREC is simply in place of a rebate and incentivizes companies to maintain a good working system that will create clean kWh, which you will use in your facility. They are not selling the energy created, they are using it. If the energy was being created and sold as “green energy” that may be a different story. Mill River is creating the energy via a solar plant that they own, operate and maintain and the energy is used on-site not transferred or sold to anyone.