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NC-2009 EAc6:Green power

New York State Green Energy...

New York's Renewable Portfolio Standard states that as of 2013, 23% of the State's electricity came from renewable energy resources. By 2015 it's required to be 30% Does anyone know if this default 23% currently can be incorporated into the targeted 35 or 70% Green Energy use to achieve this credit?

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Tue, 04/01/2014 - 13:49

Those are not green-e certified Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). They allow big hydro which is not consistent with the green-e standards. Also taking credit for it would be "double counting" because the utility is required to retire those RECs and in effect they are "using" them to meet the state mandate. Your reviewer might approve it but technically it's not really in line with the way RECs are supposed to function. This is my opinion based on working for a retailer of RECs for 5 years. In my experience the reviewers don't really have a firm grasp of RECs so if you argued that the NY State RPS is equivalent to green-e they might approve it. RECs are very affordable so I'd encourage you to get a price quote before diving further into this option of claiming credit for the state RPS.

Tue, 04/01/2014 - 15:56

Our project teams have never been able to successfully argue that a state's "renewable power" portfolio qualifies. Recently a review team commented that the state has a #1 mandate to provide power. The source is secondary at best and can't be guaranteed, even when they say their portfolio is xx% renewable. Another review team mentioned the state's portfolio is "just a point in time" and that they draw power from whatever part of the market is the cheapest source. RECs are very affordable now, even for large projects.

Tue, 04/01/2014 - 16:15

Power under RPS mandates is excluded from qualifying for Green-e so it does not count. The reviewer should not approve it.

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