CONNECTICUT RENEWABLES STANDARD THREATENED

Proposed Changes To CT's RPS: Great For Hydro, But Bad For Wind And Solar?

21 March 2013 (Renew Grid)

“The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is recommending that the state restructure its renewable portfolio standard (RPS)… to increase the standard's procurement requirements and allow large-scale hydropower to count toward the RPS.

“Connecticut's RPS requires 27% of utilities' sales to come from renewable energy resources by 2020, with a Class I requirement of 20% by 2020. Under the state's current RPS, Class I resources include energy derived from solar power, wind energy…[and other renewables including] hydropower facilities not exceeding 5 MW…The DEEP recommends changing the state’s RPS to increase the Class I target from 20% by 2020 to 25% by 2025, and to allow the state to run a competitive bid process to buy a portion - 7.5% by 2025…to bring down the overall ratepayer cost of the RPS…”

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“However, the DEEP is also proposing to allow large-scale hydropower projects of greater than 30 MW to qualify as a Class I resource…That means large-scale hydropower could fulfill the requirement currently reserved for renewable energy resources like wind and solar…According to New England Clean Energy Council, because large hydro is a mature technology, it should not be eligible for the financial support that renewable energy credits (RECs) provide under the regular RPS. Instead, a clean energy standard or a separate RPS could allow large hydro to be incorporated into Connecticut's energy portfolio.

[New England Clean Energy Council:] "If counted toward RPS targets, large hydro will meet a large portion of the demand created by those targets, reducing demand for smaller, local and regional renewables, lowering REC prices and thereby revenues to support new renewable projects…"

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