City of Palo Alto Utilities - Renewable Energy Credit Purchase Program (California)

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• Summary
• Quantitative Data

Last modified on February 12, 2015.

Financial Incentive Program

Place	Palo Alto, California
Name	City of Palo Alto Utilities - Renewable Energy Credit Purchase Program
Incentive Type	Performance-Based Incentive
Applicable Sector	Commercial, Industrial
Eligible Technologies	Photovoltaics, Wind
Active Incentive	No
Implementing Sector	Utility
Energy Category	Renewable Energy Incentive Programs
Maximum Incentive	600,000 per contract
Terms	Maximum term of 20 years
References	DSIRE

Summary

City of Palo Alto Utilities (CPAU) currently purchases Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs) to meet the demand for the solar portion of their retail green power program, PaloAltoGreen, through a third-party contract with 3-Degrees, Inc. PaloAltoGreen is a voluntary program through which CPAU customers can support renewable energy development by paying an extra 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for their electricity needs. CPAU then uses this money to purchase wind and solar power Renewable Energy Credits, or directly install city-owned systems.

Current demand for the solar portion of PaloAltoGreen is approximately $60,000 per year, expected to increase to $120,000 or more per year in the next three to five years. In an effort to support solar development within CPAU's service territory, rather than purchasing SRECs from outside sources, the City Council voted unanimously in December 2007 to enter into contracts with their commercial and industrial customers for the purchase of the SRECs associated with their solar installations. CPAU currently pays $50/MWh for SRECs through 3 Degrees, Inc and prices are expected to vary between $30/MWh and $150/MWh in the future. The price that CPAU will offer their local customers will be at or below these expected costs.

To expedite the application and contractual process, the City Council has delegated the contractual authority to the City Manager. To ease the administrative burden of the program, only systems that exceed 100 kW are being considered initially, which is the same minimum size requirement for the performance-based incentives in the PV Partners Program. Contract terms can not exceed 20 years and the contracted amounts can not exceed $600,000.

As of June 2009, CPAU is purchasing SRECs from a 906 kW DC photovoltaic (PV) system on the rooftops of several buildings on the Roche Palo Alto campus which generates up to 1.4 million kilowatt hours in electricity each year.

Incentive Contact

Contact Name	Customer Service
Division	City of Palo Alto Utilities (CPAU)
Address	250 Hamilton Avenue, 3rd Floor
Place	Palo Alto, California
Zip/Postal Code	94301
Phone	(650) 329-2241
Email	UtilitiesCustomerService@cityofpaloalto.org
Website	http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/default.asp

Authorities (Please contact the if there are any file problems.)

Authority 1:	City Council Resolution 8773
Date Enacted	2007-12-03

• Incentive and policy data are reviewed and approved by the N.C. Solar Center's DSIRE project staff.

References

Production Solar Photovoltaic Incentives

PV Commercial Performance-based incentive $/KWh	$0.05
PV Non-profit Performance-based incentive $/KWh	$0.05
PV Performance-based incentive Feed-in tariff Min KW	100
PV Commercial Performance-based incentive Feed-in tariff Max $	$600,000
PV Number of Years Applies	20

• Incentive and policy data are reviewed and approved by the N.C. Solar Center's DSIRE project staff.

References