advanced energy portfolio standard

Subscribe to advanced energy portfolio standard via RSS

"If you build it they will come…" is the old saying from the movie Field of Dreams.  It also could be used to sum up Ohio’s energy policy toward growing green jobs. 

Policymakers believed using grant funds and passage of a renewable energy portfolio standard (RPS) would kick start demand for renewable energy in the State.  If demand for solar…

Governor John Kasich has not revealed his true feeling regarding the Renewable Energy Portfolio (called the Advanced Energy Portfolio Standard in Ohio) which mandates a certain percentage of electricity should be generated from renewable sources like solar, wind, biomass and others.  Ohio’s RPS was instituted as part of Governor Strickland’s major energy legislation- S.B. 221.

While the Governor has not …

With about ten days until election day races around the country are getting more heated.  Ohio’s race for Governor is a study in contrasts on many issues.  Energy policy is certainly one of them.

Governor Strickland has pushed the development of advanced energy projects aggressively during his tenure.  Through passage of Senate Bill 221, he created the states…

The Sustainable Cleveland 2019 summit was unlike any other conference or summit I had attended.  I have been to plenty where the goal was simply to raise awareness-  Typically a parade of talking heads followed up by urgent pleas to do something in the future. 

The Cleveland Summit was much different.  It took some 700 attendees…

On August 20, 2008, the Public Utility Commission of Ohio (PUCO) put forth proposed rules governing alternative and renewable energy sources.  The rules main purpose was to govern implementation of the State’s new Advanced Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS) established in Senate Bill 221.  The AEPS is broader version of a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) adopted by other states…

The initial comment period is now closed on the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio’s (PUCO) draft rules for implementation of the Alternative and Renewable Energy Requirements. The PUCO received hundreds of pages of comments from a wide variety of perspectives: Utilities, Renewable Energy Developers, Industrial Customers, Environmental Groups, Clean Coal Technology Providers, and Consumer Groups.

The rules were set in motion by passage of Ohio’s comprehensive Energy Legislation (SB 221) which includes provisions designed to promote alternative and renewable energy development.  The legislation includes both an Advanced Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS) and a more traditional Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS). 

While the Legislation was very complex, major policy issues were left to be sort out through rule promulgated by the PUCO.  The comments received on the first draft of the rules for implementation of the AEPS and RPS reveal significant differences of opinion over critical issues.

Here is my critical issue list.  The rules must address squarely these issues to determine the direction of Ohio’s energy policy.

  1. What are "advanced energy"  resources and projects and how best to promote it?  For example, right now the rules contain no standards for what qualifies as clean coal.  Comments I submitted pointed out that a simple reduction of a few pounds from a 500 mw source that emits a 1,000 tons of pollution could still be considered a "clean coal" source.  Worse yet, the entire generation could qualify toward meeting the AEPS.  Without modification the AEPS could be rendered effectively meaningless.
  2. Double counting environmental attributes- It appears from the comments that Ohio doesn’t recognize this debate has been going on nationally for some time.  Many of the 26 or so states that have had RPS standards have been sorting this type of issue out.  The standard practice emerging nationally is not to allow CO2 emission reduction credits to be separated from a Renewable Energy Credit (REC).  Allowing otherwise distorts the voluntary CO2 and REC markets.
  3. How much teeth does the RPS have?  Many comments were submitted that the rules would grant the PUCO too much discretion to waive compliance with the RPS standard based upon a "act of god" (force majeure).  Also, SB 221 allowed compliance with RPS benchmarks to be waived if electric rates rise as a result of the RPS by more than 3%.  But how you measure the 3% increase is critical to determining whether there truly will be a RPS requirement in Ohio.  It seems the rules have to answer the question-are we serious about having an RPS standard in Ohio?

 (a summary of the major comments on the AEPS and RPS by clicking on "continue reading" below)

(photo: Kevin Dooley/everystockphoto.com)Continue Reading Major Issues Revealed With Ohio’s Alternative and Renewable Energy Rules