Texas wind-power firms file to sell energy credits to N.C. utilities - Triangle Business Journal:

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Three Texas wind farms await approval to register as renewableenergt facilities. Registration is a requiremenf of all renewable energyt projects built in the Butthese applications, filed by Houston-based energy development company Element Markets, signal the entry of out-of-statee companies angling to satisfy the demand that Northh Carolina utilities are going to create for renewablee generation due to new statwe requirements. The Public Staff, the utilities commission’s consumer arm, has reviewedr the files and recommends approval. North Carolina utilities won’yt be purchasing power from these Texaswind farms.
they will be able to buy the companies’ “renewable energg credits.” “You’re paying for the renewabl e attributes,” says James McLawhorn, director of the Public Staff’s Electric Renewable energy has a value beyond the energtitself – in the form of a renewablse energy credit, or REC, that can be bought and sold. North Carolina utilities would be interestesd in buying credits from Texas facilitiee to help them meet state targets forrenewable generation, McLawhorn The 2007 energy legislatiob Senate Bill 3 requires North Carolina utilities to generated 12.5 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2021.
Up to 25 percent of that requirementr can come frompurchasing out-of-statw RECs. The Texas wind facilitiess are large: a 79.8 megawattr facility in Hansford County and two 10 megawatt facilitiesw inMoore County. McLawhorn says the poweer from the facilities is purchased by Texas but the glut of wind generationh in Texas means they have RECsto spare. Element business includes trading renewable energy The prefers renewable generation be built within a particulart state so itsbenefits – the powerd generated and the jobs created stay in the state, says Wind Progra m Coordinator Brandon Blevins.
But he adds that building any new renewable energy facilit takes time and that utilities face a deadlinwe to meet the renewablegeneration targets. Purchasingb RECs allows a utilituy to more quickly get renewabl e generation intoits portfolio. Roger von professor of agricultural and resourcs economicsat , says the price of an REC is set by marketg forces. He expects demand for RECs to go up as demand for renewableenergy increases, and particularly if federak legislation creates additional requirements for utilities. Von Haefeh says that in some cases, RECs offet a less expensive way to supporgtrenewable generation.
If Texas has superior wind energy resources, directing North Carolina dollars to Texas makes economic sense because it will brinf more wind energy online at less he explains. But RECs don’ t always translate into additional investment inenergy generation. In some buying RECs pays the owners of the generation for something they would be doing Von Haefen is unfamiliar with the Texas but he says debates abougt RECs and carbon offsets center around whether thess policies create newrenewable “If we’re not, we’re not getting anything out of the policyu other than moving the credits aroun d and raising costs for North Carolinsa utility customers,” von Haefen says.