2. Nancy LaPlaca, Who Am I?
โข ASU: Bachelor Fine Arts, J.D., College
of Law
โข 3.5 years: Policy Advisor, AZ
Corporation Commโr Paul Newman
โข Staff co-chair for the Environment Cmte
at the Natโl Assโn Regulatory Commโrs
โข 3 years as public interest intervener at
Colorado Public Utilities Commission
โข 5 years Congressional staff for AZ
Representatives Morris K. Udall and
Karan English
โข 3 years as Senior Energy Analyst for
NC WARN www.ncwarn.org
3. Goals of Presentation
โข Basic terms and concepts
โข Helpful websites
โข Provide and explain evolution of solar around the U.S.,
with examples
โข Basics of regulatory fights around the U.S.
โ Adding โdemandโ charges
โ Increasing fixed charges
โ โValue of solarโ determinations
โ Externalities
โ Time frame used for solar v conventional power
plants
โ Is solar subsidized?
4. Background: Energy, Electricity
and โNetโ Energy
โข Energy: transportation (oil) v. Electricity: coal, natural
gas, nuclear, solar, wind, hydropower
โ Currently not much overlap, but will change as we
โelectrifyโ transportation with light rail, electric cars, etc.
โข Net Energy = the energy left after using energy to drill,
mine, transport, compress, combust, build, etc.; also
called E-ROI (Energy Return on Investment)
โข Energy costs are going to rise: invest in renewables,
with higher capital costs, or fossil fuels, with increasing
costs and high Operation and Maintenance?
โข โExternalitiesโ global warming, water scarcity; also
enormous health effects from fossil fuels.
โข Environmental justice issues: local, U.S., global
5. What Does Solar Need to
Thrive?
1. Access to the grid
2. Access to financing
How are utilities blocking?
โข Lack of โthird partyโ markets, especially in the
Southeast, only incumbent utility can sell electricity
โข Donโt allow โcommunity-ownedโ community solar or
โaggregated or virtual net metering
โข Barriers to PACE
โข Non-transparent, unfair processes at PUCs/PSCs:
donโt consider or even allow evidence of the real costs
and benefits of both dirty and clean energy
6. Definitions
โข Rooftop, Distributed, Commercial, Utility, Wholesale
Solar
โข Renewable Portfolio Standards
โข Net Energy Metering (NEM)
โข Avoided Cost v Retail Rate
โข SRECs: Solar Renewable Energy Credits
โข Grid Parity
โข How Rate Design Affects Solar, i.e. Time of Use Rates
โข KEY CONCEPT: When a utility owns solar, it can make
a ~10% Rate of Return; fuel and purchased power are
โpass-throughโ costs that the utility does not profit from.
7. Solar: Rooftop, Distributed,
Commercial, Wholesale, Utility
โข Rooftop generally means home-sized or small business
(4kW to 50kW)
โข Distributed generally means locally-sited v larger-scale,
further from load.
โข Commercial scale generally means mid-size (20kw) up
to 1MW (Wal-Mart sized).
โข Wholesale means that Duke is paying only the avoided
cost rate (5-7 cents/kWh) v retail rate (11 cents/kWh).
โข Utility-scale means either (1) solar is OWNED by the
utility, or (2) utility purchases solar from developer.
8.
9. Definition: Renewable Portfolio
Standards
โข In 29 states, plus D.C.
โข Require utilities to get X% of electricity from โcleanโ
sources by X year.
โ In NC, itโs 12.5% by 2021
โ What is โcleanโ? Nuclear?
โข Each RPS is unique, see www.dsireusa.org
โข Questions:
โ How to pay for RPS?
โ Ensure that low-income ratepayers arenโt hurt
โ Some RPSโ have caps on bill increases (CO)
โ Some states adjust budget every year (AZ)
โข Distributed generation budget cut from $40M to $3M.
10. Renewable Portfolio Standard
Policieswww.dsireusa.org / August 2016
WA: 15% x 2020*
OR: 50%x
2040*
(large utilities)
CA: 50%
x 2030
MT: 15% x
2015
NV: 25% x
2025* UT: 20% x
2025*โ
AZ: 15% x
2025*
ND: 10% x 2015
NM: 20%x 2020
(IOUs)
HI: 100% x 2045
CO: 30% x 2020
(IOUs) *โ
OK: 15% x
2015
MN:26.5%
x 2025 (IOUs)
31.5% x 2020 (Xcel)
MI: 10% x
2015*โ WI: 10%
2015
MO:15% x
2021
IA: 105 MW IN:
10% x
2025โ
IL: 25%
x 2026
OH: 12.5%
x 2026
NC: 12.5% x 2021
(IOUs)
VA: 15%
x 2025โ
KS: 20% x 2020
ME: 40% x 2017
29 States +
Washington DC + 3
territories have a
Renewable Portfolio
Standard
(8 states and 1 territories
have renewable portfolio
goals)
Renewable portfolio standard
Renewable portfolio goal Includes non-renewable alternative resources* Extra credit for solar or customer-sited renewables
โ
U.S.
Territories
DC
TX: 5,880 MW x 2015*
SD: 10% x 2015
SC: 2% 2021
NMI: 20% x 2016
PR: 20% x 2035
Guam: 25% x
2035
USVI: 30% x 2025
NH: 24.8%x
2025VT: 75% x 2032
MA: 15% x 2020(new
resources)
6.03% x 2016 (existing resources)
RI: 38.5% x
2035CT: 27% x
2020
NY:50% x 2030
PA: 18% x
2021โ
NJ: 20.38% RE x 2020
+ 4.1% solar by 2027
DE: 25% x
2026*MD: 20% x 2022
DC: 20% x 2020
11. Energy Efficiency Resource Standards (and
Goals)
www.dsireusa.org / October 2016
20 States
Have Mandatory
Statewide Energy
Efficiency Resource
Standards
(7 States Have
Goals)
States with an Energy Efficiency Resource Standard
No State Standard or Goal
U.S.
Territories
D
C
States with an Energy Efficiency Resource Goal
Guam USVIPR NM
I
15. Net Metering
State-developed mandatory rules for certain utilities (41 states + DC+ 3 territories)
No statewide mandatory rules, but some utilities allow net metering (2 states)
www.dsireusa.org / July 2016
KEY
U.S. Territories:
41 States + DC,
AS, USVI, & PR
have mandatory net
metering rules
DC
Statewide distributed generation compensation rules other than net metering (4 states + 1 territory)
GU
AS PR
VI
16. Net Metering: Big Picture
โข Empowers customers
โข Encourages energy awareness and action
โข Long run: residential and small biz are
more expensive than larger-scale
(economies of scale)
โข Storage, batteries and micro-grids will help
distributed generation compete
โข Utilities donโt like because it cuts profits,
provides clean energy/competition.
17. 3rd
Party Solar PV Power Purchase Agreement
(PPA)
www.dsireusa.org / July 2016
At Least 26 States
+ Washington DC and
Puerto Rico Authorize or
Allow 3rd
Party Power
Purchase Agreements for
Solar PV
Apparently disallowed by state or otherwise restricted by legal barriers
Status unclear or unknown
U.S.
Territories
D
C
VA: Limited within a certain
utility's service territory
CO: With system
size limitations
TX: With system
size limitations
NV: With system
size limitations
AZ: Limited to
certain sectors
Authorized by state or otherwise currently in use, at least in certain jurisdictions
Guam USVIPR NM
I
LA, MS, SC: Solar leases
explicitly allowed
19. What is โGrid Parityโ?
โข Grid parity is the
crossover point where
solar becomes equal to
the cost of conventional
generation.
โข Battle of the Experts,
because it all depends
on assumptions!
โข Need to look at life-
cycle costs and
realistic increases in
fuel costs.
20.
21. What Does Electricity โCostโ, and
Why Is It So Hard to Determine?
โข Power plants run different numbers of
hours/year (8,760 hrs)
โ Nuclear: runs 93% of total hrs/yr
โ Coal: ~85%
โ Solar: 20-25% (sometimes 30%, AZ)
โข Other issues: O&M, water use, pollution, waste
removal, labor.
โข Many costs not โcountedโ, i.e. pollution, carbon,
fuel risk.
โข Value of solar not counted: no pollution, no fuel
risk, delivers electricity at high value times.
22. Why Do the Costs of Electricity
Vary So Much?
โข Different โcapacity factorโ for each type
of plant: solar generates electricity during
the day, natural gas has high and volatile
fuel costs, coal compliance costs are
increasing.
โข How much are fuel costs increasing/yr?
โข How much will nuclear decommissioning?
โข How much will the cost of solar, wind and
other clean energy solutions decrease?
โข What about water supplies?
23. SRECs: Say What?!
Source: http://www.srectrade.com/srec_markets/introduction
SRECs are Solar
Renewable Energy
Credits, which help to
fund solar energy until it
reaches โgrid parityโ, i.e.
costs the same as
conventional electricity.
The SREC market exists
in the Northeast and
Midwest, rapidly
changing.
25. Clean Energy Impact on NC
Ratepayer Bills
โข $0.41 per month (flat fee) for compliance with
the North Carolina Renewable Efficiency
Portfolio Standard (REPS)
โข $2.74 per month (average) paid to commercial
solar producers selling to Duke
โข $3.84 per month (average) for energy
efficiency
โข Butโฆ
โข ~$22-38/month for fossil fuel purchases.
Source:
http://assets.bizjournals.com/charlotte/pdf/Electricity%20Rate%20Impact%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf
26.
27.
28. 8
APSโ RW Beck Study on the Value
Of Distributed Energy
Operating Impacts and Valuation study
RW Beck
study says
the value of
distributed
solar is 7.9
to 14.11
cents/kWh
in avoided
costs for
fuel, trans-
mission,
line losses,
etc.
29. Source: page 43, Minnesota Value of Solar, Methodology, Prepared for MN Dept. of Commerce, 1/31/14, Clean Power Research,
https://www.edockets.state.mn.us/EFiling/edockets/searchDocuments.do?method=showPoup&documentId={EE336D18-74C3-
4534-AC9F-0BA56F788EC4}&documentTitle=20141-96033-02
30. Source: Energy Darwinism, Citi GPS: Global Perspectives &
Solutions, October 2013
G
A
S
-
F
U
E
L
C
O
A
L
NUCLEAR FUEL
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$ = Financing Costs
Fuel Costs
38. From Dukeโs Executives
Jim Rogers:
โข utility monopolies are being โeroded.โ Industry is
like a โfrogโ getting heated up in boiling water.
โข Without large building projects, nothing to drive
earnings.
โข Aging infrastructure with big costs.
โข Greater pressure on grid from increased storms.
โข Power demand is anemic or declining.
Source: Monopoly Utilities Doomed, by Martin Rosenberg, Energy Central,
January 20, 2014 http://www.energybiz.com/article/14/01/monopoly-utilities-doomed
39. Whatโs So Great About Solar?
Solar PV (not Concentrating Solar Power or CSP):
โข Uses no water, produces no waste
โข Very low maintenance and operation costs
โข Very simple construction
โข Saves money on pollution costs, nuclear waste
costs, coal ash, coal waste, acid rain, and FUEL!
โข North Carolina spends $1.6 BILLION/year on
imported coal (high was $2.36 BILLION/year)
44. North Carolina: 3rd
in U.S. for
Total Installed Solar!
โข North Carolina: 213 solar companies,5,950 employees
โข 2015: $1.689 billion invested in solar
โข NCโs current total installed solar: ~2,300 MW, ranks
the state third in the country in installed solar capacity;
enough to power 245,000 homes.
โข Installed solar PV system prices in the U.S. have
dropped steadily- by 12% from last year and 66% from
2010
โข However, 93% of NCโs solar is due to federal law,
PURPA, which DUK tried to kill at NCUC and NCGA
โข Source: www.seia.org
44
45. U.S.: 31,000+ MW Total Installed
Solar PV, CSP (solar thermal
electric)
45
46. Cost of Solar Dropping FAST,
Including the Southeast
46
54. Helpful Websites
โข www.seia.org webpages for individual states
โข www.greentechmedia.com - excellent reporting
โข www.eia.gov webpages for each state; also for natural
gas, coal, electricity consumption
โข www.dsire-usa.com
Thank you for your attention!
Nancy LaPlaca
nancy@ncwarn.org
480-359-8442
Editor's Notes
Ceres, nonprofit that works to make business more sustainable
Many utilities are responding to public demand for renewables
All our work is a lever to push Duke into the clean energy revolution already in progress
To put this in perspective, the entire state of NC has