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Good news from PRC on incentive rates

Good news for the new year from the PRC!  Thanks in large part to your calls and emails, the PRC granted some of the exceptions that I requested for El Paso Electric’s REC program.  Here is a quick summary of the Final Order in the case:

1.  $0.12/kWh REC incentive rate for small PV systems.  The current production incentive is $0.13/kWh, which is what we asked for it to remain.  EPE wanted to lower it to $0.10, and the Recommended Decision in the case was for it to go down to $0.112. The Final Order ruled that it shall be $0.12/kWh.  Not a total victory, but better than it could have been.  To be clear, once someone signs up for the REC program, the incentive price is locked in for the 12 years of the contract.  The change is for new systems.

2.  Request for REC contract conditions to be transferable to the new owner of a property with a PV system.  We got a win on this one!  Final Order says that if you sell your house and its attached PV system, that the new owner may take over the REC contract under its existing terms, for the remainder of the contract.  So if you have a system now and sell your house within the next 12 years, the new owner will be able to reap $0.13/kWh for the energy produced by the PV system until the contract ends in 2021.

3.  Request for REC contract conditions to continue if an existing system is expanded.  This one was denied, with questionable logic applied.  The good news is that EPE currently allows this to happen; it is just not in writing and they could change their policy.

4. Capacity limit for new medium sized PV systems (10-100 kW).  Another win on this one!  The PRC technically denied my exception, but what they ruled was essentially what I asked for in my original testimony. The limit to the amount that a system can benefit from the REC program is based on their actual energy use, rather than limiting system size based on historical power demand.

Thanks again to all who contacted the PRC on this, I really think that it made a difference.  One person who was present for the meeting in Santa Fe on Dec. 22 made this observation: “Pretty funny last week hearing Marks argue for 11 cents and Jones for the higher 12 cents per kWh on EPE’s small PV program.  May be you got him some “religion”?”

Happy New Year!

Mark
Mark Westbrock
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer
NM ER-1J Journeyman Electrician
Positive Energy, Inc.
office: 575-524-2030
cell: 575-640-2432
westbrock@positiveenergysolar.com
www.positiveenergysolar.com <http://www.positiveenergysolar.com>

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