D.C. PSC Finds Three Retail Suppliers in Non-Compliance with RPS Limit on MSW

The District of Columbia PSC has issued an order notifying three retail electric suppliers of non-compliance with D.C. Code Section 34-1433(g)(1), which, during the relevant annual compliance period, prohibited suppliers from using the incineration of municipal solid waste (MSW) to meet more than 20% of the Tier II RPS requirement (FC 945).

Specifically, the PSC said that RPS compliance reports for the 2010 compliance year from Consolidated Edison Solutions, Inc.; Liberty Power District of Columbia; and Noble Americas Energy Solutions LLC showed that each company exceeded the statutory limit by at least 37 percentage points.

"Consolidated Edison submitted 1,280 MSW RECs, which is 1,024 RECs over the limit. Liberty Power submitted 1,189 MSW RECs, which is 951 over the limit. Noble Americas submitted 2,639 MSW RECs, which is 1,719 RECs over the limit," the PSC said.

The PSC directed that within 30 days each indicated supplier shall either show cause why the PSC's notification of non-compliance is unwarranted or submit their respective payments for non-compliance.

The PSC calculated the non-compliance payments based solely on the costs to replace the submitted MSW RECs which exceeded the limit with compliant Tier II RECs. The only other Tier II RECs are from hydropower, and the average price of hydroelectric power RECs used for the 2010 compliance year was $0.41 per REC, which the PSC multiplied by each company's compliance shortfall.

This results in a noncompliance payment of $420 for Consolidated Edison Solutions; $390 for Liberty Power; and $705 for Noble Americas Energy Solutions.

Renewable energy credits generated by municipal solid waste facilities may not be used for compliance purposes after December 31, 2012.