PSC Issues Draft Revising Language Governing Exemption Of Existing Retail Contract From New RPS Changes

The District of Columbia PSC has issued a revised set of draft rules to implement recent legislation concerning the RPS

The latest daft states, "Energy supply contracts executed prior to March 22, 2019, the effective date of the CleanEnergy Act, shall not be subject to the increased Tier One and Solar Energy requirements required by the CleanEnergy Act through January 1, 2022; but any extension or renewal of such contracts, executed on or after March 22, 2019, shall be subject to the increased Tier One and Solar Energy requirements as required by the CleanEnergy Act."

For comparison, the May draft has stated, "Energy supply contracts executed prior to March 22, 2019, the effective date of the CleanEnergy Act, shall not be subject to the increased Tier One and Solar Energy requirements required by that act through January 1, 2022; but any extension or renewal of such contracts shall be subject to the increased Tier One and Solar Energy requirements as required by that act."

The latest draft includes a definition for "Energy Supply Contract" as follows: "a contract between an electricity supplier and a customer for the retail sale of electricity."

The latest draft also revises language concerning the length of time for which RECs remain valid

The latest draft clarifies that, "RECs shall be valid for a three-year period from the date of generation, except that Solar RECs produced by Solar Energy systems which meet the requirements of D.C. Official Code § 34-1432(e)(1) and which may, therefore, be used to meet the Solar Energy portion of the Tier One requirement shall be valid for a five (5)-year period from the date of generation. These Solar RECs shall be valid for a five (5)-year period from the date of generation provided they were generated as of or after March 22, 2019, the effective date of the CleanEnergy DC Omnibus Amendment Act of 2018 (CleanEnergy Act) (D.C. Law 22-257). A newly certified Renewable Generator can produce RECs starting from January 1st of the year in which it was certified, except that any Renewable Generator certified in January of any year can produce RECs starting January 1st of the year before that certification."

The latest draft further adds language stating that, "After December 31, 2028, the RECs that had been produced by generating facilities, on or before that date, that were certified as a Tier One source located within an Adjacent PJM State on or before March 22, 2019, the effective date of the CleanEnergy Act, shall be valid for the remainder of the three (3)-year period from the date of generation. The Solar RECs produced by such facilities, on or before December 31, 2028, shall be valid for the remainder of the five (5)-year period from the date of generation."

RM29-2019-01