People's Counsel Suggests Renewable PPA For SOS Be Opened To "Third-Party Suppliers"

In comments on potential changes to the provisions governing the use of a long-term renewable energy contract for a portion of SOS load in the District of Columbia, the D.C. Office of People's Counsel suggested that the RFP for such renewable energy be opened to, "third-party suppliers".

OPC's comments came in response to Pepco's notice that the previously awarded contract for 5% of SOS has been terminated by the selected project developer. In such notice, Pepco requested more flexibility in the renewable energy PPA contract, including but not limited to allowing the contract to account for more than 5% of SOS load (see details here)

OPC did not favor increasing the SOS load under the PPA beyond 5%, but otherwise did favor greater flexibility in the product under the RFP

"OPC supports increasing the contract term up to 25 years, allowing some of the bids to come from existing renewable projects, and including flexible terms that will protect both ratepayers and suppliers, such as the ability to renegotiate the purchase price if the annual average price falls outside of 15% (or any reasonable margin) of the prevailing market price. Hopefully, these terms would allow Pepco to finalize a PPA in a timely manner," OPC said

"As an additional hedge against further failure of the next RFP though, the Commission should explore having third-party suppliers be the counterparty to a renewable PPA. To do so, the Commission should issue an RFP inviting third-party suppliers who can generate long-term PPAs that may account for not more than 5% of retail load to propose a draft PPA and PPA RFP," OPC said

Pepco's original RFP had specified that the seller had to "own and operate" a new renewable energy facility from which the power would be sourced

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