| State: |
California |
| Incentive Type: |
Production Incentive |
| Eligible Renewable/Other Technologies: |
Solar Thermal Electric, Photovoltaics, Landfill Gas, Wind, Biomass, Geothermal Electric, Municipal Solid Waste, Anaerobic Digestion, Small Hydroelectric, Tidal Energy, Wave Energy, Ocean Thermal, Biodiesel, Fuel Cells using Renewable Fuels |
| Applicable Sectors: |
Commercial, Industrial, Residential |
| Amount: | Tariff is based on CPUC market price referent (MPR) and is adjusted by time-of-use factors. A higher rate is provided for solar energy between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. |
| Terms: | Customers may enter into 10-, 15- or 20-year contracts |
| Web Site: |
http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/feedintariff
|
The California feed-in tariff was amended by legislation on October 11, 2009. The new law takes effect January 1, 2010, but the amendments will not be incorporated into the actual program until the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) develops regulations to implement the program changes. The information presented below discusses the feed-in tariff as amended by the 2009 legislation. Please refer to the website above for details about the current program and for updated information about the CPUC's efforts to implement the program changes.
The California feed-in tariff allows eligible customer-generators to enter into 10-, 15- or 20-year standard contracts with their utilities to sell the electricity produced by small renewable energy systems -- up to 3 megawatts (MW) -- at time-differentiated market-based prices. The price paid will be based on the CPUC’s market price referent (MPR) table, shown in CPUC Resolution E-4137. Time-of-use adjustments will be applied by each utility and will reflect the increased value of the electricity to the utility during peak periods and its lesser value during off-peak periods. A special, higher-level rate is provided for solar electricity generated between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.
All investor-owned utilities and publicly-owned utilities with 75,000 or more customers must make a standard feed-in tariff available to their customers. As the feed-in tariff is meant to help the utilities meet California's renewable portfolio standard (RPS), all green attributes associated with the energy, including renewable energy credits (RECs), transfer to the utility with the sale. Any customer-generator who sells power to the utility under this tariff may not participate in other state incentive programs. The tariffs will be available until the combined statewide cumulative capacity of eligible generation installed equals 750 MW. Each utility will be responsible for a portion of that cumulative total based on their proportionate sales.
Customers of publicly-owned utilities with 75,000 or more customers should contact their utility for more information. Customers of one of the investor-owned utilities can contact the appropriate program administrator for more information:
Southern California Edison
George Wiltsee
(626) 302-4945
george.wiltsee@sce.com
http://www.sce.com/EnergyProcurement/renewables/renewables-standard-contracts.htm
Pacific Gas and Electric
Feed-inTariffs@pge.com
http://www.pge.com/b2b/energysupply/wholesaleelectricsuppliersolicitation/standardcontractsforpurchase/
San Diego Gas and Electric
Michael J. Iammarino,
(858) 654-8270
MJIammarino@semprautilities.com
http://www.sdge.com/environment/renewableenergy/
Background:
California enacted legislation
(Assembly Bill 1969) in September 2006 requiring every electrical corporation to file with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) a standard tariff for renewable energy output produced by a public water or wastewater agency that is a retail customer of an electrical corporation. A subsequent CPUC decision (
D.07-07-027), issued in July 2007, authorized two expansions of the tariffs. First, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and Southern California Edison (SCE) were required to submit separate tariffs for the purchase of eligible renewable generation from entities other than public water and wastewater agencies. Second, PG&E, SCE and San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) were all required to offer both a full buy/sell option and an excess sale option in each tariff submitted for approval. Other electrical corporations were only required to offer the full buy/sell option, but they could offer both options if they chose to do so. The Public Utilities Code of California was subsequently amended by
SB 380 of 2008, and again by
SB 32 of 2009, each increasing the individual system capacity and aggregate capacity allowed statewide under the Feed-in Tariff program. Originally exempt from this requirement, SB 32 of 2009 requires publicly owned utilities with 75,000 or more customers to provide for a feed-in tariff.
