L R AS Published on Monday 27 June 2016 - n° 153 - Categories:US policy
A new competitor for the American electricity companies appears
Municipal utilities and cooperatives could become important suppliers of renewable energy in the United States. In June, the Energy Regulator (FERC) ruled that a rural electricity cooperative could enter into a contract to supply electricity from their renewable energy plants under the Power Utilities Regulatory Act of 1978 (PURPA). This regulation had given market access to independent power producers by requiring utilities to purchase electricity from these producers if it costs less than their wholesale price. This paves the way for unlimited purchase of renewables under the PURPA regulation as solar electricity becomes cheaper than power generation from other sources.
The market is still very small (cooperatives have only put 177 MW of solar photovoltaic power online and are forecasting 375 MW by 2018). The Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) estimates that more than 1,700 cooperatives and utilities sell 987 TWh to their members each year, which could be satisfied by 400 GW of solar and wind projects. However, the niche up to 5 MW is a particularly attractive segment for municipal utilities and cooperatives. Nothing now prevents these organisations from producing electricity and selling it to companies!
PV Magazine of 23 June
