| (3) A customer opt-out notice must be filed in the commission-designated project number before the beginning of a compliance period for the notice to be effective for that period. Each opt-out notice must include the name of the individual customer opting out, the customer's ESI IDs, the retail entities serving those ESI IDs, and the term for which the notice is effective, which may not exceed two years. The customer opting out must also provide the information included in the opt-out notice directly to ERCOT and may request that ERCOT protect the customer's ESI ID and consumption as confidential information. For notices submitted for the 2008 compliance period, a customer may amend a notice to include this information not later than January 15, 2009, if its initial notice did not include the information. A customer may revoke a notice under this subsection at any time prior to the end of a compliance period by filing a letter in the designated project number and providing notice to ERCOT. (k) Calculation of capacity conversion factor. The capacity conversion factor used by the program administrator to allocate credits to retail entities shall be calculated during the fourth quarter of each odd-numbered compliance year. The capacity conversion factor shall: (1) Be based on actual generator performance data for the previous two years for all renewable resources in the trading program during that period for which at least 12 months of performance data are available. (2) Represent a weighted average of generator performance; and (3) Use all actual generator performance data that is available for each renewable resource, excluding data for testing periods. (l) Production, transfer, and expiration of RECs. The program administrator shall administer a trading program for renewable energy credits in accordance with the requirements of this subsection. (1) The owner of a renewable resource shall earn one REC when a MWh is metered at that renewable resource. The program administrator shall record the energy in metered MWh and credit the REC account of the renewable resource that generated the energy on a quarterly basis. Quarterly production shall be rounded to the nearest whole MWh, with fractions of 0.5 MWh or greater rounded up. (2) The transfer of RECs between parties shall be effective only when the transfer is recorded by the program administrator. (3) The program administrator shall require that RECs be adequately identified prior to recording a transfer and shall issue an acknowledgement of the transaction to parties upon provision of adequate information. At a minimum, the following information shall be provided: (A) identification of the parties; (B) REC serial number, REC issue date, and the renewable resource that produced the REC; (C) the number of RECs to be transferred; and (D) the transaction date. (4) A retail entity shall surrender RECs to the program administrator for retirement from the market in order to meet its RPS requirement for a compliance period. The program administrator will document all REC retirements annually. (5) On or after each April 1, the program administrator will retire RECs that have not been retired by retail entities and have reached the end of their compliance life. (6) The program administrator may establish a procedure to ensure that the award, transfer, and retirement of credits are accurately recorded. (7) The issue date of RECs created by a renewable energy resource shall coincide with the beginning of the compliance period (calendar year) in which the credits are generated. All RECs shall have a compliance life of three compliance periods, after which the program administrator will retire them from the trading program. (8) Each REC that is not used in the compliance period in which it was created may be banked and is valid for the next two compliance periods. (m) Target for renewable technologies other than wind power. In order to meet the target of at least 500 MW of the total installed renewable capacity after September 1, 2005, coming from a renewable energy technology other than a source using wind energy as set forth in subsection (a)(1) of this section, the program administrator shall award compliance premiums to certified REC generators other than those powered by wind that were installed and certified by the commission pursuant to subsection (o) of this section after September 1, 2005. A compliance premium is created in conjunction with a REC. (1) For eligible non-wind renewable technologies, one compliance premium shall be awarded for each REC awarded for energy generated after December 31, 2007. (2) Except as provided in this subsection, the award, retirement, trade, and registration of compliance premiums shall follow the requirements of subsections (d), (l) and (n) of this section. (3) A compliance premium may be used by any entity toward its RPS requirement pursuant to subsection (h) of this section. (4) The program administrator shall increase the statewide RPS requirement calculated for each compliance period pursuant to subsection (h)(1) of this section by the number of compliance premiums retired during the previous compliance period. (n) Settlement process. The first quarter following the compliance period shall be the settlement period during which the following actions shall occur: (1) By January 31, the program administrator will notify each retail entity of its total RPS requirement for the previous compliance period as determined pursuant to subsection (h) of this section. (2) By March 31, each retail entity shall submit credits or compliance premiums to the program administrator from its account equivalent to its RPS requirement for the previous compliance period. If the retail entity does not submit sufficient credits or compliance premiums to satisfy its obligation, the retail entity is subject to the penalty provisions in subsection (p) of this section. (3) The program administrator may request the commission to adjust the deadlines set forth in this section if changes to the ERCOT settlement calendar or other factors affect the availability of reliable retail sales data. (o) Certification of renewable energy facilities. The commission shall certify all renewable facilities that will produce either REC offsets, RECs, or compliance premiums for sale in the trading program. To be awarded RECs, or REC offsets, or compliance premiums, a power generator must complete the certification process described in this subsection. The program administrator shall not award offsets, RECs, or compliance premiums for energy produced by a power generator before it has been certified by the commission. (1) The designated representative of the generating facility shall file an application with the commission on a form approved by the commission for each renewable energy generation facility. At a minimum, the application shall include the location, owner, technology, and rated capacity of the facility and shall demonstrate that the facility meets the resource eligibility criteria in subsection (e) of this section. Any subsequent changes to the information in the application shall be filed with the commission within 30 days of such changes. (2) No later than 30 days after the designated representative files the certification form with the commission, the commission shall inform both the program administrator and the designated representative whether the renewable facility has met the certification requirements. At that time, the commission shall either certify the renewable facility as eligible to receive RECs, offsets, or compliance premiums, or describe any insufficiencies to be remedied. If the application is contested, the time for acting is extended for such time as is necessary for commission action. (3) Upon receiving notice of certification of new facilities, the program administrator shall create a REC account for the designated representative of the renewable resource. (4) The commission or program administrator may make on-site visits to any certified facility, and the commission shall decertify any facility if it is not in compliance with the provisions of this section. (5) A decertified renewable generator may not be awarded RECs. However, any RECs awarded by the program administrator and transferred to a retail entity prior to the decertification remain valid. (p) Penalties and enforcement. If by April 1 of the year following a compliance period the program administrator determines that a retail entity has not retired sufficient credits or compliance premiums to satisfy its allocation, the retail entity shall be subject to an administrative penalty pursuant to PURA §15.023, of $50 per MWh that is deficient. (q) Microgenerators and REC aggregators. A REC aggregator may manage the participation of multiple microgenerators in the REC trading program. The program administrator shall assign to the REC aggregator all RECs accrued by the microgenerators who are under a REC management contract with the REC aggregator. Cont'd... |
