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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20080122 - VI-21VI-21 MEMO To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: Tom Montgomery Date: January 16, 2008 Re: Authorize Xcel Energy to Claim Renewable Energy Credits for Hydropower Plant Generation Xcel Energy has requested that the City authorize Xcel to claim renewable energy credits for electrical generation from the City's hydropower plant. A recent state law requires Xcel Energy to produce 30% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Other states in our region have passed similar renewable energy requires. A regional tracking system, Midwest Renewable Energy Tracking System (M-BETS), has been developed covering five Midwestern states to track compliance with these new renewable energy production requirements. The City's hydropower plant is under contract to sell all power generated to Xcel Energy. Xcel Energy has requested that the City sign the enclosed M-BETS document assigning our renewable energy credits to Xcel Energy. These credits are not usable by the City as they apply to utility companies only as a measure of meeting the utility company's renewable energy production requirements. Council is requested to authorize the assignment of the City's hydropower renewable energy credits to Xcel Energy. .~, .... crrY of RSs Minnesota Commerce file://///Publicworks 1/pwdata/Hydro/Renewable%20Energy%20Credits... Minnesota joins midwest states to meet renewable energy goals April 76, 2007 Regional tracking system will help meet renewable energy goals recently signed into law. (St. Paul. MN...) -Anew regional tracking system will help Minnesota meet its renewable energy goals that were recently signed into law by Governor Tim Pawlenty. Minnesota has joined Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota and Manitoba to establish the Midwest Renewable Tracking System (M-RETS), a regional system to monitor utilities' progress toward meeting Minnesota's Renewable Energy Standard (RES). The RES requires utilities in Minnesota to produce 25 percent of the state's energy from renewable sources by 2025, while Xcel Energy will produce 30 percent of its energy from renewable resources by 2020. Wisconsin, Iowa, and Manitoba also have policies requiring or encouraging the development and use of renewable resources_ The purpose of M-RETS is to help participants meet their renewable energy standards and objectives. M-RETS will provide a tool to collect data on renewable energy production and provide a mechanism for monitoring the respective goals of each state and province_ It will also promote trading credits with neighboring jurisdictions in the region to help meet policy requirements. "Creating amarket-based trading program for Minnesota and our neighboring states is the next logical step toward meeting our renewable energy goals," said Edward Garvey, Deputy Commissioner for Energy at the Minnesota Department of Commerce. "M-RETS supports a regional trading market which will keep the costs of developing renewable energy down and promote more renewable energy generation." APX Inc., North America's leading technology and administration provider for environmental and energy markets, has been chosen to implement M-RETS. APX was awarded a four year contract and the system is scheduled to become operational in the summer of 2007. Several other states and provinces in the region are also expected to join as the program progresses. Background on the development of M-RETS The M-RETS contract and technical recommendations were developed with extensive support from the Great Plains Institute, on behalf of Powering the Plains and the Izaak Walton League of America, as well as the Cen#er for Resource Solutions. 1 of 1 1!16/2008 1:05 PM XCe~Ener s e. 1000 ~ 9'Y Denver, CO 80202 1-800-895-4999 xcelenengycom January 9, 2008 Dave Osberg City Administrator City of Hastings 101 Fourth Street East `Hastings, MN 55033 RE: REGISTRATION OF RENEWABLE GENERATORS WITHIN M-BETS The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin require that all renewable generation in the Midwest Renewable Energy Tracking System ("M-RETS'~ be registered in the :system. In order to comply with these orders, Northern States Power Company ("NSP'~~ ~pla.ns to register within M-BETS all renewable generators with which it has a Power Purchase Agreement M-BETS is an independent, renewable energy registry and credit tracking system for electricity generation within the Midwest states. M-BETS will add credibility to transactions involving renewable energy certificates or credits ("RECs'~ by protecting against double or multiple counting of the same renewable energy. M-BETS independently validates renewable energy generators, creates certificates from metered renewable energy generation, registers the transfer of certificates within (and out o~ the system, and tracks retirement of certificates. In consideration of the price paid by NSP for the renewable energy under the Hastings Utilities Dept Agreement ("Agreement', the renewable attributes and any RECs associated with that energy have been purchased and are owned by NSP and NSP has the sole right to own, control, and sell all renewable attributes and RECs arising out of its Agreement with Hastings Utilities Dept. In order for NSP to register the RECs arising out of this Agreement in M-BETS, NSP requires that you countersign this letter to acknowledge that this transfer has occurred and that NSP is the owner of the renewable attributes and RECs. By providing this confirmation, Hastings Utilities Dept ("Seller's agrees that it has assigned and does assign to NSP all right, title and interest in the renewable attributes, environmental attributes, and any renewable energy certificates and credits associated with the energy that NSP has purchased under the Agreement between Hastings Utilities Dept and NSP, dated September 10, 1985, and Seller further acknowledges that NSP holds sole right, title and interest in such attributes, certificates and credits without additional compensation under the referenced Agreement In addition, an authorized representative of Seller must sign the enclosed Schedule A granting NSP the authority and permission to register the Hastings Utilities Dept. facility within M-BETS, and to claim title to, create, trade and/or retire for compliance all renewable energy certificates associated with the facility. Please return this counter-signed letter and the executed Schedule A to me no later than February 1, 2008. If you have any questions, please contact me as soon as possible to ensure that we have all generators registered and approved by the deadline of Mardi 1, 2008. Respectfully, Andy Sulkko Purchased Power Analyst 303 571-6529 Countersigned: Hastings Utilities Dept. Signature of Authorized Representative Date Enclosure: M-BETS Schedule A, Generator Owner's Designation of Responsible Party c: Philippa Narog SCHEDULE A Generator Owner's Designation of Responsible Party The undersigned on behalf of the Generator Owner, .Hastings Utilities Dept. ,1 represents to APX, Inc. ("APX") that: 1. Uwe am/are the Generator Owner who holds legal title to the Generating Unit(s) designated below. 2. Uwe the Generator Owner hereby grant authority and permission to Account Holder, Northern States Power Company~2 to create and trade all Certificates associated with the following Generating Unit{s), which Certificates shall also be registered to the M RETS System account(s) of the Account Holder. The authority and permission granted hereunder expires on Jun-2033 . 3. Uwe the Generator Owner further represents that Uwe have not granted similar authority or permission to any other subscriber or account holder for use in the M RETS System or any similar system. Generating Unit Name and Address ID or EIA Plant Code and Optional: [Generating Unit Size/System Size] Generator Identifier (as a licable Hastings Utilities Dept.; Dakota County, MN GENERATOR OWNERS Name: Title: Address: Date: Directions for Generator Owner's Consent Ali information on this Generator Owner's Consent must be typed or neatly printed in blue or black ink as follows: 1. Fill in the Generator Owner's full legal name, i.e. ABC Domestic Energy Company, Inc. 2. Fill in the Account Holder's full legal name, i.e. ABC Domestic Energy Company, Inc. 3: If Generator Owner is a corporation, partnership or other legal entity, this Consent must be executed by a company officer of the Generator Owner. if Generator Owner is. an individual, this Consent must be executed by the individual. 4. Return the original, completed Consent~to: M-BETS Administrator APX, Inc. 5201 Great America Parkway #522 Santa Clara, CA 95054 " Midwest Renewable Energy Tracking System (M-BETS) http://www.m-rets.com/index.asp ~ Home ~ About M-RETS ~ Documents 8~ Resources l News ~ Events ~ Login ~ The Midwest Renewable Energy Tracking System (M-BETS) tracks renewable energy generation in participating States and Provinces and assists in verifying compliance wi#h individual state/provincial or voluntary Renewable Portfolio Standards (BPS) and objectives. M-BETS is an important tool to keep track of all relevant information about renewable energy produced and delivered in the region. Currently, several States and Provinces participate in M-BETS: Illinois, Iowa, Manitoba, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin have policies in place requiring or strongly encouraging utility development of renewable resources. Additional States and Provinces in the region are expected to join M-BETS after launch. M-BETS uses verifiable production data for all participating generators and creates a Renewable Energy Credit (REC) in the form of a tradable digital certificate for each M1Nh_ Midwest/SO M-BETS production data is provided by the Midwest """"~''F"'s'" lndeoendent Transmission System Operator (MISO). The M-BETS system is administered by APX, !nc which was awarded a contract by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin to implement, operate and administer the program. Contact Us All content copyright ®2007 M-BETS. Legal 8 Privacy ~, Login to M-BETS ~' Begin Registration M-BETS eNewsletter Subscribe to the M-BETS newsletter to receive the latest updates. post Name Last Name E-mail Address Sign UPI::', Announcements Jan. 15th Subscriber Group Meeting Powered by APX t oft 1/!6/2008 t:t4 PM About M-BETS About M-BETS About M-RETS Governance FAQ Why Use M-BETS? Contact Us - - - - About M-BETS --~~~~~---~.- M-RETS tracks renewable generation located within the state and provincial boundaries of Illinois, Iowa, Manitoba, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, ---~~-- - Soutfi Dakota, and Wisconsin. It also tracks Renewable Resource Credits (RRCs) for the State of Wisconsin. Any generator located within the ---~~.~-~-.~-. geographic footprint of M-BETS may participate. 1n addition, any generator outside of the geographic footprint of M-BETS owned by a partcpating utility, or a generator with a contract with a ._ _ _._. _ participating utility to deliver energy into the M-BETS footprint may participate in M-12ETS. Any other generator may participate at an adjusted fee schedule. Renewable generation is defined as energy generated by a facility that is considered renewable as defined by any of the states or provinces listed above. The M-BETS Administrator will issue one electronic M-BETS Certificate for each MWh of energy that is generated by registered generators. To prevent rloubfe-counting, generators participating in M-BETS track their generation output by M-BETS. In addition, M-BETS will consider tracking nonrenewable generation from any of these states in the future. Partiapation in M-BETS is voluntary although some states may designate MRETS as the tracking system to be used to meet State renewable energy standards. Any party, inducting non-generators, such as traders, marketers, and end-use customers may establish an account in the system. All data in M-BETS is verified. M-RETS wll not determine eligibility for state or voluntary programs. Each individual state will be responsible for determining whether or not a particular generating unR qual~es for a state program or not However, the State Commissions may use the information collected and verified by M-BETS to conduct this determination. M-BETS will issue reports on activity wflhin the system- There are five types of public reports: • Directory of Account Holders • Directory of Registered Generators • Report on Aggregated MRETS Activity • RRCs Offered by Providers • RRC Program Report Public reports will be accessible to anybody via the public page on the M-BETS website. Contact Us All content copyright ®2008 M-BETS. Legal & Privacy http://www.m-rets.com/about/AboutMRETS.asp Powered by APX 1 of 1 1/15/2008 1:10 PM ~ Home ( About M-BETS ~ Documents ~ Resources ~ News ~ Events ~ Login ~ Minnesota Commerce file:J////Publicworks 1/pwdata/Hydro/Renewable%20Energy%20Credits... Governor signs renewable energy requirement Governor first outlined 25 x '25 goal in 2006 State of the State, emphasized it again this year Saint Paul -Minnesota moves to the head of the pack of states with renewable energy standards today with Govemor Tim Pawlenty's signature on bipartisan legislation that sets a renewable energy requirement of 25 percent by 2025. Governor Pawlenty first proposed a "25 by'25" goal in his 2006 State of the State address. The Governor renewed the call to advance Minnesota's leadership on renewable energy as part of his "Next Generation Energy Initiative" unveiled in December 2006 and again in his 2007 State of the State address. The legislation signed today builds on significant laws proposed by the Governor and signed into law in the past few years, including a doubling of the state's ethanol standard to E20 by 2013; promotion of locally owned renewable energy projects through the use of a new financing tool known as the Community-Based Energy Development tariff; and the Mercury Reduction Act of 2006_ "In many ways, Minnesota has been the birthplace of the renewable energy movement," Governor Pawlenty said. "Today, we are leading the nation on the path to a better, cleaner, more independent energy future. 1 want to thank all of the legislators and stakeholders who worked together to achieve this milestone in a positive, productive way." The bill signed by the Governor requires energy companies to provide 25 percent of power from renewable sources by 2025_ Xcel Energy, which supplies approximately half of the electricity in the state, is required to provide 30 percent from renewable sources by 2020. An additional 5,000 megawatts of energy from renewable sources would be added to Minnesota's electricity resources, roughly eight times more than currently comes from renewables. Future renewable energy would include electricity produced by wind turbines, biomass, hydrogen and solar power. Senator Ellen Anderson (DFL-St. Paul) and Representative Aaron Peterson (DFL-Appleton) were chief authors of the legislation. The Governor took the opportunity to encourage the legislature to pass the other initiatives contained in his "Next Generation Energy Initiative," including his plan to increase the number of E85 gas pumps in the state from 300 to 1800, encourage local ownership of energy production #o benefit rural Minnesota, promote the development of cellulosic ethanol and advanced biomass technologies, increase conservation and reduce carbon emissions. "This is a significant step, but there is still much more work that needs to be accomplished this session," Governor Pawlenty said. "Rather than stopping here, t hope this bill will provide encouragement for us to tackle the remaining important energy issues in front of us. We can do this in a way that allows for the right response to changing markets, consumer demand and regulatory conditions and maintains reliability and affordable energy rates and costs." Additional proposals in the Govemor's "Next Generation Energy Initiative" are: More Renewables • E85 Everywhere To continue Minnesota's leadership in E85, Governor Pawlenty is proposing the E85 Everywhere program which would quintuple the number of E85 pumps in the state by 2010, an increase from 300 now to 1800 in four years. in addition, the Governor's proposal will help retail station owners with grants to partially offset the cost of E85 pump installations. • Promote the development of cellulosic ethanol and advanced biomass technologies in Minnesota Financial resources should be available to assist and encourage the growth of Next Generation biofuels, such as cellulosic ethanol, and advanced bio-gas (gasification of biomass) technologies to offset natural gas use, with a focus on farmer ownership. More Energy Conservation • Reduce Minnesota's fossil fuel energy use Governor Pawlenty set an aggressive energy saving goal 1 of 2 1/16/2008 1:07 PM