If I add rooftop solar in the CA Bay Area what can I do with my RECs?
July 14, 2022 7:01 PM Subscribe
We're considering adding about ~9,000 mWh/year of rooftop solar in the California Bay Area (PG&E). Is it worth our time to look into what we can do with the Renewable Energy Certificates we would generate?
One of the documents we read states:
Solar system owners may sell the RECs they generate. System owners would need to qualify for the Western Renewable Energy Generation Information System (WREGIS), which issues and tracks RECs. Please visit the WREGIS FAQ at wecc.org/WREGIS/ for more information.
And the linked FAQ says:
Owners should check with their utility to see if they are required to join WREGIS before registering. If registering is voluntary, WREGIS recommends completing a cost-benefit analysis, as recurring fees and account maintenance are required.
Before I dig in further myself, can anybody familiar with RECs and PG&E in California tell me whether we'd be required to register, and if not if the return from selling the RECs is likely to be worth the fees involved?
Basically before I spend much more time on this I'd like to know if it's likely to be worth the effort.
One of the documents we read states:
Solar system owners may sell the RECs they generate. System owners would need to qualify for the Western Renewable Energy Generation Information System (WREGIS), which issues and tracks RECs. Please visit the WREGIS FAQ at wecc.org/WREGIS/ for more information.
And the linked FAQ says:
Owners should check with their utility to see if they are required to join WREGIS before registering. If registering is voluntary, WREGIS recommends completing a cost-benefit analysis, as recurring fees and account maintenance are required.
Before I dig in further myself, can anybody familiar with RECs and PG&E in California tell me whether we'd be required to register, and if not if the return from selling the RECs is likely to be worth the fees involved?
Basically before I spend much more time on this I'd like to know if it's likely to be worth the effort.
All I can say is I never heard of this or attempted it when I was getting solar here in the East Bay a few years ago.
My one piece of advice is get more panels that PG&E wants you to. We always end up short and owing them money at the true up at the end of the year. And now we have an electric car so it will be worse.
Wait, maybe I am using "REC"s?? I guess I don't know.
posted by latkes at 7:53 PM on July 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
My one piece of advice is get more panels that PG&E wants you to. We always end up short and owing them money at the true up at the end of the year. And now we have an electric car so it will be worse.
Wait, maybe I am using "REC"s?? I guess I don't know.
posted by latkes at 7:53 PM on July 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
Seattle here. RECs? Wish I knew what that is…
We have net metering, and, seems cool. I don’t know what other people’s electricity bills are. 85+ MwHrs in 9 years. Wish I could hook it up to some batteries, but our system seems to be incompatible with that. And we have two electric cars.
Solar panels are pretty win these days and going forward. State bennies can’t hurt.
posted by Windopaene at 8:43 PM on July 14, 2022
We have net metering, and, seems cool. I don’t know what other people’s electricity bills are. 85+ MwHrs in 9 years. Wish I could hook it up to some batteries, but our system seems to be incompatible with that. And we have two electric cars.
Solar panels are pretty win these days and going forward. State bennies can’t hurt.
posted by Windopaene at 8:43 PM on July 14, 2022
Response by poster: Sorry that should indeed be 9,000 kWh/year
posted by unus sum at 8:56 PM on July 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by unus sum at 8:56 PM on July 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
My system is much smaller, on the order of 3000kWh, and messing around with RECs wasn’t reasonable — but note that my Bay Area city has its own power generation plan, and only pays PGE for distribution/delivery, so my net-metering might be better than yours?
…and yes, PGE will try their damndest to have you under-provision. My house is efficient enough that the only way I could get my 3000kWh/yr was to promise I was going to buy an electric car (to justify my balance-point being on the “you pay me, not I pay you “ side.
posted by aramaic at 9:23 PM on July 14, 2022
…and yes, PGE will try their damndest to have you under-provision. My house is efficient enough that the only way I could get my 3000kWh/yr was to promise I was going to buy an electric car (to justify my balance-point being on the “you pay me, not I pay you “ side.
posted by aramaic at 9:23 PM on July 14, 2022
I'm on East Coast and know nothing about WREGIS but the company we use for SRECs, SRECTrade is based in San Francisco so maybe they service the left coast too. I'm pretty happy with them, very easy to work with.
We have two different PV systems, each about 8kw. I've never added deposits up but I would guess we get between $500/ and $1000/year from selling the RECs.
posted by Press Butt.on to Check at 3:26 AM on July 15, 2022
We have two different PV systems, each about 8kw. I've never added deposits up but I would guess we get between $500/ and $1000/year from selling the RECs.
posted by Press Butt.on to Check at 3:26 AM on July 15, 2022
I would have each installer who quotes you walk you through their SREC process and describe your options. You should be able to find one in CA who will be able to set you up with the equipment and paperwork. Some will want to buy your SRECs. Right now, you might get offered a few hundred off your install to sign away your SRECs; my opinion is you should avoid this because they will either be worth more in the future in-state or you'll have a new out-of-state market to sell in that will pay more than the current options. My understanding is PG&E is not forcing the sale of SRECs to them right now.
I'm in IL and we are blessed to have a program where we pre-sell 15 years of SRECs to the utility and I didn't have to do anything but wait a year and enter my direct deposit information in SRECtrade. Knocked 40% off my installation cost.
posted by michaelh at 8:29 AM on July 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
I'm in IL and we are blessed to have a program where we pre-sell 15 years of SRECs to the utility and I didn't have to do anything but wait a year and enter my direct deposit information in SRECtrade. Knocked 40% off my installation cost.
posted by michaelh at 8:29 AM on July 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
I got solar with PG&E in California recently and looked into RECs and decided it wasn't important. My memory is hazy, but I got as far as confirming my solar installer had no claim to the RECs. The installer thought maybe it was only relevant to commercial installs. I couldn't find any evidence they were valuable to me; either they don't exist or PG&E automatically gets them as part of the NEM 2.0 rate plan. My notes at the time:
By far your biggest concern installing solar in CA right now is NEM 3.0, the new rate plan coming. It's still in process but there's more news on that this week. There's still a few months to get installed and operating under NEM 2.0; you want to have a very clear discussion with your installer about whether they can meet the deadline and if not, what NEM 3.0 might mean for you.
posted by Nelson at 6:38 AM on July 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
As near as I can work out California's version of this are called "TRECs" (the T is Tradeable). There's a bunch of articles from 2011 when they were introduced in CA and then.. nothing. In some other states they are valuable, like $1000 a year maybe for a system my size (11.5kW). Given how little info I can find and no one (including you) knows about them, I'm assuming it's not relevant. If anything I expect PG&E gets them as a condition of buying power back from me.Wikipedia on RECs, FWIW.
By far your biggest concern installing solar in CA right now is NEM 3.0, the new rate plan coming. It's still in process but there's more news on that this week. There's still a few months to get installed and operating under NEM 2.0; you want to have a very clear discussion with your installer about whether they can meet the deadline and if not, what NEM 3.0 might mean for you.
posted by Nelson at 6:38 AM on July 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
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posted by aramaic at 7:53 PM on July 14, 2022