Delaware PSC Refuses to Grandfather Existing Contracts from RPS Changes, Limits Compliance Freeze to Utilities

Email This Story

The Delaware PSC approved amendments to its RPS rules that allow the Commission to freeze the minimum cumulative percentage requirements from RPS-eligible resources and solar photovoltaic energy resources for Commission-regulated electric companies only, and not competitive suppliers (Regulation Docket 56).

Consistent with legislation (see 9/10), the PSC may freeze the RPS obligations of a regulated utility if the Delaware Energy Office determines that the cost of complying with the requirements exceeds, for Solar Photovoltaic Energy Resources, 1%, and for Eligible Energy Resources, 3%, of the total retail cost of electricity for Commission-regulated electric companies during the same compliance year. The total cost of compliance shall include the costs associated with any ratepayer funded state renewable energy rebate program, REC and SREC purchases, and alternative compliance payments (ACP) and solar alternative compliance payments.

The PSC said that it did not have authority to extend this freeze to the obligations of competitive suppliers, as requested by the Retail Energy Supply Association and Washington Gas Energy Services (see 11/2).

Extending the freeze to competitive suppliers, "would be effecting an impermissible substantive enlargement of the statute under the guise of rulemaking," the PSC said.

Additionally, the PSC rejected RESA and WGES' requests to grandfather existing competitive supply contracts from new, higher RPS requirements contained in recent legislation.

Again, the PSC found that allowing such grandfathering of existing retail contracts would impermissibly extend the limits of the legislation. "We think it clear that the General Assembly knew how to include a grandfathering provision, as demonstrated by its express inclusion of such a provision in the previous iteration of §354 ... Including a grandfathering provision in the RPS Rules would be tantamount to adding a provision to §354 that the General Assembly chose not to include," the Commission said.

The PSC also rejected RESA's argument that the Commission held authority to institute grandfathering under 26 Del. C. §362, which requires that Delaware RPS rules shall be as, "consistent as possible [with those of other states] in order to minimize the compliance burdens imposed by [the RPS] and in order to avoid duplication of effort."

RESA had noted that grandfathering would be consistent with the actions of modified RPS targets in other states such as Maryland and Massachusetts. However, the PSC said that its general authority under 26 Del. C. §362 encouraging consistency could not trump the clear absence of a grandfathering provision in the statute.

Email This Story

HOME

Copyright 2010-11 Energy Choice Matters.  If you wish to share this story, please email or post the website link; unauthorized copying, retransmission, or republication prohibited.

 

Be Seen By Energy Professionals in Retail and Wholesale Marketing

Run Ads with Energy Choice Matters

Call Paul Ring

954-205-1738

 

 

 

 

 

Energy Choice
                            

Matters