Regulator Adopts New Effective Date For New Prohibition On REC-Only "Renewable Energy" Products -- EnergyChoiceMatters.com

Regulator Adopts New Effective Date For New Prohibition On REC-Only "Renewable Energy" Products

December 5, 2023

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Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com

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The Connecticut PURA has adopted new effective dates for a prior 2020 decision which, among other things, limits voluntary renewable electricity supply offers (VRO) from retail electric suppliers to using only RECs sourced from certain RTOs and which meet certain definitions, and which prohibits the use of the term "renewable energy" to market a REC product

Note: VROs are generation supply offers from load-serving retail electric suppliers that contain some type of qualifying renewable components as discussed below. REC-only products, as used in this story, refer to offers under a PURA-authorized program under which RECs (and not generation supply) may be purchased by a customer with costs included in the utility consolidated bill (UCB), under a successor to the current Clean Energy Options REC add-on program (CEOP).

The 2020 order prohibited suppliers from using the term "renewable energy" for REC-based VRO products. Under the order, a supplier may not market the product as "renewable energy" unless the offer is supported by an ownership interest in or PPA for a renewable resource used to serve the contract.

The 2020 order also established certain universal standards for REC-only and suppliers' VRO offers as follows:

(1) Certificates that support VROs or REC-only offers may originate only from the ISO-NE, New York, or PJM control areas
(2) Certificates that support VROs or REC-only offers must reflect resources defined as Class I in Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16-1

Enforcement of the 2020 order had previously been stayed pending appeal, but, as recently reported, the state supreme court has affirmed PURA's decision

As such, PURA has adopted new effective dates for supplier compliance

While PURA Enforcement Staff had recommended a new compliance start date of January 1, 2024, PURA said that the new compliance date shall be one month after PURA receives recommendations from a work group for new disclosure label requirements as a result of the changes (as noted below, PURA's order sets a hard date for supplier compliance that is one month after the disclosure label changes are required to be filed with PURA for approval, but, under the ordering paragraphs, does not link the supplier compliance date to PURA's ultimate approval of the disclosure label changes.)

PURA ordered as follows:

Beginning with the 2024 RPS compliance, any supplier marketing a VRO will be required to include the following as separate information to support its VRO load and REC settlement compliance as discussed in Section II.C [of the 2020 order]: third party verification/attestation of its VRO load; third party verification/attestation that the appropriate RECs were settled; copies of the VRO Disclosure Label(s).
On or before January 15, 2024, the Disclosure Label Working Group shall submit its final recommendations to the Authority for approval
Effective February 15, 2024, all new and renewing VROs must comply with the new standards

See more details concerning the renewable marketing rules in our prior story here

Docket 16-12-29RE01

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