Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (REPS)
North Carolina’s two municipal power agencies have filed renewable energy and energy efficiency compliance plans with the NC Utilities Commission. The documents explain the agencies’ plans for complying with the obligations set out under the state’s renewable energy and energy efficiency portfolio standards (REPS) legislation. This first annual filing covers 2008, 2009 and 2010. Since compliance starts in 2012, the plans outline efforts prior to the compliance obligation. The power agencies filed the plans on behalf of member cities and listed numerous means of compliance that are currently being investigated by the agencies.
Both North Carolina Municipal Power Agency Number 1 (NCMPA1) and North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency (NCEMPA) Participants are pursuing a variety of compliance options and energy efficiency programs for residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers.
For a complete listing of the Participants in NCMPA1 and NCEMPA, visit the “About Us” tab.
NCMPA1
NCMPA1 recently entered into agreements to purchase renewable energy to meet the requirements under North Carolina’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (REPS) legislation. The legislation calls forNCMPA1 member cities to obtain up to 10 percent of energy requirements through renewable energy or energy efficiency resources by 2018.
A contract with Craven County Wood Energy, LP (CCWE) provides NCMPA1 with the ability to purchase 100,000 megawatt-hours per year in the form of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) for each of the years 2008 through 2010. CCWE is a nominal 50 megawatt wood-fired power generating plant located in New Bern and was one of the original suppliers to the NC GreenPower program. The plant uses over 500,000 tons of waste wood per year from a variety of sources, including bark, mill residuals, tree trimmings, recycled pallets, and other wood chips and residue from industrial sources. The management of CCWE was instrumental in developing the NC GreenPower program and provided significant input into the development of North Carolina’s REPS legislation. More information is available at www.ccwe.net.
Another contract with Scurry County Wind, LP, an affiliate of Invenergy Wind LLC, provides renewable energy credits from the Camp Springs I Wind Energy Center in Scurry County, Texas. Under this agreement, NCMPA1 will purchase RECs for renewable energy produced in 2008. The Invenergy companies have approximately 2,000 MW of wind projects and 2,800 MW of natural-gas fired generating projects in operation or construction as of October 2008. Invenergy is one of the top five wind energy developers in North America. For more information, see www.invenergyllc.com.
"These agreements are the first building blocks of our long-term commitment to renewable energy," said Art Hubert, Interim CEO of ElectriCities, the management services organization for NCMPA1. "Other renewable energy forms are under consideration, and together with these purchases will provide the member cities of NCMPA1 a diversified and balanced strategy to meet the region’s growing needs for renewable energy."
In 2009, NCMPA1 will introduce several energy efficiency programs available to Participants. Visit NCMPA1 Energy Efficiency Programs page for a complete listing of energy efficiency programs.
NCEMPA
NCEMPA members are already heavily invested in demand-side management programs.
NCEMPA members currently have programs available that include:
- A/C, heat pump, heat strip and water heater controls
- Time of Use and Coincident Peak control rates
- Residential, commercial and industrial energy audit programs including dedicated residential audit staff
- Energy efficiency rates for compliant residential construction
- Home energy conservation kits
- Energy Depot on-line energy audits
Staff is currently quantifying the effects of these programs with respect toSB3. NCEMPA is evaluating additional demand side management, energy efficiency and other programs to meet its members’ compliance obligations.