The first round of Connecticut’s Small Zero Emission Renewable Energy Credit (ZREC) Program is now scheduled to kick off on December 20^th (see update below) and will remain open for at least two weeks.  The Small ZREC Program is aimed at smaller solar photovoltaic systems, and provides solar system owners with an attractive and predictable cash flow stream (in addition to electricity cost savings).

The Small ZREC Program comes on the heels of the well-subscribed Large & Medium ZREC Programs which were carried out earlier in 2012 (see post).  As demonstrated in the chart below, the Auctions for the Large & Medium projects were extremely competitive, with average market clearing ZREC prices in the $100 to $150 per ZREC range.

Exhibit 1: Connecticut Large & Medium ZREC Auction Results 

For the Small ZREC Program, the 15-year ZREC price is pre-determined based upon a premium over the 2012 Medium ZREC tier, and will be $164.22 per ZREC for projects in CL&P territory, and $148.89 per ZREC for projects in United Illuminating territory.

Bottom-line for CT businesses:  If your business has an open roof area of 15,000 square feet or more, or an acre or more of available land area, you may be a terrific candidate for this attractive solar incentive.  Alternatively, if you were an unsuccessful bidder in the Large or Medium categories, you may be eligible to apply into the Small ZREC Program.  Please contact EnterSolar to learn more about this opportunity.

Update:
On December 13, 2012, PURA approved CL&P and UI’s joint motion for an extension of time to defer the opening of the Small ZREC Program until Tuesday, January 8, 2013.

As a result, the Small ZREC Program’s “two-week window” is now scheduled to commence at 12:00 PM (noon) Eastern on Tuesday, January 8, 2013, and close at 12:00 PM (noon) Eastern on Tuesday, January 22, 2013.

The ZREC program provides CT facility owners with compelling opportunity to lock in highly attractive and contractual incentive payments from CL&P and UI. Please contact EnterSolar for additional information.

EnterSolar’s clientele is comprised largely of conservative corporate entities interested in the long term financial benefits (and environmental benefits – but often in that order) of solar photovoltaic systems.

As a consequence, in states that utilize solar renewable energy credits (SRECs) like New Jersey, we favor long-term SREC pricing arrangements that can provide our projects with the long-term cash flow visibility and certainty that our corporate clients demand.

NJ, the current undisputed solar champion of the northeast (and of the US on a per capita basis), has installed more solar than any other state except much-larger CA.  However, NJ’s market for SRECs has been extremely volatile, with spot market prices ranging from a high of over $650 to under $100 more recently.  This volatility results in major uncertainty over the future realizable value of a solar project’s SREC revenue stream, which is often the largest “value driver” or a NJ commercial solar system.

As a result, EnterSolar has long been a proponent of the long-term “Utility Financing” programs, (aka the “EDC” programs”), under which the NJ utilities provide long term 10-15 year SREC contracts for system owners.  We utilized these programs extensively for our NJ clients until the programs expired at the end of 2011.

The great news is that Governor Christie has been a supporter of these programs, and the Board of Public Utilities recently announced an extension of these Utility Financing programs, with an expected roll out in Q1 of 2013.

Whether your company is interested in assessing the purchase of a solar photovoltaic system, or just wants to purchase the clean electricity from an onsite solar system (immediate monthly cash savings with zero capital investment required), let EnterSolar demonstrate how these new long term SREC programs can benefit you.