Project Director		Charlie Kubert, Clean Energy States Alliance and Clean Energy Group
Consultant(s)
Purpose The primary purpose of the State-Federal RPS Collaborative is to establish a national dialogue and collaborative among state policy leaders, the U.S. Department of Energy, and other major RPS stakeholders to share information and examine opportunities for multi-state and federal cooperation in successful deployment of RPS programs. The Collaborative is being funded by the Energy Foundation and the U.S. DOE through the National Renewable Energy Lab. The Collaborative will work to identify and address the specific challenges, lessons learned, and solutions to ensure effective RPS implementation by states across the country. It is anticipated that the Collaborative will result in a set of agreements, best practices, and program recommendations that could be used by the states and Congress to improve RPS markets, ensure constructive federal engagement, and fruitfully guide states toward informed RPS design and implementation. Collaborative Objectives The major objective of the National RPS Collaborative is to establish and guide a comprehensive, nationally-oriented RPS dialogue and facilitated network of state RPS peers to discuss how states, the federal government, and the NGO community can effectively ensure the success of existing and new RPS policies. The mission of the Collaborative is to: Provide a forum for open dialogue and information exchange among states and stakeholders on RPS design and implementation issues Identify effective RPS design and implementation practices emerging from experience with current RPS programs Foster harmonization between state RPS programs, where appropriate and useful Provide input on how the federal government can support state RPS efforts The dates, agendas and presentations for upcoming Collaborative Webinars and events will be made available on this web page. SAVE THE DATES - 2010 National Summit on RPS Octoboer 20-21, 2010 in conjuction with the Renewable Energy Markets Conference, Portland, OR Summit Registration Flyer National Summit on RPS Flyer and Agenda Participants List November 18 - 19, 2009 Chicago, IL Hosted by Clean Energy Group with funding support by U.S. DOE, Energy Foundation, and Clean Energy States Alliance Summit Presentations State of the States: Update on RPS Policies and Programs, by Ryan Wiser, LBNL Federal Renewable Electricity Standard: Status and Implications, by Jeff Deyette, Union of Concerned Scientists Federal-State RPS Interactions, by Ed Holt, Ed Holt & Associates State RPS and Integrating Energy Efficiency into RPS, by Carlito P. Caliboso, Hawaii Public Utilities Commission Federal Transmission Initiatives, by Larry Mansueti, EERE, DOE The Western Renewable Energy Zone Initiative: Phase 1, by David Hurlbut, NREL Eastern Interconnect States Planning Council, by Jon W. McKinney, W. Virginia Public Service Commission Improving Transmission Planning: The STEPP Proposal, by Bill White, Energy Future Coalition Transmission Presentation by Terry Harvill, ITC Holdings RPS and Carbon Cap Interactions, by Lori Bird, NREL RPS, RECs, and Cap and Trade, by Jennifer Martin, Center for Resource Solutions RECs Ed: Or Everything You Always Wanted to Know About RECs (and GHGs) but Were Afraid to Ask, by Scott Murtishaw, CPUC White Tags: An Innovative Way to Promote Energy Conservation, Manage Demand for Electricity and Mitigate Carbon Dioxide, by Alden Hathaway, Sterling Planet Compatibility of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in Portfolio Standards, by Richard Sedano, The Regulatory Assistance Project Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariffs: Lessons Learned from the U.S. and Abroad, by Karlynn Cory, NREL New Jersey's Solar Financing Model, by Anne Marie McShea, NJ BPU, Office of Clean Energy California Solar Markets: The Goldilocks Approach, by Adam Browning, The Vote Solar Initiative Supporting Higher Cost Renewables: Carve-outs, Multipliers and Feed In Tariffs, by Rick Gilliam, Sun Edison Next Steps for the RPS Collaborative: Building a Year 3 Agenda, Charlie Kubert, Clean Energy Group States Advancing RPS Webinar - Wednesday, September 30, 2009 at 2 pm EDT Webinar #8 "Renewable Energy Credits: Definitions, Attributes and Markets" Webinar Summary Audio File (windows player - 10 MB) With 29 state RPS’, several regional REC tracking and trading platforms and many voluntary green power programs, consistent definitions of Renewable Energy Credits should be important in supporting liquid REC markets and tracking systems while avoiding ambiguity. While we think of RECs as containing all “environmental attributes”, which of these attributes are included varies from state to state. Further, the possibility of a federal RES based on REC-based compliance and the reliance on these regional tracking systems and potential future carbon tracking and trading complicates these issues further. This webinar will explore these issues from a variety of perspectives. Speakers will include: Ed Holt, Edward Holt & Associates. Ed is a renewable energy consultant whose practice focuses on green power markets and renewable energy policy. He has over 30 years experience in energy planning, analysis, and research. Ed was the winner of this year’s Green Power Leadership “Pioneer” award. Ed will provide a broad overview of how states and tracking systems are currently defining RECs and the attributes which are included. Ed’s always-nuanced perspective will highlight the importance of these distinctions. Jan Hamrin, HMW International. Like Ed Holt, everyone involved in RPS administration knows Jan Hamrin. Jan is Secretary General of the Environmental Tracking Network of North America (ETNNA). Previously, she was founder and Executive Director of Center for Resource Solutions which established the Green-e certification program. Jan received the Green Power Leadership Pioneer Award in 2008. Jan will discuss a paper on the treatment of environmental attributes across different tracking systems. Sara Kamins, California Public Utilities Commission. Sara Kamins is a senior policy analyst in the Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) group at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). Ms. Kamins is the lead analyst for renewable energy credit (REC) trading policy and coordination between RPS and greenhouse gas cap-and-trade policy. Her expertise is in renewable energy markets, RPS procurement rules, and climate change policy. She received her Master’s of Science from the Energy and Resources Group (ERG) at UC-Berkeley. Sara will provide some perspective on how REC definitions link RPS and greenhouse gas policy. Ken Nelson, VP-Trading, Element Markets. Ken has over 17 years of experience in physical and financial markets throughout North America. His responsibilities have included the management of regional power desks, where he traded the term, spot, speculative, and asset books. He has traded natural gas, power, transmission congestion, capacity, emissions, and renewable energy credits, and has experience in every NERC power region and North American gas region, including Canada and Mexico. Element Markets is one of the largest traders of RECs in both the voluntary and compliance market. Ken will provide a market-based perspective on the impact of state/regional differences in REC differences on the markets. Ed Holt Presentation: State REC Definitions: How They Vary, What It Means Jan Hamrin Presentation: Treatment of Environmental Attributes Sara Kamins Presentation: REC's: California's Approach to Defining Greenhouse Gas Attributes Ken Nelson Presentation: REC Standardization: A Market Participant's View Recent Events: States Advancing RPS Webinar - July 22, 2009 at 2 pm EDT Webinar #7 "Integrating Energy Efficiency into State Renewable Portfolio Standards" Webinar Summary Several states have integrated energy efficiency and DSM into their RPS’ as a qualifying resource with mixed success. The proposed federal RES’ both incorporate energy efficiency. Can energy efficiency be successfully integrated into an RPS without diluting its objectives and effectiveness? Guest Speakers: Steve Nadel is the Executive Director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), a non-profit research organization that works on programs and policies to advance energy-efficient technologies and services. Steve has worked in the energy efficiency field for nearly 30 years and has over 100 publications on energy-efficiency subjects. His current research interests include equipment efficiency standards, utility-sector energy efficiency programs and policies, and state and federal energy and climate change policy. Scott Gebhardt is an Energy Program Specialist with the Pennsylvania PUC’s Bureau of Conservation, Economics and Energy Planning. He has been involved with the development of Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards from their inception and has day to day responsibilities with their implementation. Scott also has responsibilities for implementing Pennsylvania’s Act 129 Energy Efficiency and Conservation Program whereby electric utilities have specific conservation and demand response targets to meet in 2011 and 2013. Sam Watson is a senior staff attorney with the North Carolina Public Utilities Commission. Mr. Watson has spent over 20 years in the electric industry as an engineer and as an attorney. Prior to joining the Utilities Commission in February 1998, Mr. Watson worked in Knoxville in the legal department of the Tennessee Valley Authority. He also spent several years in private practice in Raleigh representing clients in utility matters before federal and state regulatory authorities. Larry Holmes is Manager of Customer Programs and Strategies at Las Vegas-based NV Energy where he is responsible for the utility’s Energy’s Demand Side Management program planning, development and evaluation. Larry began his work at NV Energy in 1981 States Advancing RPS Webinar - April 7, 2009 at 2 pm EDT Webinar #6 “Federal RPS: Its Prospects and Implications for State RPS Programs” will provide an overview of the three federal RPS bills already introduced this session, an analysis of their potential impact on existing state programs, and a view from Capitol Hill exploring the political dynamics, timing and eventual “flavor” of a federal RPS. This event will be 90 minutes long. Agenda Webinar Summary Federal RPS Bill Comparison, Lori Bird, NREL Modeling the Proposed RPS Bills with ReEDS Model, Patrick Sullivan, NREL (These slides are being updated and will be re-posted soon.) Federal-State RPS Interaction in Congressional Bills, Ed Holt, Ed Holt & Associates, Inc. 2009 Activities Clean Energy Group offers comments on Markey Legislation for Federal RPS. See Cover Letter and Memo (pdf). February 10, 2009. Below are links to the initial drafts of the Senate and House versions of the Federal RPS bills and a side by side comparison of the details. Senate Bill: http://energy.senate.gov/public/_files/END09012_xml.pdf House Bill: http://globalwarming.house.gov/tools/3q08materials/files/0094.pdf Comparison of Senate and House Federal RPS Bills on Major Areas of State-Federal Interaction (based on draft Bingaman and Markey bills) (pdf) Feb. 12, 2009. Recommended Principles and Best Practices for State Renewable Portfolio Standards, prepared by the State-Federal RPS Collaborative, January 26, 2009. Webinar #5 February 10, 2009 - Transmission Planning and Meeting RPS Targets Webinar Audio File (mp3) Webinar Summary Agenda Presentation by Mike Jacobs, First Wind. Mike will discuss the challenges of transmission development and cost allocation issues in the Northeast where getting the lines sited is difficult and generation can be several states away from load centers. Presentation by Natalie McIntire, Wind on the Wires. Natalie will discuss the ongoing planning efforts at MISO and the MN Public Utilities Commission to build additional transmission to move renewable energy from the Dakotas and western MN to the Twin Cities and beyond. Presentation by Jess Totten, Texas Public Utilities Commission. Jess will discuss transmission policies that have fostered renewable energy development in Texas and the CREZ process to develop a transmission plan for renewable resources. Presentation by Dave Hurlbut, NREL. Dave will discuss the Western Governors Association's project with US DOE to develop conceptual transmission plans to move up to 30,000 MW of renewable energy to load centers within the Western Interconnect. 2008 Activities State-Federal RPS Collaborative National Summit - Chicago, IL - November 6-7, 2008 Summit Announcement Summit Agenda Summit Participants List Meeting Summary Goals for the National Summit, by Mark Sinclair, Clean Energy Group Overview of the Status of State RPS Efforts Nationwide - Trends and Challenges, by Ryan Wiser, LBNL Status of State RPS Programs: Successes and Challenges: Findings from a Recent Survey of RPS States, by Steve Weisman, Peregrine Energy Group Principles & Best Practices for RPS Success, by Mark Sinclair, Clean Energy Group Environmental Tracking Network of North America, by Jan Hamrin, ETNNA Creating Stronger Regional Markets: Opportunities for Interstate Collaboration, by Lori Bird, NREL Interstate RPS Policy Cooperation, by Ed Holt, Ed Holt & Associates Creating Stronger Regional RPS Markets: Status, Challenges & Opportunities in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States, by Paul Michaud, CT Clean Energy Fund Opportunities for Collaboration on Renewable Portfolio Standards in Western States, by Lisa Schwartz, Oregon Public Utility Commission Midwestern/Great Lakes Renewable Energy Markets: Interstate RPS Collaboration, by Tom Stanton, Michigan Renewable Energy Program Next Steps for the RPS Collaborative: Building a Year 2 Agenda, by Mark Sinclair, Clean Energy Group If There is a Federal RPS...-A Discussion on Federal Interaction with State RPS Programs, by Miles Keogh, NARUC Increasing Coordination and Uniformity among State Renewable Portfolio Standards, report prepared for Clean Energy States Alliance by Ed Holt, Ed Holt & Associates, Final, November 2008. WEBINARS in 2008 Webinar #4 September 23, 2008 at 1-3 pm EDT: STRATEGIES TO BUILD REGIONAL MARKETS Webinar Audio File (mp3) Agenda "Interstate RPS Policy Cooperation" presentation by Ed Holt, Ed Holt & Associates "Increasing Harmonization Among State RPS Programs" Draft Report by Ed Holt, Ed Holt & Associates "Briefing on the Activities of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States Collaborative on RPS Implementation" presentation by Roger Clark, TRF Sustainable Development Fund "WGA Regional Energy Projects" presentation by Rich Halvey, Western Governors Association "Environmental Tracking Network of North America" presentation by John Pappas, Chair, ETNNA Board of Directors Webinar #3 July 31, 2008 at 1-3 pm EDT: FOSTERING TECHNOLOGY AND RESOURCE DIVERSITY THROUGH RPS Webinar Audio File (mp3) Agenda Cover Slide for State Speakers Presentation by Ryan Wiser, LBNL, State RPS Strategies to Promote Resource Diversity Renewable Portfolio Standards in the United States, A Status Report with Data Through 2007 Presentation by Anne-Marie Cuneo, Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, Renewable Portfolio Standards - the Nevada Experience Presentation by Michael Li, Maryland Energy Administration, Advancing Solar in Maryland Presentation by Steve Johnson, Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, The Multiple Problems of RPS Multipliers WEBINAR #2 June 24, 2008 RPS and the Federal Role Webinar Audio File (mp3) Agenda Status and Prospects for Federal Renewable Electricity Standard Legislation." Presentation by Alan Nogee, Union of Concerned Scientists "Designing a Federal RPS that Builds on State Programs: Principles and Issues for Consideration." Presentation by Dr.Ryan Wiser, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. "Federal Role in RPS Implementation: State Views." Presentation by Richard P. Mignogna, CO Public Utilities Commission. "New Jersey's Clean Energy Program: National RPS -- How Can the Feds Help?" Presentation by Michael Winka, NJ BPU Office of Clean Energy NARUC RPS Statement - May 2007 by Chris Mele. CEG Response on Federal RPS to Dingell - June 14, 2007 WEBINAR #1 May 20, 2008 Best Practices for RPS Success Webinar Audio File (mp3) Agenda Overview Presentation by Mark Sinclair, CESA Presentation by Galen Barbose, LBNL Presentation by Karlynn Cory, NREL Presentation by Steve Weisman, Peregrine Energy Group RESOURCE DOCUMENTS Recommended Principles and Best Practices for State Renewable Portfolio Standards, prepared by the State-Federal RPS Collaborative, January 26, 2009. Review of State Renewable Portfolio Standard Programs in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Regions, prepared for the CESA Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States Collaborative on RPS Implementation by Exeter Associates, December, 2008. This report serves to review the progress to date of the states in the region in meeting their RPS objectives, to identify early successes and challenges, and to offer recommendations for future success. CESA State RPS Policy Report: Increasing Coordination and Uniformity Among State Renewable Portfolio Standards, prepared by Edward A. Holt, Ed Holt and Associates for CESA and the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic RPS Implementation Collaborative, December 2008. This analysis seeks to examine and evaluate mechanism and approaches to increase harmonization and/or coordination among state RPS programs as well as the merits and challenges they present. Collaborative Invitation and Announcement Memo, April 2008, by Mark Sinclair, CESA Renewables Portfolio Standards in the United States: A Status Report with Data Through 2007, by Ryan Wiser and Galen Barbose, LBNL, April 2008. A PowerPoint presentation that summarizes key findings can be found at: http://eetd.lbl.gov/ea/ems/reports/lbnl-154e-ppt.pdf. Renewable Portfolio Standards in the States: Balancing Goals and Implementation Strategies, by K.S. Cory, NREL, and B.G. Swezey, Applied Materials, NREL/TP-670-41409, December 2007. The Treatment of Renewable Energy Certificates, Emissions Allowances, and Green Power Programs in State Renewables Portfolio Standards, by Ed Holt, Ed Holt & Associates, and Ryan Wiser, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, April 2007. A PowerPoint presentation that summarizes the key findings can be found at: http://eetd.lbl.gov/ea/ems/reports/62574-ppt.pdf Weighing the Costs and Benefits of State Renewable Portfolio Standards: A Comparative Analysis of State-Level Policy Impact Projections, by Cliff Chen, Ryan Wiser and Mark Bolinger. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Environmental Energy Technologies Division. March 2007. Race to the Top: The Expanding Role of U.S. State Renewable Portfolio Standards, by Barry G. Rabe, University of Michigan. Prepared for The Pew Center on Global Climate Change, June 2006.