CESA - RPS Webinar: Reverse Auctions, Renewable Energy, and RPS

CESA - RPS Webinar: Reverse Auctions, Renewable Energy, and RPS

January 27, 2012

1:00pm — 2:30pm Eastern

Reverse auctions have potential to be an efficient mechanism for securing the maximum renewable energy at the lowest cost. This approach requires developers to compete against one another on a cost basis with the lowest price bids into the auction, expressed in kWh generated per dollar, winning the auction. Reverse auctions may start to be used more widely in the coming years, especially now that the California Public Utilities is using them for projects sized between 1 MW and 20 MW with RPS-eligible technologies . This webinar will describe the advantages and disadvantages of the reverse auction approach and will provide advice for state policymakers who may wish to consider using reverse auctions. It will give special attention to California’s Renewable Auction Mechanism. This will be a joint webinar for CESA members and members of the RPS Collaborative. Warren Leon, CESA’s RPS Collaborative Project Director, will be the host and

    • Neil Auerbach (Founder and Managing Partner of Hudson Clean Energy Partners) will discuss the rationale for using reverse auctions for renewable energy and will explain their economic and political advantages.

    • Jaclyn Marks (Senior Policy Analyst at the California Public Utilities Commission) will describe the structure of the California Renewable Mechanism and the initial experience implementing it.

    • Bruce Phillips (Director at the NorthBridge Group) will provide guidance on how reverse actions can best be applied to RPSs and other state-level renewable energy programs.