Environmental Summit
on the West II
Expanding the Use of Renewable Energy
Resources
Breakout
Session I
Expanding the use of renewable
energy in the West by enabling markets
Experience and research demonstrate that some consumers are willing to
pay a premium for electricity generated from renewable resources. However,
development of a renewable electricity market is hampered by a lack of
consumer information about the product they are buying. Consumers also
need assurance that they are getting the product they are paying for. A
number of systems have been developed to provide consumers with needed
information and assurances, however, no regional or national market has
developed to enable the "green" attributes of electricity
generated from renewable energy to be traded. One option to create such a
market is to develop "green tags" which could be readily traded.
"Green tags" is a term for the bundle of environmental
attributes associated with the energy produced from renewable generation.
A green tag is a contractual right to these environmental attributes that
can be sold along with power or sold separately from the power.
The session will begin with a case study of a collaborative landfill
gas project that produces “green” electricity, and then move to
examining how a regional “green tags” market can be developed.
Goals of the Session
The outcome of this session will be agreement on the value of better
consumer information and assurances to enable an efficient market for
electricity generated from renewable energy resources and a roadmap for
moving forward with development of this market. Questions surrounding a
roadmap could include:
- What "green" certification efforts now underway should be
folded into a regional effort?
- What geography should be covered by the effort? The nine state Grand
Canyon Visibility Transportation Commission region? The region covered
by the Western grid? A wider western region?
- What are critical considerations for the market to meet the needs of
tag sellers and tag purchasers?
- What architecture meets the interest of environmental stakeholders?
Host/Moderator: Jeff Burkes, Director, Office of Energy and
Resource Planning, Utah Department of Natural Resources
Presenters
Richard Hayslip, Salt River
Project
Eric Blank, Community Energy, Inc
Andy MacRitchie, Vice President, Pacificorp
Jan Hamrin, Center for Resource
Solutions
Ben Feldman, Natsource
Background Information
Tri-Cities Landfill Generation Facility
Information about CRS programs is available at www.resource-solutions.org
Curious about Green-e and green power? Check out www.green-e.org
Tom Starrs. “Green
Tags: A New Way to Support Renewable Energy” Solar Today.
July/August 2001. Environmental Media Services. “Green
Tags: A Renewable Energy Option Available to Everyone” Center
for Resource Solutions. Green-e
National Tradable Renewable Certificate Standards. Center
for Resource Solutions. Summary
Report on Tradable Renewable Certificates: The Potential and the Pitfalls. Bonneville
Environment Foundation. Frequently
Asked Questions on Green Tags.
| 