Renewable Energy Credit (RECs) Market Dynamics

Procurement, Trading & Project Finance Best Practices for Utilities, IPPs and Corporate Buyers

November 30-December 1, 2023 | Online :: Central Time

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“Very informative and interactive event! Provided a great overview as well as opportunity to ask more in-depth questions.”  Manager of Long-Term Energy Policy, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E)

“The course was structured and run very well. Definitely recommend attending any of their classes.” Program Manager, Consumers Energy

“This seminar is full of excellent information, beneficial to any ranking professionals looking to refine their knowledge on RECs, and their markets.” Financial Operations Analyst, Clearview Energy

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“EUCI offers workshops that promote an intimate environment where participants can network and learn in an open and knowledge-based environment. I’d highly recommend this conference for those industry veterans and newbies alike.” Senior Manager, DNV GL

“Great course! EUCI does a great job organizing and executing courses and conferences.” Sr. Contracts and Operation Manager, Nexant Inc

“All speakers were great and very knowledgeable!” Service Support Specialist, Doosan Fuel Cell America, Inc

“The panel discussions and final mock trading were very useful and informative.” Energy Market Analyst, Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Coop

“EUCI conferences are targeted at industrial insiders and each one dives deep into specific topics. This REC program is great for anyone looking to expand their connections within their industry or those new to the material.” CEO, EDGE Energy

“The REC Market is complex and anyone responsible for RECS or green energy pricing for their utility should attend this course. The course covered all-aspects of market dynamics. This class tripled my knowledge on the topic and was well worth it, not to mention the network of speakers that I know have a relationship with to ask questions.” Project Specialist, Cloverland Electric Cooperative

The surge of public demand for renewable energy solutions to address decarbonization and climate change objectives has pushed up the value and importance of renewable energy credits (RECs).  How utilities, load serving entities and corporate power consumers source their RECs is now a business in its own right.  It requires meticulous awareness as well as attention to the nuances of REC procurement, markets, and trading. 

This symposium will dive into the dynamics of both voluntary and compliance REC markets, with particular emphasis on how they are formed and influenced through regulation, policy and evolving consumer awareness and demand.   REC market experts will characterize active and emerging REC markets in the U.S., emphasizing key financial and contractual considerations.  They will interpret trends and dynamics in regulated and retail utility markets and green pricing programs, along with corporate renewable procurement through power purchase agreements (PPAs).  The program will offer insight into the important REC processes that utilities and corporate REC participants must perfect – such as verification, certification, system administration, and appropriate financial structuring – to achieve their optimum transactional value.  Finally, attendees will explore with subject matter experts what ISO or FERC initiatives regarding carbon pricing could portend for the pricing of RECs and other renewable energy market products.

Learning Outcomes

• Assess the current landscape of environmental markets in North America
• Identify the fundamentals of REC market dynamics, transaction and trading
• Detail the requirements of registering, selling, settling and tracking RECs
• Recognize compliance REC markets drivers, key trends and transactional elements
• Discuss voluntary REC markets drivers, key trends and transactional elements
• Review carbon policy and pricing initiatives, their performance to date and what the policies of a new (green-friendlier) administration portend
• Discuss tips for trading and hedging RECs – deciding what to buy and other aspects – of “in-the-money” transactions
• Define critical REC transaction elements from a project developers’ perspective
• Evaluate optimal business and utility/LSE strategies in environmental markets

Thursday, November 30, 2023 : Central Time

 

9:00 – 9:15 a.m. :: Overview & Introductions

9:15 – 10:30 a.m. :: Survey of Renewable Energy Markets & Renewable Energy Credit (REC) Market Dynamics

• Background and history of RECs
• 5 Ws of RECs
• Structure of RECs from a legal and regulatory standpoint
  • Renewable portfolio standard (RPS) programs
  • National elements
  • Regional and state elements
• States with RPS programs and/or related RECs structures
• How are RECs, originated, created, and transferred?
• REC procurement and sale
• Regulatory/legislative issues
• Update on regional REC market activity
• Renewable Energy Credit (REC) Market Dynamics
  • REC market forces and dynamics
  • REC statistics by technologies
  • REC statistics by state
  • Multi-state qualification
  • Compare and contrast regional markets
  • Solar renewable energy credits (SRECs)
  • Carve-outs, set-asides and other focusing instruments
  • Describe a summary of oversupply/undersupply in the RECs market(s)
  • Identify the function of alternative compliance payment mechanisms

10:30 – 10:45 a.m. :: Morning Break

10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. :: Survey of REC Registries & Administrative Aspects of Operation

• Overview of RECs regional markets and North American REC Tracking Systems, or Registries
  • Texas Renewable Energy Credit Program
  • PJM- Generation Attribute Tracking System
  • Western Renewable Energy Generation Information System (WREGIS)
  • Midwest Renewable Energy Tracking System (M-RETS)
  • North American Renewables Registry (NAR)
  • Michigan Renewable Energy Certification System (MIRECS)
  • Nevada Tracks Renewable Energy Credits (NVTREC)
  • North Carolina Renewable Energy Tracking System (NC-RETS)
  • NEPOOL – Generation Information System (New England)
• Review how different registries operate
• Tips for programmatic day to day administration and operation
• Compare and contrast regional markets: key differences
• Midwestern RECs: understanding the opaque market and evaluating future opportunities

12:00 – 12:45 p.m. :: Lunch Break

12:45 – 2:00 p.m. :: REC Transactions & Trading Components

• Identify REC market players (buyers, sellers, brokers, traders)
• Technicalities of a REC transaction process
  • Successful transaction mechanisms
  • Trade execution
  • Structured transactions
• ETRM solutions
  • Inventory management
  • Certificate tracking
  • Obligation calculation and management
  • Cross-market compatibility
  • Proper REC valuation
  • Accounting processes
  • Reporting
• Day in the life of a REC market participant
  • Trading RECs in voluntary and compliance markets
  • Volume of RECs
  • Value of transactions
  • Types of transactions

2:00 – 3:00 p.m. :: Compliance REC Market Landscape for Utilities, Load Serving Entities and Retail Energy Providers

• Regulated vs. deregulated power markets
• Relationship of REC tracking systems mirror the ISO/RTO regions
• Retail power sales and renewable generation and region/ISO
• Installed wind capacity vs. wind resource map
• Map of U.S. installed solar capacity vs. solar resource map
• Regions and REC products traded
• Types and method of transacting

3:00 – 3:15 p.m. :: Afternoon Break

3:15 – 4:45 p.m. :: Compliance REC Transactions from the Perspective of Sponsors, Project Developers, Merchant Generators, Utilities, and Marketers

• RECs role in the overall financing of a solar project
• Piecing together a financial package for RECs
  • Available financing models in light of the IRA
  • Key provisions for renewable tax credits under the IRA
• Project finance through REC transactions
  • Selling long-term REC obligations
  • Hedging forward REC compliance needs
• Debt and equity
  • Contracts to sell RECs
  • Different types of REC contracts
  • Structuring long-term REC contracts
  • REC contract implications on financing
• Contract/transaction case studies
• Has the inflation reduction act (IRA) changed anything?
  • Transfers of tax credits to third parties
  • Key considerations and next steps for renewable energy developers, producers, and investors that are considering a purchase or sale of credits

4:45 p.m. :: Course Adjourns for Day

Friday, December 1, 2023 : Central Time

REC – Compliance Markets (Continued)

9:00 – 10:00 a.m. :: Compliance Market Case Study – Example of a VPPA Used in the Compliance Market

• What is important for utility counterparties
• Contract design considerations
• Contract negotiations
• Limitations and challenges

REC – Voluntary and Other Clean Energy Markets

10:00 – 11:00 a.m. :: Voluntary REC & Green Power Markets Landscape

• Background, status, and trends
• Voluntary REC market buyers and players
  • Corporations and large organizations
  • Residential consumers
• Product types
  • Selling in regulated and retail markets
  • Needs and considerations for existing programs
• System administration for voluntary RECs
• C&I REC market and purchase process
  • Tracking systems
• Technicalities of key processes in the voluntary REC market
  • Typical processes and interactions
  • Certification and eligibility
  • Purchase process for commercial/residential
  • Bundled RECs in power purchase agreements
    • Certifying long-term contracts
    • Direct certification

11:00 – 11:15 a.m. :: Morning Break

11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. :: Voluntary REC Market Trends & Transactions for Corporate Renewable Procurement and Green PPAs

This session will discuss growing national trends in corporate and industrial renewable energy procurement, and how these projects are driving demand for clean energy and growing voluntary renewable markets across the country.  The session will also address specifics of negotiation of renewable power purchase agreements (PPAs) associated with these projects, discussing considerations from both the buyer and seller perspective, and tips to optimize the purchase and sale of a project’s associated environmental attributes. 

12:15 p.m. :: Course Adjournment

Benjamin Chee is Senior Managing Director at NERA Economic Consulting. He is a climate and sustainability expert and has consulted extensively on market incentives, commercial arrangements, procurement options, contracting mechanisms, integration and interconnection issues, renewable portfolio standards, state certification requirements, and attribute tracking systems. Mr. Chee has a long history working with utilities, regulatory commissions, governments, multilateral banks, and state power agencies in managing and overseeing competitive processes for independent power projects (IPPs) and independent water and power producers (IWPPs), water resources, electricity, capacity, demand response, nuclear and renewable energy as well as auctions to reduce methane and other greenhouse gas emissions in the carbon credits and offsets markets. He has extensive experience assisting clients on renewable energy projects, including community renewables, distributed generation, utility-scale solar, off-shore and on-shore wind, and storage projects.

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James F. Duffy is a partner in the Boston office of the national law firm, Nixon Peabody LLP.  He serves as the Co-Chair of the firm’s Renewable Energy Tax Credit Team and concentrates his practice on structuring and closing transactions involving federal income tax credits and other significant federal and state income tax incentives, including Production Tax Credits and Investment Tax Credits for renewable energy.  His practice also covers New Markets Tax Credits.  Mr. Duffy has represented numerous developers, investors, syndicators and lenders in structuring and closing renewable energy and other transactions.  He serves on the Board of Directors and is the Secretary of the Distributed Wind Energy Association (DWEA), as well as the Board of Directors of Windustry.  He is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island, B.A. and The Harvard Law School. 

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Gabby Easthouse is Senior Analyst for Certification Programs at the Center for Resource Solutions (CRS). She joined CRS in 2022. Her prior work experience includes stints at the Energy Futures Initiative, the Army Corps of Engineers regulatory branch and the Joint Institute for the Study of Atmosphere and Ocean. Ms. Easthouse earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from the University of Washington.

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Erin Eckenrod is Vice President of Environmental Products at AES Clean Energy.  She has nearly two decades experience trading, hedging and originating North American renewables, carbon and emissions products. She has set up and built environmental trading desks and businesses around proprietary trading, self-originated product flow and asset optimization at several organizations. Before joining AES Clean Energy in 2021, Ms Eckenrod was Principal at E2 Environmental Services LLC,a renewable consulting and management business. Additionally, she was affiliated with SRECTrade Inc  the countrys largest solar aggregator and provider of renewable technology and brokerage solutions  as a portfolio and trade execution manager. Her previous work experience in renewables ranges from origination of PPAs and structured products for EDP Renewables to Head of Environmental Products at EDF Trading. She also worked as a Trader in Renewables/Emissions at NRG Energy, where she was responsible for both trading and the management of the renewable obligations and assets of the company. Ms Eckenrod has an MBA from the University of Chicago (Booth School of Business) and is a CFA Charterholder.

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Bryan Gower is Chief Customer Officer at the Midwest Renewable Energy Tracking System (M-RETS), a non-profit organization committed to the development and oversight of Renewable Energy and Renewable Thermal tracking systems across North America. M-RETS validates the environmental attributes of energy and thermal fuel generation to serve as a trusted centralized gateway to environmental markets.  He has more than 18 years’ experience working in environmental program management and compliance in the areas of renewable energy certificate (REC) markets, green business certification, recycling programs as well as oil spill prevention and response. Over the years, he has been pivotal in offering technical assistance or system management for nearly all systems in North America, including but not limited to WREGIS, NC-RETS, MIRECS, NAR, M-RETS, NEPOOL GIS, and NYGATS. Before joining M-RETS in 2022, he was program administrator at InClime for more than three years and at APX for nearly 12 years.  He earned two degrees from California State University at East Bay, a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a Master of Public Administration degree.

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Tony Grappone is a partner in the Boston, Mass., office of Novogradac & Company LLP, where he specializes in providing accounting, tax, and consulting services to developers, syndicators, and investors of projects that qualify for the low-income housing tax credit, historic tax credit, new markets tax credit, and renewable energy tax credit.  He serves as a technical editor of the firm’s Renewable Energy Tax Credit Handbook. Prior to joining Novogradac & Company LLP, Mr. Grappone worked at Ernst & Young LLP, specializing in partnership taxation within the affordable housing industry, servicing many of the nation’s largest tax credit syndicators and investors.  In addition, he served several leading venture capital firms as well as commercial real estate developers and investors. Mr. Grappone serves as a member on the Northeastern University Undergraduate Accounting Group Advisory Board.

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Michael Kuhn is Senior Vice President and Team Leader in Commercial Lending at Cambridge Savings Bank. In that role, he facilitates the bank’s position in the solar financing market. He has been with Cambridge Savings for some 15 years and previously worked for Rockland Trust Company as well as the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

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Alec Mamo is an Environmental Commodities Broker at Marex.  He is responsible for facilitating Renewable Energy Credit (REC) transactions, consulting on long-term REC structures and PPAs, and managing the generation and sale of RECs for several renewable projects.  He earned a bachelor’s in finance degree from Fordham University Gabelli School of Business interned with a minor in Alternative Investments. During his studies at Fordham, he interned at Morgan Stanley in its Wealth Management Department in both Baltimore and New York City.

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Ken Nelson is President & Co-Founder of Blue Delta Energy.  He has traded the North American energy markets since 1989, his career spanning the deregulation of the North American energy markets, in which he has traded natural gas, power, biofuels, and propane throughout Canada and Mexico as well as the U.S.  He has worked with renewable energy credits as a supplier, an aggregator, a trader and a compliance buyer.   In his previous role at Element Markets where he led the renewables desk, Mr. Nelson was responsible for the renewable energy (both electric and thermal), energy efficiency, and renewable fuel credit trading activities of the company.   He also has worked at Sempra Energy Solutions, where he was a regional pricing director, and at Citigroup, TransAlta, Dynegy, PG&E Energy Trading, Enron, and Texaco.   Mr. Nelson earned a B.S. from the University of Illinois at Urbana and an M.B.A. from the University of Houston.

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Brett Taylor is an Environmental Commodities Broker at Marex.  He is responsible for facilitating Renewable Energy Credit (REC) transactions, consulting on long-term REC structures and PPAs, and managing the generation and sale of RECs for several renewable projects.  He earned a Bachelor in Finance degree from Fordham University Gabelli School of Business.  During his studies at Fordham, he interned at Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System in Arizona, helping with its alternative investment team.

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Mark Teklinski is a System Administrator at the Midwest Renewable Energy Tracking System (M-RETS) and has been with M-RETS for two years.  Before joining M-RETS, he worked at the Center for Resource Solutions as a Green-e Associate.  Mr. Teklinski earned his Master’s of Science in Environmental Policy from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota in May of 2022.

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Leigh Yeatts is Senior Associate for Market Policy & Innovation at the Clean Energy Buyers Association.  She supports the Next Generation Carbon-Free Electricity Procurement (NextGen) Initiative by focusing on data harmonization. Before joining CEBA, Ms. Yeatts served as Manager of Educational Programs for the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) where she worked closely with utilities, government and industry to design and deliver educational content for in-person and virtual events and supported the Community Solar Working Group. Previously, she worked at the Chesapeake Solar and Storage Association (CHESSA), where she managed operations, planning of the annual conference, and led the Washington D.C. policy committee.  Ms. Yeatts received a B.A. in Environmental and Sustainability Studies and a master’s degree in public policy from George Mason University and is a Fellow with the Clean Energy Leadership Institute (CELI).

We will be using Microsoft Teams to facilitate your participation in the upcoming event. You do not need to have an existing Teams account in order to participate in the broadcast – the course will play in your browser, and you will have the option of using a microphone to speak with the room and ask questions or type any questions in via the chat window and our on-site representative will relay your question to the instructor.

• Microsoft recommends downloading and installing the Teams app if possible. You may also use the Edge browser or Chrome.
• You will receive a separate email with a unique link to a personalized landing page which will include links to join all sessions of this event.
• If you are using a microphone, please ensure that it is muted until such time as you need to ask a question.
• The remote meeting connection will be open approximately 30 minutes before the start of the course. We encourage you to connect as early as possible in case you experience any unforeseen problems.

Please Note: This event is being conducted entirely online. All attendees will connect and attend from their computer, one connection per purchase. For details please see our FAQ

If you are unable to attend at the scheduled date and time, we make recordings available to all attendees for 7 days after the event

REGISTER NOW FOR THIS EVENT:

Renewable Energy Credit (RECs) Market Dynamics

November 30-December 1, 2023 | Online

Your registration may be transferred to a member of your organization up to 24 hours in advance of the event. Cancellations must be received on or before October 27, 2023 in order to be refunded and will be subject to a US $195.00 processing fee per registrant. No refunds will be made after this date. Cancellations received after this date will create a credit of the tuition (less processing fee) good toward any other EUCI event. This credit will be good for six months from the cancellation date. In the event of non-attendance, all registration fees will be forfeited. In case of conference cancellation, EUCIs liability is limited to refund of the event registration fee only. For more information regarding administrative policies, such as complaints and refunds, please contact our offices at 303-770-8800

EUCI is accredited by the International Accreditors for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and offers IACET CEUs for its learning events that comply with the ANSI/IACET Continuing Education and Training Standard. IACET is recognized internationally as a standard development organization and accrediting body that promotes quality of continuing education and training.

EUCI is authorized by IACET to offer 1.0 CEUs for this course.

Requirements For Successful Completion Of Program

Participants must log in/out each day and be in attendance for the entirety of the conference to be eligible for continuing education credit.

Instructional Methods

PowerPoint presentations and case studies will be used in program.

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Upon successful completion of this event, program participants interested in receiving CPE credits will receive a certificate of completion.

Course CPE Credits: 11.5
There is no prerequisite for this Course.
Program field of study: Specialized Knowledge
Program Level: Basic
Delivery Method: Group Internet Based
Advanced Preparation: None

EUCI is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its web site: www.nasbaregistry.org

 

Who Should Attend

Organizations

• Solar, wind and other renewable energy project developers
• Merchant and independent power producers
• Utilities, load serving entities, and asset owners
• Investors in renewable energy projects
• Project managers associated with renewable energy development
• Tax and consulting firms associated with renewable energy development
• Lenders and related financial groups associated with in renewable projects
• Legal professionals associated with renewable energy development
• Risk professionals associated with renewable energy development

Staff Role

• Procurement
• Contract administration
• Renewable energy planning
• Integrated resource planning
• (Resource) origination
• Project management

Compliance