Greater Philadelphia-serving PECO released a request for proposals (RFP) for the sale of 8,000 solar alternative energy credits (AECs) from Pennsylvania-based solar generators and aggregators this year. The RFP comes as part of the second phase of PECO’s solar credit procurement plan.
The first phase of RFPs allocates 4,000 annual credit purchases to statewide solar providers, and the second phase targets solar providers located in PECO’s service territory of southeastern Pennsylvania. Eligible contracts are for 10 years of credit sales, with a minimum of 200 credits delivered each year. PECO said the average winning bid price for the second phase is $34.07 per AEC.
Phase one applications will be accepted starting March 7. A solar credit overview conference will be held by PECO via Zoom on February 23rd to review application requirements, overview key program dates, and field questions related to the RFP.
Through the ten-year program, 160,000 renewable energy credits will be purchased by the utility, representing the production of about 2,400 average Pennsylvania solar homes. This will effectively double PECO’s investment in credits, said the company.
At an average bid price of $34.07 per credit, this would represent nearly $5.5 million in solar credit investment over ten years by a company that reports an “annual economic impact” of $4.5 billion in Pennsylvania.
Image: SEIA
Pennsylvania sources about 0.39% of its power from solar, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). SEIA reports 855MW installed statewide, enough power for roughly 112,000 homes.
While the overall trend for solar installations is rising, 2020 was a significantly higher year for solar deployment than 2021. SEIA projects 1.79GW in deployment over the next five years, ranking Pennsylvania 21st in the nation for growth prospects.
