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The "RPS" (renewable portfolio standard) is a bit of a blunt instrument; it requires
renewable energy, but doesn't care when during the day it's generated, which
can lead to overgeneration during the middle of the day.
Arizona has a proposal for requiring some of the clean energy to be delivered when it's most needed:
Excerpt:
"Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) have been fundamental to jump-starting the renewable energy (RE) industry, accounting for over 60% of the growth in RE generation since 2000. However, the simple MWh based approach used by traditional RPS policies does not differentiate between each renewable MWh based on its value to the grid or for reducing fuel consumption. Already some states are experiencing challenges as renewable energy production during certain times is beginning to provide diminished value in terms of reduced fuel consumption or capacity contribution. As states continue to achieve their RPS goals and reach increasingly higher levels of RE penetration, new approaches will likely be needed to guard against diminishing returns of a simple MWh based approach. As a way of encouraging clean energy resources to provide all the necessary attributes of a reliable power system, we propose building upon the traditional RPS framework by adding one or more new supplemental components that would work in parallel with the foundational MWh-based retail sales component. The first and foremost of these new components would be the Clean Peak Standard (CPS). The CPS builds upon the RPS construct, by adding a new dimension whereby a certain percent of energy delivered to customers during peak load hours must be derived from clean energy sources. For example, a 30% CPS would mean that 30% of MWh delivered to customers during a predetermined peak period would need to come from qualifying clean peak resources."
renewable energy, but doesn't care when during the day it's generated, which
can lead to overgeneration during the middle of the day.
Arizona has a proposal for requiring some of the clean energy to be delivered when it's most needed:
Excerpt:
"Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) have been fundamental to jump-starting the renewable energy (RE) industry, accounting for over 60% of the growth in RE generation since 2000. However, the simple MWh based approach used by traditional RPS policies does not differentiate between each renewable MWh based on its value to the grid or for reducing fuel consumption. Already some states are experiencing challenges as renewable energy production during certain times is beginning to provide diminished value in terms of reduced fuel consumption or capacity contribution. As states continue to achieve their RPS goals and reach increasingly higher levels of RE penetration, new approaches will likely be needed to guard against diminishing returns of a simple MWh based approach. As a way of encouraging clean energy resources to provide all the necessary attributes of a reliable power system, we propose building upon the traditional RPS framework by adding one or more new supplemental components that would work in parallel with the foundational MWh-based retail sales component. The first and foremost of these new components would be the Clean Peak Standard (CPS). The CPS builds upon the RPS construct, by adding a new dimension whereby a certain percent of energy delivered to customers during peak load hours must be derived from clean energy sources. For example, a 30% CPS would mean that 30% of MWh delivered to customers during a predetermined peak period would need to come from qualifying clean peak resources."
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