The California Energy Commission unveiled proposed changes to its renewable energy program guidelines at a workshop January 10 aimed at implementing new laws and adjusting for changing energy market conditions. Key among the amendments was new language proposing how the state's power industry could use tradable renewable energy credits to meet California's 20 percent renewables portfolio standard. The CEC said the changes respond to enactment last year of SB 107, which gives it authority to allow tradable renewable energy credits (RECs) to satisfy the state's renewable energy procurement requirements. The RECs represent the renewable attribute of power produced by wind, solar, and other renewable energy technologies, separate from the energy itself. At issue has been whether California utilities can use credits unbundled from the underlying electricity to satisfy their renewable energy procurement requirements. Under the proposed change, the commission would allow tradable credits to satisfy the renewable energy standard's requirements once the Western Renewable Energy Generation Information System (WREGIS) is operational, verifying that green power is delivered to California utilities and that credits are not "double counted." However, the commission noted that the California Public Utilities Commission may cap the number of credits that utilities can use toward meeting the state's 20 percent renewables portfolio standard. Utility representatives and renewable power industry advocates were pleased with the new guidelines. But they expressed impatience with the slow pace in putting together a renewable energy information system, now three years in the making. Sara Myers, Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies regulatory counsel, applauded the Energy Commission's work on WREGIS. It is a "necessary first step" to making a renewables trading program viable, she said. Myers takes issue with the CPUC for not agreeing to count RECs toward a utility's renewables portfolio. In another key change, the commission proposed focusing more of its renewables incentive money on emerging renewable technologies, such as solar energy, and less on existing renewable technologies, such as biomass. The workshop covered the guidelines, which are outlined in five separate volumes. The commission has extended the public comment deadline on the proposed revisions to January 22, but it hopes to adopt the updated documents on March 14. - Corky Templeman