Wind, Hydro Get Half-Price CEC Subsidies

Three projects that did not come on line soon enough to receive full subsidies from the California Energy Commission?s new renewables resources account did manage to reap total awards of $7.3 million from the commission March 3. The awards are tied to the delivery of promised energy. ?They?re at 50 percent of what they originally bid,? said Suzanne Korosec, CEC manager of the new renewables account. The awards originally came with premiums to get the projects on line because of the energy crisis but decreased over time. The High Winds 77 MW plant won $4.9 million, or 0.74 cents/kWh. Another wind project, the 4.6 MW Wintec facility, won $367,000, or 1.12 cents/kWh. A 20 MW hydro project from El Dorado Irrigation District received $1.97 million, or 0.8 cents/kWh. All three came on line late last year. They would have received higher premiums if they had been ready in 2001-2002. Funding was also awarded to begin developing a tagging system for green electrons in the renewables portfolio standard. The tracking system is touted by developers and agencies alike. It will receive $80,000 in initial funding from the commission. ?It?s to develop criteria and parameters to track renewable energy electrons,? said Claudia Chandler, commission spokesperson. The Western Governors? Association is cosponsoring the project because it is assumed that green power will be crossing state lines. The governors are supplying the balance of the $238,000 in start-up funds. Chandler noted that the green tracking criteria are expected to be presented to the Department of Finance by mid-May to facilitate a request for proposals for the software program by August. It has not been determined whether the program will be operated by the agency, she said. The commission is making another foray into washing machine efficiency?this time on a commercial level. Last year, the commission passed efficiency standards for clothes washers, but those were temporarily put on hold February 6, when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger told state agencies they couldn?t engage in rulemaking. In the latest washing machine rulemaking, the commission accepted a petition on behalf of the California Multi-Housing Laundry Association to determine similar standards on the commercial level.

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Wind, Hydro Get Half-Price CEC Subsidies

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