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Utica Power Authority Major Facilities and Related Projects MAP
B160- California Water Plan Highlights
UPA Responds to Water Element in County General Plan
California ISO Renewable Energy News Release
2009 Water_Bank Overview
RENEWABLE PORTFOLIO STANDARD
In 2002 the State of California enacted the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). This legislation was created to spur an increase in the percentage of renewable retail sales by at least 1% per year to reach at least 20% by the end of 2010. The current established goal is 33% by the end of 2020. Utica Power Authority has been successfully self-generating and selling its “green energy certificates” over the past several years on a quarterly or annual basis, as the market price fluctuates.
Through the end of 2007, the purchase of green tickets was a voluntary directive for issuance of annual solicitations for renewable energy from anywhere in the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC). Least-cost best-fit criteria were a major determination. Based on filings in the middle of 2007, the three largest investor owned utilities (IOUs) had served 13% of their 2006 retail electricity sales with renewable power (PG&E – 12%, SCE – 16%, and SDG&E – 5%).
For more information, go to http://www.energy.ca.gov/portfolio/index.html.
WREGIS
In January 2008 California changed its method of tracking renewable electricity generation to be in compliance with the existing RPS program. Generators and utilities will be required to use the Western Renewable Energy Generation Information System. WREGIS was developed as a collaborative process between the Western Governors’ Association and the California Energy Commission and became operational in mid-2007. It is an independent registry and tracking system for the Western Interconnection region. It provides certificates assigned with a unique serial number for each MWhr of renewable energy produced. These “renewable energy certificates” (RECs) can be used by market participants to comply with state regulatory policies.
UPA registered in December 2007 and our applications for both the Utica Powerhouse and Angels Powerhouse were approved in early 2008. For more information, go to www.wregis.org.
" . . . turning blue gold into green energy . . ."
Renewable energy is energy that is obtained from sources that are essentially inexhaustible, such as wind, water, or solar energy that can keep producing indefinitely without being depleted. Non-renewable energy is that which is not replaced or is replaced only very slowly by natural processes, such as fossil fuels. Oil, natural gas, and coal are not replaced in a reasonable amount of time – our lifetime or our children’s lifetime, and are considered “used up” and not available to us again. Green energy is further defined as energy sources that produce energy without many of the associated negatives such as pollution, waste, and other risks. To date nuclear energy has not been included in the legislative definition of renewable energy for a variety of reasons. Examples of renewable "green" energy sources and technologies are: solar electric, wind, biomass, geothermal electric, municipal solid waste, anaerobic digestion, small hydroelectric, tidal energy, ocean thermal, bio diesel, fuel cells using renewable fuels.