Regular readers of The Power Line are familiar with the fact that the WV PSC never took seriously the idea that anyone would want to be certified to sell real renewable energy credits in WV, because the state’s ARPS law blocked real renewable power development. That was, until a number of us solar power producers filed to be certified to sell renewable energy credits in 2011. If you are interested in the absurd history history of our endeavor, you can check it out here and here.
Despite the fact the PSC took our advice and began a new case to change their restrictive rules on production reporting and their ridiculously cumbersome application process, they failed to notify any of the solar power producers who actually pushed them to change that the new case was open.
I managed to find out about the new rules case from a friend who sent me the notice from an Eastern Panhandle newspaper. I filed my comments yesterday at the PSC. Here is a link to those comments. First Energy has also filed comments here for its two WV subsidiaries. AEP has filed comments here for its two WV subsidiaries.
Note that both Ohio-based power companies want to keep WV’s cumbersome application process in place for certification, even though Ohio, in which both companies currently operate, has a simple application that does not require the complicated process currently required by the WV PSC. It’s just another example of keeping the hillbillies in the dark, just because they can.
FirstEnergy, of course, also wants to keep the current requirement of forcing all renewable credit certification applicants to buy special equipment for recording their output. AEP agrees with me that, as in almost all other states, including PJM Interconnection which manages a database of renewable power production, producers with small systems rated at less than 10 kilowatts capacity should be able to use the meters built into their inverters to report their production.
PJM Interconnection also filed comments here. Ken Schulyer, president of PJM-Environmental Information Services, explained that PJM’s EIS systems offer a perfect solution to the WV PSC by providing an online application process that WV can use for its own certification state system. A simple and elegant solution to the application process that already exists.
New comments will be coming in to the PSC. You can track the case here at the PSC Web site. The case number is GO 184.31. If you own a solar power system in WV, you need to file comments in this case.
