By GLYNIS HART
[email protected]
UNITY –Sullivan County has renewable energy certificates to sell, thanks largely to the county’s biomass burner at the county complex in Unity. Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) are tradable, non-tangible energy commodities in the United States that represent proof that 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity was generated from an eligible renewable energy resource and shared in the power grid.
According to Facilities Director Mary Bourque, the county expects to accumulate around 3,750 Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) per year. “That makes us one of the larger ones,” she told the Sullivan County Board of Commissioners Monday.
Bourque asked the commissioners whether the county should think about hiring someone to manage the RECs. The RECs could be sold through New England Power Pool Generation Information System (NEPOOL GIS). NEPOOL GIS issues and tracks certificates for megawatt hours of generation and load produced in the six-state independent system operator (ISO) New England control area.
Bourque described NEPOOL GIS as a “trading forum, where you can register and negotiate your RECs.”
The county won’t be ready to sell RECs for another six months, but is currently in the process of applying to the Public Utilities Commission to do so. Bourque’s question of how to manage this commodity was answered by Commissioner Jeff Barrette, who guesstimated the benefit to the county as around $6,000 to $8,000 per year. Barrette doubted it would take more than eight or ten hours a year to manage the county’s involvement in NEPOOL GIS, once they knew how to work with the system.
“I’d like to find someone else who’s doing it, so we know the level of staff commitment we need to make,” said Bourque.
Bourque will report back to the county what she finds out.
As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.