MUA ‘Green’ Energy Credits to Earn Double

SWAINTON — Even as the economy is slugging along, there is a growing market in renewable energy and the county MUA is reaping the benefit.
A state law that requires energy companies to document a percentage of their energy as originating from renewable energy sources is increasingly benefiting county residents through the MUA’s landfill gas-to-energy plant.
The MUA accepted a bid April 2 for sale of renewable energy credits (RECs) at a rate of $22.75 per credit, almost twice that received in 2007 when the bid came in at $12.16.
It was a very good bid, MUA Solid Waste Program Manager John Baron told authority board members, and is locked in for two years to start on June 1, 2008, with an additional one-year option.
RECs are a bit like a commodity; clean energy producers like the MUA sell them on the open market and energy producers buy them as a way to gain credit for having “produced” a certain percentage of their energy from clean sources.
While they don’t actually produce the clean energy, the companies that buy them satisfy the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) and the market benefit comes directly back to the clean energy producer in the form of income.
It’s one more layer of income for the MUA and ratepayers which amounts to an additional $68,000 per year, and means the MUA is making its landfill gas-to-energy plant — which captures methane gas and converts it into electricity — do triple duty.
The plant captures methane gas, which is naturally produced from decomposition from the landfill, and coverts it into electricity. That electricity powers up the recycling center, or Intermediate Processing Facility (IPF) at the Woodbine Landfill site, among other uses: the first layer.
The second layer is the fact there is often energy to spare, which is then sold back to the grid.
The RECs are the icing on top of the two-layer cake.
An REC is equal to a megawatt of power or 1,000 kilowatts, Baron explained. Once a facility is approved by the state, RECs are recorded with the BPU energy credit site. Once a month all the readings from the clean energy producer are sent to the state and a report is created; the credits are then available for sale.
So while the energy has already been consumed, value is still being squeezed out of it.
“This stems from the state law that requires public utilities to produce a percentage of power be green power,” said Charles Norkis, executive director.
That percentage is about 0.8 percent or so a year, he said.
That percentage goes up every single year by 0.1 percent, said Baron.
“So that creates the demand,” he said.
The IPF has two engines qualified under the state program as green energy producing; a third engine is scheduled to go online on June 1, 2008.
“Now when we’re adding a third engine, they’re going to come out and qualify that as well,” said Baron.
Once that occurs, the estimated annual production from all three engines will be approximately 2,678 RECs, according to Baron.
“We hired a firm that specializes in any type of environmental credits to pursue the best price we could get for renewable energy credits,” said Baron. “So on our behalf they took the information and went out into the marketplace … they have their contacts, they stirred the interest.”
Contact Avedissian at (609) 886-8600 Ext 27 or at: savedissian@cmcherald.com.