The California Energy Commission (CEC) has issued a notice requesting comment on the scope for the next edition of the Renewables Portfolio Standard Eligibility Guidebook (RPS Guidebook). The RPS guidebook was last revised in 2017 (Ninth Ed.), and this notice initiates efforts to update the RPS Guidebook to the Tenth Edition. The RPS Guidebook, while not incorporated into the California Code of Regulations, it is determinative in effect as it provides the eligibility requirements and process for the CEC’s certification of facilities as eligible for California’s RPS program and describes the rules and process for verification of renewable energy certificates (RECs).
The notice seeks written comments by Friday, November 1, 2024 on the proposed scope for the draft RPS Guidebook (Tenth Ed.). After considering written comments, the CEC plans to hold one or more workshops to outline to CEC staff’s proposals for the updates to the RPS Guidebook. Topics included in the notice’s proposed scope include, in part:
- Western Renewable Energy Generation Information System (WREGIS) operating rules
- Relevant statutory updates
- Biomass feedstock verification
- Biomass conversion technology requirements
- Common-Carrier Pipeline Biomethane clarifications for in-state facilities and in-state gas production
- New fuel cell and linear generator facility eligibility updates per Assembly Bill 1921
- Metering requirements
- Eligibility for facilities located outside of the Western Interconnection with a first point of interconnection within the Western Interconnection
- Locational requirements for offshore facilities
- Clarifications for onsite use of energy storage
- Clarifications for RPS-eligibility of aggregated distributed generation (rooftop solar)
- Annual load-serving entity reports and publicly owned utility reporting requirements
The notice and related materials are available in the CEC’s docket for the Renewables Portfolio Standard 10th Edition Guidebook Update (21-RPS-02).
Contact: Lynn Haug, Chase Maxwell, or Brian Biering
