RGGI Releases Model Applications for Offsets: Can Anyone Qualify?
Thinking about how to take advantage of funding for energy efficiency retrofits from the federal stimulus package, state-level programs like Massachusetts’ Green Communities Act, or even utility-funded programs? You should also think about whether your actions will create another income stream – offsets under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) – and whether taking funds will prohibit the creation of offsets when the project is finished.
RGGI, Inc. this week released model applications for offset projects which could create interesting incentives if implemented by each of the RGGI states. Unlike some of the offset provisions proposed under ACES, all of the RGGI offset categories are outside of the electric generation sector that RGGI regulates. The 5 categories of emission reductions that are eligible for offsets in RGGI include landfill methane capture and destruction; reductions in sulfur hexafluoride in the electricity transmission and distribution sector; sequestration of carbon due to afforestation; avoided methane emissions from agricultural manure management, and, most interestingly, reductions or avoidance in CO2 emissions from natural gas, oil or propane in residential or commercial facilities due to energy efficiency in the building sector.
RGGI has a notoriously strict stance on additionality which certainly shows in the application for energy efficiency offsets. To qualify, the applicant must certify that the project did not receive any funding or incentives from any state run programs or programs funded with RGGI auction proceeds. Given that a large portion of the money from RGGI auctions is being directed by the states toward energy efficiency improvements, being able to provide this certification may be difficult. The application also notes that any renewable portfolio standard (RPS) attributes generated by the offset project must be transferred to the state regulatory agency, rather than sold separately.
Energy efficiency projects that can qualify for offsets are not necessarily complex. The types of energy efficiency projects that can qualify for offsets include:
- Improvements in the energy efficiency of combustion equipment that provides space heating and hot water, including a reduction in fossil fuel consumption through the use of solar and geothermal energy
- Improvements in the efficiency of heating distribution systems, including proper sizing
- Installation or improvement of energy management systems
- Improvement in the efficiency of hot water distribution systems, including reduction in demand for hot water
- Measures that improve the thermal performance of the building and reduce the building envelope air leakage
- Measures that improve the passive solar performance of buildings or utilize active heating systems using renewable energy
- Fuel switching to a less carbon-intensive fuel in combustion systems, including the use of liquid or gaseous eligible biomass (but not conversions to electricity).
On the other hand, the projects must achieve very high efficiency gains to qualify. Whole-building energy projects must be 30% above ASHRAE 90.1-2004 standards, and retrofit projects that commenced after January 1, 2009 must show that the energy conservation method they employ has a market penetration rate of less than 5%, although the market or class of buildings can be defined by the applicant. In addition, the baseline from which reductions in CO2 are measured is based on a combination of the current building code and the actual equipment to be replaced, so not all of the gains from retrofits can be certified as offsets.
If your summer home improvement efforts this year include upgrading to a state-of-the-art boiler, you didn’t take RGGI funds from the state to do so, and you are persistent enough to endure certification and verification of the reductions, you could qualify for up to 10 years of offset credits to sell to electric generators in the 10-state region. It is certainly something to think about.
