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Hastings Utility Board approves WAPA contract to receive and market renewable energy certificates
Summary
The Hastings Utility Board voted to accept a new contract with the Western Area Power Administration allowing the city to receive renewable energy certificates (RECs) and to adopt related amendments to its firm electric service agreement; the board approved the measures by roll call.
The Hastings Utility Board voted Thursday to accept a contract with the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) to transfer renewable energy certificates (RECs) into the City of Hastings’ account, a step that allows the utility to claim, market or retire those environmental attributes.
The motion to accept the transfer contract (contract number 25UGPR146) was made by Scott Coles, a board member, and seconded; the board approved the contract on roll call. Shane Stone, the city’s director of administration, said the change gives Hastings the ability to “receive those” RECs into an Emirates account WAPA is now offering and to market the certificates either internally to local businesses or externally in the REC market.
Stone told the board WAPA’s firm electric service contract runs through 2050 and that the REC-transfer language and associated administrative fees are minimal. “Those fees are very, very small at this point,” he said, describing transfer costs in the range of cents per megawatt-hour for export/import and small administrative charges.
Manager Derek said the REC option gives local companies that need renewable-energy proof another path to demonstrate green energy use without installing their own solar panels. “If a company needs to be able to show or has a desire to want to show that they are using renewable energy, the energy and the renewable part gets separated,” Derek said, describing how energy flows through the SPP market while RECs are held and traded separately.
The board also approved minor revisions to the firm electric service agreement required to accommodate REC transfers and to update contractual language and exhibits. Stone said the amendments primarily clean up meter-reading procedures and bring WAPA’s contract provisions into line with current federal non-discrimination and inclusion standards.
The motion to accept the REC transfer contract and related amendments was recorded as passed by roll call. The board did not attach a dollar value to the REC holdings; staff said they will continue to evaluate market value and buyers and may market RECs internally to local businesses or externally if there is demand.
The board’s action now allows the city to take custody of RECs that WAPA is willing to transfer and to include REC transfers alongside the life of the firm electric service contract.
