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D.C. Municipal Regulations (Last Updated: September 13, 2017) |
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Title 15. PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CABLE TELEVISION |
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Chapter 15-29. RENEWABLE ENERGY PORTFOLIO STANDARD |
Section 15-2999. DEFINITIONS
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2999.1For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms and phrases have the following meanings:
Adjacent PJM State - a state that is adjacent to the PJM Interconnection Region. The following states are deemed adjacent to the PJM Interconnection Region as of October 2011: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. The adjacent states will vary as the boundary of the PJM Interconnection Region changes over time.
Behind-the-meter generator or BTM generator - a renewable on-site generator that is located behind a retail customer meter such that no utility-owned transmission or distribution facilities are used to deliver the energy from the generating unit to the on-site generator's load.
Black liquor -- the spent cooking liquor from the Kraft process of paper making.
Brush - shrubs and stands of short, scrubby trees that do not reach merchantable size.
Commission - the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia.
Customer generation - generation that is not principally dedicated for sale into the wholesale electricity market.
Dunnage - loose materials or padding used to support or protect cargo within shipping containers.
Energy Office - the District of Columbia Department of the Environment's Energy Office.
Electricity supplier - a person, including an aggregator, broker, or marketer, who generates electricity; sells electricity; or purchases, brokers, arranges or, markets electricity for sale to customers. The term excludes the following:
(a)Building owners, lessees, or managers who manage the internal distribution system serving such building and who supply electricity solely to occupants of the building for use by the occupants;
(b)Any person who purchases electricity for his or her own use or for the use of his or her subsidiaries or affiliates; or
(c)Any apartment building or office building manager who aggregates electric service requirements for his or her building or buildings, and who does not:
(1)Take title to the electricity;
(2)Market electric services to the individually-metered tenants of the building; or
(3)Engage in the resale of electric services to others;
(d)Property owners who supply small amounts of power, at cost, as an accommodation to lessors or licensees of the property; and
(e)A consolidator.
Fuel input -- the higher heating value of the input fuel type, measured in BTU/LB, based on the standardized heating type of fuel type, multiplied by the annual fuel used in as delivered tons, multiplied by 2000.
Fund - the District of Columbia Renewable Energy Development Fund.
PJM Interconnection - the regional transmission organization that is regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and functionally controls the transmission system for the region that includes the District of Columbia.
PJM Interconnection region - the area within which the movement of wholesale electricity is coordinated by the PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. With respect to qualifying RECs, the following states are deemed within the PJM Interconnection Region as of October 2011: Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Qualifying biomass -- a solid, non-hazardous, cellulosic waste material that is segregated from other waste materials, and is derived from any of the following forest-related resources, with the exception of old growth timber, construction and demolition-derived wood and whole trees that are not part of a closed-loop biomass system, cleared solely for the purpose of energy production, unsegregated solid waste, or post-consumer wastepaper:
(a) Mill residue;
(b) Precommercial soft wood thinnings;
(c) Slash;
(d)Brush;
(e)Yard waste;
(f)A waste pallet, crate, or dunnage;
(g)Agricultural sources, including tree crops, vineyard materials, grain, legumes, sugar, and other crop by products or residues; or
(h)Cofired biomass.
Construction and demolition-derived wood and whole trees that are not part of a closed-loop biomass system, cleared solely for the purpose of energy production, shall be considered qualifying biomass, if a) this material was used to generate RECs and those RECs are retired for compliance purposes with respect to electricity consumed by SOS customers on or before May 31, 2015; or b) this material was used by a facility certified before April 30, 2015, the effective date of the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard Amendment Act of 2014, to generate RECs, which were purchased by an electricity supplier pursuant to a contract executed before April 30, 2015, and those RECs are retired for compliance purposes with respect to electricity consumed by non-SOS customers on or before December 31, 2017.
In all other instances, the construction and demolition-derived wood and whole trees that are not part of a closed-loop biomass system, cleared solely for the purpose of energy production, shall not be considered qualifying biomass, as of April 30, 2015.
Renewable energy credit or REC - a credit representing one megawatt (1 MWH) hour of electricity produced by a Tier One or Tier Two renewable resource located within the PJM Interconnection region or within a state that is adjacent to the PJM Interconnection region.
Renewable energy portfolio standard or standard - the percentage of electricity sales at retail in the District of Columbia that is to be derived from Tier One renewable sources and Tier Two renewable sources in accordance with D.C. Official Code § 34-1432(c) (2011 Supp.; as amended by Distributed Generation Amendment Act of 2011, effective October 20, 2011 (D.C. Law 19-36)).
Renewable on-site generator - a person that generates electricity on site from a Tier One renewable source or Tier Two renewable source for the person's own use.
Slash:
(a) Tree tops, branches, bark, or other residue left on the ground after logging or other forestry operations; or
(b) Tree debris left after a natural catastrophe.
Solar energy - radiant energy, direct, diffuse, or reflected, received from the sun at wavelengths suitable for conversion into thermal, chemical, or electrical energy.
Tier One renewable source - one (1) or more of the following types of energy sources:
(a)Solar energy;
(b)Wind;
(c)Qualifying biomass used at a generation unit that achieves a total system efficiency of at least sixty-five percent (65%) on an annual basis, can demonstrate that it achieved a total system efficiency of at least 65% on an annual basis through actual operational data after one year, and that started commercial operation after January 1, 2007;
(d)Methane from the anaerobic decomposition of organic materials in a landfill or wastewater treatment plant;
(e)Geothermal;
(f)Ocean, including energy from waves, tides, currents, and thermal differences;
(g)Fuel cells producing electricity from a Tier One renewable source under paragraph (c) or (d) of this paragraph; and
(h)Raw or treated wastewater used as a heat source or sink for a heating or cooling system.
The qualifications to qualifying biomass in subsection (c) shall not apply to RECs retired for compliance purposes with respect to electricity consumed by SOS customers on or before May 31, 2015; or with respect to electricity consumed by non-SOS customers on or before December 31, 2017, provided that these RECs were produced by a facility certified as a Tier I energy source before April 30, 2015 and were purchased by an Electricity Supplier pursuant to a contract executed before April 30, 2015. In all other instances, subsection (c) shall apply as of April 30, 2015.
Tier two renewable source -- one (1) or more of the following types of energy sources:
(a)Hydroelectric power other than pumped storage generation;
(b)Waste-to-energy; or
(c)Qualifying biomass used at a generation unit that started commercial operation on or before December 31, 2006; or achieves a total system efficiency of less than 65%; or uses black liquor.
Subsection (c) shall not apply to RECs retired for compliance purposes with respect to electricity consumed by SOS customers on or before May 31, 2015; or with respect to electricity consumed by non-SOS customers on or before December 31, 2017, provided that these RECs were produced by a facility certified as a Tier I energy source before April 30, 2015 and were purchased by an electricity supplier pursuant to a contract executed before April 30, 2015. In all other instances, Subsection (c) shall apply as of April 30, 2015.
Total system efficiency -- the sum of the net useful thermal energy output measured in BTUs divided by the total fuel input.
Useful thermal energy output -- energy in the form of direct heat, steam, hot water, or other thermal form that is used in production and beneficial measures for heating, cooling, humidity control, process use, or other valid thermal end use energy requirements and for which fuel or electricity would otherwise be consumed. Useful thermal energy output does not include thermal energy used for the purpose of drying or refining biomass fuel.
Waste-to-energy - waste treatment, including the use of a licensed facility that burns waste resources in high-efficiency furnaces or boilers, to produce electricity. Such resources include municipal solid waste but exclude waste coal.