NJCEP Spring 2007 CORE Program and Queues

Includes SREC-only Pilot Status and latest transition Consulting Report

Numerous updates are available on New Jersey's Clean Energy Program™ (NJCEP, http://www.njcep.com) website. It has been 90 days since my last post about the New Jersey Clean Energy Program, NJCEP November 2006 Greater Than 10kW CORE QUEUE Analysis.

The CORE Queue > 10kw March 21, 2007 (greater than 10kW) and the CORE Queue <= 10kw March 21, 2007 (less than or equal to 10kW) were released without the pseudo cumulative approach of previous queues. Without detailed analysis, I presume approved, denied, and cancelled applications have been removed. In addition, I have been unable to locate official details about recently-settled litigation alluded to in the title page of each CORE Queue:

The table shows projects' order for rebate processing as of March 21, 2007, and supersedes the table dated November 22, 2006. It also lists projects before the effect of recently-settled litigation. Class participants were sent letters advising the outcome of this settlement and its possible effect on them. They have until April 16, 2007, to decide into which group they prefer to have their projects categorized. The Office of Clean Energy (OCE) will update this web page with an updated queue list reflecting the results of class members' choices soon thereafter.

Per a confidential source, rebate letters from last year (2006) are just being sent now, delayed by legal actions from solar installers. Installers are being offered the choice of waiting in the CORE Program rebate queue or moving to the SREC program. Most installers are unhappy about making this choice, and a few have been driven out of business by this situation.

While an SREC-only Pilot Registration program opened on April 3, 2007, the SREC Pilot Status Report has five (5) registrations from a single registrant, PPL Energy Services. This program provides an option for New Jersey residents and businesses to participate in the SREC market if they forego CORE rebates. Click SREC Trading Statistics through March 2007 for the latest SREC price and volume information.

As of April 10, 2007, the Updated 2007 CORE Budget indicates about $8,431,995 in funds are available for public sector projects. However, the CORE Queue <= 10kw (less than or equal to 10kW) is under funded by $21,179,849 while the CORE Queue > 10kw (greater than 10kW) suffers from a $76,792,301 shortfall in fiscal 2007 year to date.

Another revised consulting report, ACP/SACP Analysis Report, has been issued by Summit Blue on transitioning the New Jersey Solar Market from rebates to performance based incentives. The Proposed Solar Stakeholder Schedule delays the transition decision process until August 2007, almost one year after it began.

Perhaps it would have been easier and cheaper to adopt a feed-in tariff approach modeled after the German Renewable Energy Act (EEG) instead of paying all those consultants for endless analysis reports?