On May 16 the Vermont Public Service Board (PSB) announced the selection of three renewable energy projects as part of the SPEED Standard Offer program’s new Request for Proposal (RFP) process. The proposals were submitted after the PSB implemented programmatic changes to the Standard-Offer program in March (discussed in detail in a previous post).
The PSB authorized the SPEED Facilitator to enter into Standard Offer contracts with the three projects that proposed the lowest prices on a $/kWh basis: (1) Bennington Solar (2.0 MW, Ecos Energy, LLC); (2) Sudbury Solar (2.0 MW, Ecos Energy, LLC); and (3) Champlain Valley Solar Farm (2.2 MW, Champlain Valley Solar Farm, LLC). The PSB additionally authorized the Facilitator to place three projects in the 4.5 MW project reserve authorized under the new program; projects slated for the reserve are: (1) Otter Valley Solar Farm; (2) Whiting Solar Center; and (3) Mountain View Solar Center.
The top three lowest price proposals were actually Bennington Solar, Apple Hill Solar, and Sudbury Solar, with Champlain Valley Solar coming in fourth. However, Apple Hill was disqualified after the PSB determined that, because the proposed Bennington Solar and Apple Hill Solar projects “are located on the same parcel of land and have similar interconnection points,” they “constitute[d] a single 4.0 MW plant for the purposes of Section 8002(14)” (defining what constitutes a “plant” under the statute). The statute only allows projects to be up to 2.2 MW. Because the proposals were separately submitted, the PSB determined that the higher priced and second-in-line Apple Hill project was the ineligible one. On May 21st Ecos Energy filed with the PSB a request for reconsideration of its decision to reject Apple Hill’s proposal.
Relative to the provider block, the PSB authorized the Facilitator to enter into a contract with Green Mountain Power to develop a 150 kW solar project in Rutland.
Absent an extension, authorized Standard-Offer contracts must be executed by June 26, 2013.
Here’s a snapshot from the Order of the top-10 (lowest priced) projects:
Top 10 Proposals
photo by Photovoltaik
