Eight Idaho Wind Farms Hope to Sell Renewable Energy Credits to California
Should we let Idaho earn money from selling us wind credits and yet keep their energy there? That is the question for California regulators to decide this month.
Eight wind farms in Idaho want to sell the renewable energy credits that could be generated by their wind energy to California utilities who are mandated to add more renewable energy to the grid. Idaho utilities have no such requirements, so wind farms in Idaho really can’t get a fair price for building new clean wind power infrastructure locally. They are essentially offered half price for their wind. Idaho will buy only half the capacity, and any surplus must be delivered free. And they are being required to foot the bill for the transmission needed to send it out of state to meet the demand from California. So they are kind of backed into a corner.
It is a completely novel idea.
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) spokeswoman Barbara Connors told the SF Chronicle that the suggestion is unique, but a lot of things have yet to be tried in the renewable energy industry.