Attorneys Offer Regulatory Tips for Companies Seeking Green Energy Opportunities

Attorneys Jennifer Martin and Emma Fazio authored an article for Power Engineering titled “Regulatory Tips for Companies Seeking Green Energy Opportunities.” In the article they discuss options available to businesses interested in purchasing renewable energy.

Options for businesses to purchase renewable energy include installing renewables (typically solar) on site, purchasing renewables directly from a specific project or participating in a program through their designated public utility. The authors discuss how the regulatory scheme in a given state will affect how a business may purchase power. In deregulated electricity markets independent electricity sellers can compete with public utility monopolies to serve certain loads. In regulated states, where renewable developers cannot sell electricity directly to corporations, corporations are using  alternatives such as virtual PPAs and green tariffs to work around those restrictions.

”Corporations' ever-increasing demand for renewables is driving new and innovative options for procuring them,” Martin and Fazio conclude. “While corporations in regulated states have been limited in their ability to directly purchase renewables and take advantage of their lower costs, virtual PPAs and green tariffs are beginning to offer those benefits. Corporations can thus look forward to better access to renewables going forward.”