Marin Clean Energy: Feed-In Tariff

Assembly Bill 117, passed in 2002, allows communities in California to aggregate their load and to procure electricity from their own preferred sources. Under the authority of this law, California’s first community choice aggregator, Marin Clean Energy (MCE), was launched in May of 2010. The Marin Energy Authority comprises each city and town in Marin as well as the communities of Belvedere, Fairfax, Mill Valley, San Anselmo, San Rafael, Sausalito, Tiburon, and the County of Marin. The original legislation mandated that the customers of each supporting community would automatically be enrolled in Marin Clean Energy unless they chose not to participate by opting out.

Among the varied sources of renewable energy pursued by MCE are local installations of renewable energy. To streamline the procurement process for small local renewable energy systems, MCE has designed a

• Peak - 90% or more of the system's electric output is produced and delivered to MCE between the hours of 6:00 A.M. and 10:00 P.M. Based on typical energy production profiles, solar technologies fall into this category.
• Baseload - System typically generates electric output around the clock with an annual capacity factor greater than 75%. Based on typical energy production profiles, landfill gas, biomass and fuel cells fall into this category.
• Intermittent - Energy delivery profile cannot be considered Peak or Baseload. Based on typical energy production profiles, wind energy systems fall into this category.

Systems with a Peak energy delivery profile earn the highest per-MWh payments, with Baseload systems receiving the second highest payments. System owners can choose between a 10-, 15- and 20-year contract term. Higher per-MWh prices are awarded for longer contracts. A full breakdown of the payments can be found in the actual tariff.

Individual projects are limited to 1 MW, and MEA will accept a total of 2 MW under this tariff unless MEA's Board of Directors votes to expand the program. Feed-in tariff participants are not eligible to participate in any net metering option for energy deliveries from the same facility.