State Policy in the Biogas Arena Presented by: Graham Noyes Stoel Rives LLP 600 University Street, Suite 3600 Seattle, WA 98101-4109 Direct: (206) 386-7615 jgnoyes@stoel.com July 12, 2011 1
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Number of Operating Digesters (April 2011) AgSTAR, EPA 3
Total Annual Energy Production in MWh Equivalent (April 2011) AgSTAR, EPA 4
Operational Digesters by Farm Type Farm Type Number of Digester Projects Dairy 137 Swine 23 Poultry 5 Beef 2 5
Current State Policies Renewable Portfolio Standards State Level Grants Feed-In Tariffs Business and Industry Guaranteed Loans 6
Renewable Portfolio Standards Mandatory RPS AZ, CA, CO, DE, HI, IA, MA, MD, MI, MN, MO, MT, NC, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OR, PA, RI, VT, WA, WV Voluntary RPS SD, UT, VA NC is the only state with a carve out policy for animal waste 7
North Carolina RPS Carve Out Policy for poultry litter N.C. Senate Bill 170 The portfolio requires that at least 170,000 MWh of electric power sold in NC by 2012 be produced by burning poultry litter combined with wood shavings or other bedding material. 2013-700,000 MWh 2014-900,000 MWh 8
North Carolina 9
Wisconsin Advanced Renewable Tariffs (ARTs) More than 30 of WI s electric providers, representing about 90% of the state s electricity market, have voluntarily offered this kind of incentive; Customers have responded by installing more than 10 MW of small, distributed capacity utilizing biogas (from manure digesters on farms), solar panels, and wind turbines; and, An additional 8.2 MW of generation capacity, mostly from biogas projects, is under construction and will soon be generating electricity. Farm Digester at Suring, WI 10
ART s continued Rates are based on generator s cost of production, specific to the type of renewable technology Rates are specific to generator size, not to exceed a specified size Program caps are set (e.g. 1% or 2% of all electric sales). Tariff contract length of 15 or 20 years Inflation adjustments are periodically made Requires separate metering Program periodically reviewed by the PSCW to see if rates can be adjusted downward ( known as degression ) 11
Illinois Biogas and Biomass to Energy Grant Program Applicants are eligible for incentives up to 50% of the total project cost. The maximum award for biogas or biomass to energy feasibility studies is $2,500. The maximum grant amount for biogas to energy systems is $225,000 and the maximum grant for biomass to energy systems is $500,000 12
California Renewable Portfolio Standard Eligible biogas is a gas derived from including biomass, digester, gas, and/or landfill gas. If fuel is processed at a non RPS-eligible site, biogas must be delivered to the electric generating facility by Fuel Container Dedicated Pipeline Natural Gas Pipeline RPS eligible pipeline biomethane, may be injected into a natural gas transportation pipeline system and delivered into CA 13
New York Tier (93%): biogas, biomass, liquid biofuel, fuel cells, hydroelectric, solar PV, ocean, tidal, waste-to-energy using eligible biomass, wind. Customer-Sited Tier (7%): Anaerobic digesters, fuel cells, solar PV, solar hot water, wind. Up to $1 million per anaerobic digester was available through PON 1146 14
Pennsylvania Tier I - 8% by May 31, 2021 photovoltaic energy, solar-thermal energy, wind, low-impact hydro, geothermal, biomass, biologically-derived methane gas, coal-mine methane and fuel cells. biologically-derived methane gas includes: poultry litter, animal waste and landfill gas "Tier II" 10% by May 31, 2021 (new and existing) waste coal, distributed generation (DG) systems, demand-side management, large-scale hydro, municipal solid waste, wood pulping and manufacturing byproducts, and integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) coal technology. 15
Policy Suggestions Renewable Portfolio Standards Carve Out Policy targets a specific energy source for purchase Credit Thermal Biogas under RPS 16
Planning Issues 17
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