New York is overhauling its market for utility scale renewable energy projects. On June 1, NYSERDA released a much anticipated report proposing options for what the agency is calling its “Large Scale Renewables” program. The Large Scale Renewables proposal opens possibilities for both solar developers seeking to expand beyond the bite-sized, C&I net metered paradigm and for customers that have dreamed of hedging larger portions of their energy budgets through direct renewable energy procurement.

What makes the Large Scale Renewables program even more exciting is that it is a component of Reforming the Energy Vision (REV), a groundbreaking policy initiative to redefine the role of utilities, third party clean energy providers like OneEnergy, and customers. Through REV and Large Scale Renewables, New York continues to be on the leading edge of a nationwide trend that is enabling customers to access solar more cheaply and easily.

The NYSERDA report evaluates and compares three primary options to support the deployment of large renewable projects, ranging from NYSERDA REC + CFD contracts to utility managed RFP solicitations. Whichever option NYSERDA ultimately pursues, it will almost certainly represent a titanic shift in how the state encourages and procures utility-scale projects.

For the past eleven years, New York has issued 10- and 20-year REC contracts through a periodic auction mechanism called the “Main Tier”. With historical capacity weighted average auction awards coming in below $30/MWh, nearly all of Main Tier funding has been directed at land-based wind farms. To date, no Main Tier funding has been allocated to solar. And, aside from a few installations on Long Island, utility-scale solar projects have been non-existent in New York.

A robust Large Scale Renewables program that adequately fosters a competitive marketplace for utility-scale solar will catapult New York towards achieving its lofty solar capacity goal of 3,000 MW. Highly distributed, net-metered projects alone will only get the state halfway there under the current regulatory environment.

The Large Scale Renewables programmatic framework remains to be hashed out through a public comment period. Over the next several months, it will be paramount to ensure that the future Large Scale Renewables program appropriately values utility-scale solar and positions it on, at the very least, a level playing field with other clean energy technologies.

The effort has sparked the interest of both local groups, like ACE-NY and NYSEIA, and nationally-focused trade organizations, such as SEIA. As a member of NYSEIA’s policy committee, OneEnergy will be working hard to ensure utility-scale solar has a voice in New York’s Large Scale Renewables conversation. Comments are due July 22 and reply comments are due August 24.

To learn more, stay tuned to this blog for updates. You can also visit the Public Service Commission docket.