[ California energy picture montage ]

Questions and Answers About SB 1305 Program



Updated March 2, 1999

Q. What degree of relationship is required between a "specific purchase" and the power content of a particular electricity product as reflected in its power content label?

A. "Specific purchase" means a transaction in which the buyer pays for some quantity of electricity from specific generating facilities to be placed on the Western System Coordinating Council (WSCC) grid or on lower voltage lines connected to the grid. The WSCC grid is the interconnected system of transmission lines spanning the western United States plus parts of Canada and Mexico. Having made a specific purchase of, for example, 500 megawatt/hour (MWh) of wind power in Washington, a retailer would be entitled to claim this energy in the power content label of an electricity product it markets in California. The retailer does not have to show that the Washington wind power was transmitted to California or that it was generated at the same time as the retailer's customers were using power.

Thus the requirements for claiming a specific purchase are:

  1. Generation of the claimed energy and sale of the same amount of energy to customers of the product for which the generation is claimed must occur within the same calendar year.

  2. The claimed generation must be placed on the WSCC grid or a lower voltage system connected to the WSCC grid.

  3. The retailer must pay for the claimed generation on a per meagwatt/hour (MWh) (or per kilowatt/hour [kWh]) basis. The payment may be made directly to the generator or by way of an auditable contract trail that leads back to the generator.

  4. The energy traced to a certain generator by way of a specific purchase transaction may be sold to consumers only once.

  5. A specific purchase must be a purchase of electricity, not of just the right to claim an attribute of particular generation facilities.



Q. For calculating power content, should losses be deducted from specific purchases?

A. No. The full amount purchased may be claimed, but this is not necessarily the full amount generated. If the energy is purchased at a location different from where it is generated, only the net amount purchased may be claimed, not the net amount plus losses. Specific purchases are recognized anywhere in the western interconnection, which extends into 14 western states, two Canadian provinces, and a part of Baja California. Since transmission is not required and losses may not be applicable, generation in this entire region is treated on the same footing as generation at or near the end users. In the future, the Energy Commission may re-examine the issue of whether generators nearer to the load should not be accorded some advantage.



Q. May a characteristic of power, such as "green" origin or the right to claim green origin, be sold separately from the power itself?

A. The right may be separated from the kilowatt/hour (kWh) with which it was associated originally and attached to some other parcel of kWh of equal size, but the right may not be sold without an accompanying transaction in electricity. Thus, anyone who wants to claim specific purchase of "green" power may buy kWh from or traceable to a renewable generator. The buyer may then resell these kWh as generic and attach the claim of specific purchase to a like quantity of generic power it purchases and resells to consumers. Whoever buys power sold as generic acquires no right to claim specific purchase, even though the power may be traceable to a green source.



Q. May purchases from a power pool qualify as specific purchases for purposes of the retail supplier report?

A. Yes. Pooling and brokerage are acceptable ways of bringing buyers and sellers together in specific purchase transactions. For example, an exchange may operate as a pool containing various kinds of electricity.

Energy Commission's regulations, at 1394 (b)(3), refer to "a pool of renewable power". However, for purposes of tracing specific purchases, it is not clear that such a pool needs to consist entirely of renewable power, as long as the pool provides an audited filing to the Commission verifing the amounts of energy, by fuel or technology type, delivered to and from the pool. The pool's filing must identify specific generation sources as described in 1394 (a)(2)(B) of the regulations.

Renewable power sold to investor-owned utility companies and their customers under standard offer contracts is not eligible for specific purchase through a pool or in any other way.



Q. What is meant by "fuel mix"?

A. "Fuel Mix" of an electricity product means its proportional content, by fuel type, as calculated per Section 1393(d)(1)(C) of the regulations. In this context the word "fuel" is used somewhat loosely in that it applies not only to actual fuels, such as natural gas, but also to generation technologies, such as hydro and solar. The latter do not require fuel.



Q. May a specific purchase supporting a sale of non-generic power to consumers be made after the delivery to consumers is made?

A. Yes, so long as the specific purchase and the delivery are made within the same calendar year.



Q. What documentation is required to establish a claim to specific purchase?

A. Any documentation may be used that is satisfactory to the auditors who perform the audit required by Section 1394(b) of the regulations. The auditors must be able to trace the sale of electrical energy from the specifically named generators to the retail supplier. To do this, they need records showing generating facility identification number, fuel type, and kilowatt hours. The regulations describing this information may be found at Section 1394 (a)(2).



| Homepage | Commission Info | Site Index | Search Site | Links |


E-mail us about our Web Site at: energia@energy.ca.gov
"Energia" means ENERGY in Greek and Latin.



Energy used to create this page was produced by California's electricity providers...
the most diverse in the world.



Page Updated: March 4, 1999