WASHINGTON, April 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Platts, a leading global energy, petrochemical and metals information and benchmark price references provider, today said it has launched weekly price assessments for renewable energy certificates (RECs) covering 15 compliance products in use in eight U.S. states where renewable portfolio standards (RPS) have been mandated by state governments. Platts is also providing assessments for two voluntary products.

A REC represents the environmental attributes of a megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity from a renewable energy facility, such as wind, solar or geothermal. They've become a tradable commodity used by load-serving entities to comply with states' renewable portfolio standards that require a specified portion of power to be sourced from a renewable energy generator. Some 29 states and the District of Columbia currently have such mandates.

"A renewable portfolio standard is the most widespread policy concept for encouraging the growth of renewable energy in the United States. And we're pleased to put our long experience in price discovery to work for this emerging market and shed light on the value of the corresponding renewable energy certificates," said Mike Wilczek, Platts senior managing editor, North American power and gas.

While RECs have no inherent value, unlike physical energy commodities such as coal and natural gas, their value follows the models of popular environmental products such as carbon dioxide allowances, carbon offsets, renewable identification numbers and sulfur dioxide/nitrogen oxide permits, which also got their start from the industry's need to comply with state or federal environmental regulations.

Platts' new weekly REC assessments include 15 different products eligible in eight states: California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas. The REC products are broken out into categories for "solar technology" and "top-tier" renewable facilities. Platts also assesses a pair of Green-e certified REC products commonly used in the voluntary market.

"Our aim is to provide the industry with all the REC pricing and information it needs in one place," said Geoffrey Craig, Platts associate editor, power. "The need for price assessments, market commentary and news can only increase as the market deepens, widens and matures."

The U.S. REC market is seen growing in size from 133 million megawatts per hour in 2011, an increase of more than 20% from decade-ago levels, to 210 million MWh by 2015.

To accompany its new assessments announcement, Platts has just released this April 2012 Special Report explaining the fundamentals behind the REC market. To view this report, visit this link: http://www.platts.com/rec-report.

A fact sheet on Platts U.S. REC assessments can be found at this link.

For greater detail on the calculations for the new assessments, see Platts' methodology and specifications guidelines for U.S. renewable energy certificates, which were developed in consultation with a cross-section of power industry and market participants. To learn more about the broader topic of Platts' market-on-close price assessment processes in power, visit this link of the Platts website.

Quoted in U.S. dollars per MWh, the weekly Platts RECs reflect market values as of Thursday at 2:30 p.m. Eastern time and are published every Thursday in real-time service Platts Electricity Alert, Platts Market Center, Platts Market Data and on Friday in the newsletter Platts Megawatt Daily. Platts has published energy news, markets fundamentals and price assessments for more than a century.

About Platts: Founded in 1909, Platts is a leading global provider of energy, petrochemicals and metals information and a premier source of benchmark prices for the physical and futures markets. Platts' news, pricing, analytics, commentary and conferences help customers make better-informed trading and business decisions and help the markets operate with greater transparency and efficiency. Customers in more than 150 countries benefit from Platts' coverage of the carbon emissions, coal, electricity, oil, natural gas, metals, nuclear power, petrochemical, and shipping markets. A division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), Platts is headquartered in New York with approximately 900 employees in more than 15 offices worldwide. Additional information is available at http://www.platts.com.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies: McGraw-Hill announced on September 12, 2011, its intention to separate into two public companies: McGraw-Hill Financial, a leading provider of content and analytics to global financial markets, and McGraw-Hill Education, a leading education company focused on digital learning and education services worldwide. McGraw-Hill Financial's leading brands include Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, S&P Capital IQ, S&P Indices, Platts energy information services and J.D. Power and Associates. With sales of $6.2 billion in 2011, the Corporation has approximately 23,000 employees across more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/.

CONTACT:
Kathleen Tanzy
212-904-2860
Kathleen_tanzy@platts.com

SOURCE Platts

SOURCE: Platts