BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho’s unsettled renewable energy landscape is again bedeviling regulators as a solar developer in Elmore County battles Idaho Power Co. over the lucrative renewable energy credits that accompany its 20-megawatt project.
Grand View PV Solar Two has lodged a complaint with the Idaho Public Utilities Commission, alleging the utility is trying to steal its credits, also known as “RECs” or “green tags.”
These are the lucrative certificates that renewables developers can sell to utilities in states like Washington or Oregon that are under the gun to satisfy statutory green-power mandates.
For its part, Idaho Power says it needs to secure a share of these green tags from Grand View’s development in Elmore County — and from other projects, too — because it may eventually need them to fulfill federal renewables requirements, if they’re ever passed by Congress.
