Renewable Energy Certificates Policy for NYSERDA-Funded Projects

NYSERDA’s policy regarding the treatment of renewable energy attributes, credits and claims associated with renewable systems for which NYSERDA has provided financial incentives under the Customer-Sited Tier and NY-Sun programs changed in March 2017 in accordance with an Order issued by the Public Service Commission. 

NYSERDA Relinquishes Environmental Claims

All rights to any environmental claims, credits, certificates, or attributes for energy produced by any system funded by Customer-Sited Tier or NY-Sun programs have been relinquished by NYSERDA. This applies to both Certificates minted in New York Generation Attribute Tracking System (NYGATS) and to all environmental claims and attributes of those claims prior to the commencement of NYGATS tracking.

Owners of those systems are now eligible to register the systems in NYGATS and receive renewable “certificates,” subject to the terms, conditions and limitations of the Order and the NYGATS Operating Rules.

NYGATS Certificates

Customers who register their project in NYGATS and provide generation data, in accordance with the NYGATS Operating Rules [PDF], will be entitled to receive one REC for each MWh of generation reported. 

The Order provides that any Certificates minted by NYGATS for these systems will:

• Not be eligible for Tier 1 compliance under the Renewable Energy Standard.
• Have no monetary value, be non-tradable, unsellable and non-monetizable, and, except as explained below, non-transferrable.

Certificates associated with these systems may be transferred:

1. Within a NYGATS account among the sub-folders or sub-accounts of a NYGATS account owner, as long as there is no payment of any kind associated with the transfer.
2. Between NYGATS accounts where an underlying contractual agreement, lease or similar arrangement between the system owner and the customer, where the transfer is necessary for the customer to obtain the generation attributes for retirement in the NYGATS account of the customer.
3. For Community Distributed Generation systems, between NYGATS accounts where an underlying contractual agreement, lease or similar arrangement between the system owner and the customer, where the transfer is necessary for the customer to obtain the generation attributes for retirement in the NYGATS account of the customer or the interconnection Load Serving Entity (LSE).

NYGATS Administrator may require additional documentation, such as a copy of the interconnection agreement, to verify project registration information. Please refer to the NYGATS Operating Rules [PDF] for information on project registration, data reporting, and certificate creation.

RES Tier 1

Because the generation attributes in this category are excluded from meeting the Renewable Energy Standard Tier 1 requirement, the NYGATS administrator will indicate on the associated Certificate that it is not eligible to satisfy RES Tier 1 compliance requirements and they will not count toward the interconnecting LSE’s RES compliance mandates.  The generation attributes of all renewable resource generation consumed by customers in New York State will, however, contribute toward the statewide 50% of electricity from renewable resources by 2030 that relies on both mandatory and voluntary contributions to achieve the goal.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to register a Distributed Energy Resource project in NYGATS [PDF]