Well, my head hurts now...
We've had two kinds of customers in the past: one that wanted green energy
but specifically also that wanted to retire the associated certificates
(altruistic). The other was one that wanted fungible certificates so that
any excess over their target could be resold (mercenary).
With respect to local solar, suspect your points would be addressed by the
state PUC's and implemented by the LDC. It is not practical to expect local
generators (excluding those that are in the professional generating
business) to deal with the complexities of energy markets. The result is
that the "greenness value" is expressed in local incentives (rebates, tax
credits) which essentially replace the concept of certificates for value or
at least duplicates that function. Absent that, you'd almost have to have a
meter that could imbue net metered electrons with the appropriate value
added certificates and communicate that to some central banker. We actually
make meters capable of this and of distinguishing between dirty and clean
local generation, but the cost is beyond that which most small installations
would find feasible.
Helpful?
Phil Davis
