FirstEnergy Seeks Solar Energy Renewable Credits In Ohio

FirstEnergy Corporation plans to grow its renewable energy portfolio by adding Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs).

FirstEnergy, which is based out of Independence, Ohio, operates 10 power companies in the U.S. including three utilities in the Buckeye State. The new solar energy credits will be added to companies operating in Ohio.

To secure the SRECs, FirstEnergy will conduct a Request for Proposals (RFP). Through the RFP the company will search solar generation facilities in Ohio to deliver 1,000 SRECs to its renewable energy portfolio each year from 2012 to 2021.

The move is the company's latest as it works toward satisfying Ohio's renewable portfolio standards which require utilities to source 25 percent of their retail energy supply from renewables by 2025.

This news comes just five days after FirstEnergy said it will shut down six coal-fired power plants by September 1, 2012. The company cited the new Environmental Protection Agency's Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) as the reason for disposing the combined 2,689 MW of coal generation -- 10% of its entire generation fleet. Though these closures will surely cause a generation gap, FirstEnergy was clear that "no energy or capacity will be purchased under the RFP."

This RFP for Ohio SRECs is the second in four months. In September 2011, FirstEnergy said it was seeking to secure 5,000 SRECs and 20,000 RECs produced by generating facilities in Ohio each year starting in 2011 and continuing through 2020. 

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