Glossary




Account Holder
WREGIS term: the party that has registered with WREGIS and to whom the ‘Generator Owner’ assigns registration rights. The Leaf Exchange LLC is an Account Holder.

California Energy Commission (CEC)
The California Energy Commission is the state’s primary energy policy and planning agency. This body helped design the WREGIS tracking registry and helps to manage the Emerging Renewables Rebate program for solar power.

California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)
The entity that regulates utilities in the state of California, including electric power, telecommunications, natural gas, and water companies.

California Solar Initiative (CSI)
The California Solar Initiative is a statewide incentive program that was passed by regulators in 2006, with the goal of creating 3000 megawatts of new, solar-produced electricity by 2017. The goals for the program were to move the state towards a cleaner energy future and help lower the cost of solar systems for consumers. CSI is the largest program of its kind in the United States, and is the 2nd largest initiative in the world, after Germany.

Carbon offset
A carbon offset is different from a REC. It represents an action that prevents the emission (or causes the sequestration) of 1 metric ton of CO2e greenhouse gases. In some cases a carbon offset is a financial instrument, measured in metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, and may represent six primary categories of greenhouse gases.

Distributed Generation (DG)
Also called onsite generation is a method of generating electricity from systems that are installed at the same location the energy is consumed. DG reduces the amount of energy lost in transmission, and the size and number of power lines. Solar PV on a home or business is an example of DG.

Green-e Energy
A leading independent certification and verification program serving the ‘voluntary’ REC market. Green-e Energy sets the environmental product standards, requires proper disclosure from market participants, and audits transactions and marketing claims to ensure credibility in the certification

Generating Owner
WREGIS term; is the party that holds legal title or control rights to the ‘Generating Unit’ (e.g. the owner of the solar PV system).

Generating Unit
A WREGIS eligible renewable generating technology system (solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, small hydro) that produces certificates in the WREGIS system.

Nameplate capacity (rating)
The maximum rated output of the solar system (aka DC watts). Nameplate capacity = (# of panels) * (nameplate rated wattage of panels).

Renewable Energy Credit (REC)
Sometimes called a Renewable Energy Certificate; represents the Renewable and Environmental Attributes from one MWh of electricity generation from a renewable energy Generating Unit. The CPUC definition specifically defines a REC as “a certificate of proof, issued through the WREGIS, that one megawatt-hour of electricity was generated by an RPS-eligible renewable energy resource and delivered for consumption by California end-use retail customer”.

Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS)
A legislative or administrative requirement on electrical utilities, wholesale marketers, or load-serving entities, to require a certain percentage of renewable electricity in their generation/retail portfolio.

Retirement of Certificate:
Retirement of Certificates is an action taken to remove a certificate from circulation within the WREGIS system. Retirement is effectuated by transferring certificates into a Retirement Subaccount.

Self-Reporting Generator:
A customer-sited Distributed Generation installation with a nameplate capacity of less than 360 kW that elects to have dynamic data transmitted to the WREGIS Administrator via a Self-Reporting Interface.

Vintage:
The month/year of the generation period for which a WREGIS Certificate is created. Vintage will always be a single month/year as opposed to Generation Period, which will be a range of days depend on a Generating Unit’s minimum reporting frequency.

Western Renewable Generation Information System (WREGIS)
WREGIS is a registry and tracking system that receives data on renewable energy generation, creates Renewable Energy Certificates (“RECs” or “Certificates”), and accounts for the transfer of Certificates. WREGIS covers the Western Interconnection region, which includes California, 13 other Western states, 2 Canadian provinces, and Baja California. WREGIS is not a trading system, but rather more like a banking system, that verifies and creates certificates, accounts for REC transactions and protects against double-counting.

Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC)
Is a regional reliability council and regional entity delegate of the North American Reliability Corporation that, among other things, adopts, administers, and enforces reliability standards pursuant to Section 215 of the Federal Power Act for the Western Interconnection, which includes Alberta, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, parts of Texas, South Dakota, and Nebraska and the northern portion of Baja, Mexico. The WECC also provides a forum for coordinating and promoting regional electric service reliability, transmission system planning and non-discriminatory transmission access in the Western Interconnection. The WECC also serves as the institution home for the WREGIS Administrator and the WREGIS Committee.