In 2009, former Governor Mark Parkinson enacted Kansas’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS).
The mandate requires all Kansas utilities – including cooperatives – to acquire 20 percent of their generation capacity from renewable energy sources by 2020. Qualifying sources include: wind; solar; crops grown for energy production; cellulosic agricultural residues; plant residues; methane from landfills or wastewater treatment; clean and untreated wood products; existing hydropower; new hydropower with less than 10 megawatts (MW) of capacity; fuel cells using hydrogen produced by an eligible renewable resource; and other sources of energy that become available in the future and are certified as renewable by the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC).
The law has a three-step graduated compliance schedule. Utilities must generate 10 percent of their capacity from renewables from 2011-2015, 15 percent from 2016-2019, and 20 percent by 2020 and beyond.
Utilities are allowed to grandfather eligible renewable sources installed after 2000. Each MW installed after 2000 counts as 1.1 MW towards compliance. Renewable energy credits (RECs) may be purchased for compliance. The KCC developed a formula for counting RECs toward the RPS requirement. The capacity for a REC is calculated as a factor of the purchasing utility’s own renewable generation capacity. RECs may only be used to meet a portion of the mandate.
Utilities may purchase renewable capacity from other renewable energy producers. If the purchase contract is greater than 10 years, the amount of capacity counted towards the mandate is the nameplate capacity minus the auxiliary power required to produce the capacity. If the contract is less than 10 years the REC formula is used to determine compliance.
Utilities are required to submit annual compliance reports, and are assessed penalties for failure to comply with the mandate. The penalty is equal to twice the market value of RECs that would have been required to meet the requirement. The KCC may waive penalties if it determines the utility has made a good faith effort to comply with the mandate.
Source: Database for State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency