Long-Term Contracting Standard For Renewable Energy (2009)

Enacted in 2009, the Long-Term Contracting Standard for Renewable Energy (LTC) requires electric distribution companies to annually solicit proposals from renewable energy developers and to enter into long-term contracts with terms of up to 15 years for a total of 90 MW of renewable capacity by December 2014. The Long-Term Contracting Standard also provides for power purchase agreements specifically for an offshore wind demonstration project at Block Island and a utility scale offshore wind project in federal waters.

Whereas the RES requires electricity providers to purchase only RECs, the LTC requires the electric distribution company to purchase a bundled commodity of capacity, energy, and attributes. The 90 MW requirement is “adjusted by capacity factor,” meaning that a 10 MW facility with a 30 percent capacity factor would be counted as providing 3 MW to the minimum LTC capacity obligation.