Pennsylvania Act 213 The Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act of 2004 (AEPS) was enacted to provide economic development opportunities by increasing the mix of alternative electricity generation in Pennsylvania.

AEPS requires that 18 percent of the electricity supplied by Pennsylvania’s electric distribution companies (EDCs) and electric generation suppliers (EGSs) come from alternative energy resources by 2021. Download the 2008 PUC Implementation Order.

EDCs and EGSs can comply with AEPS by procuring Alternative Energy Credits (AECs) from qualified alternative energy resource facilities. Each AEC issued represents a megawatt hour (equal to 1,000 kilowatt-hours) of generation from a qualified alternative energy system.

An AEC is valid for three years after the date it was created. An AEC can be transferred to another owner or sold at anytime by the AEC owner. Pennsylvania AECs are created and tracked by the PJM Generation Attribute Tracking System (GATS).

Qualified Facilities

AEPS establishes two tiers of eligible energy sources. By 2021, EDCs and EGSs must supply 8 percent of their electricity from Tier I energy sources and 10 percent from Tier II energy sources.

Tier I sources include new and existing facilities that produce electricity from solar PV, solar thermal, wind, low-impact hydro, geothermal, biomass, biologically derived methane gas, coal-mine methane and fuel cell resources.

Within the Tier I obligation, AEPS requires 0.5 percent of electricity be supplied from solar photovoltaic (PV) systems.

Tier II sources include new and existing waste coal, distributed generation (DG), demand-side management, large-scale hydro, municipal solid waste, wood pulping and manufacturing byproducts, and integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) coal facilities.

Solar hot water systems qualify as a Tier II demand-side management facility provided the system replaces an electric hot water system. Solar hot water systems do not qualify for Solar AECs.

Eligible Tier I and Tier II resources must originate within Pennsylvania or within the PJM regional transmission organization (RTO).