Development of a Web-based Emissions Reduction Calculator for Green Power Purchases from Texas Wind Energy Providers

Four areas, involving 16 counties, in Texas have been designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as non-attainment areas because ozone levels exceed the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) maximum allowable limits. These areas face severe sanctions if attainment is not reached by 2007. Four additional areas in the state are also approaching national ozone limits (i.e., affected areas). In 2001, the Texas State Legislature formulated and passed the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP), to reduce ozone levels by encouraging the reduction of emissions of NOx by sources that are currently not regulated by the state. Ozone results from photochemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the presence of sunlight. An important part of this legislation is the State’s energy efficiency program, which includes reductions in energy use and demand that are associated with the adoption of the 2000 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC 2000), including the 2001 Supplement (IECC 2001) which represents one of the first times that the EPA is considering State Implementation Plan (SIP) credits from energy conservation and renewable energy– an important new development for building efficiency professionals, since this could pave the way for documented procedures for financial reimbursement for building energy conservation from the state’s emissions reductions funding. This paper provides a detailed description of the procedures that have been developed to calculate the emissions reductions from electricity provided by wind energy providers in the Texas ERCOT region, including an analysis of actual hourly wind power generated from a wind turbine in Randall County, Texas. INTRODUCTION In 2001, the Texas State Legislature formulated and passed Senate Bill 5 to further reduce ozone levels by encouraging the reduction of emissions of NOx by sources that are currently not regulated by the state, including area sources (e.g., residential emissions), on-road mobile sources (e.g., all types of motor vehicles), and non-road mobile sources (e.g., aircraft, locomotives, etc.). An important part of this legislation is the evaluation of the State’s new energy efficiency programs, which includes reductions in energy use and demand that are associated with specific utility-based energy conservation measures, and implementation of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), published in 2000 as amended by the 2001 Supplement (IECC 2000; 2001). In 2001 thirty-eight counties out of the 254 counties in Texas were designated by the EPA as either non-attainment or affected areas. In 2003, three additional counties were classified as affected counties, bringing the total to forty-one counties (sixteen non-attainment and twenty-five affected counties). Texas is the second-largest producer of wind energy in the United States. Wind developers are attracted to Texas by the many windy sites suitable for wind development here. The capacity of installed wind turbines totals 1,407 MW as of April 2005 and the planned capacity for new projects rises to 3,700 1 In the 2003 Texas State legislative session, the emissions reductions legislation in Senate Bill 5 was modified by House bill 3235, and House bill 1365. In general, this new legislation strengthens the previous legislation, and did not reduce the stringency of the building code or the reporting of the emissions reductions. 2 The sixteen counties designated as non-attainment counties include: Brazoria, Chambers, Collin, Dallas, Denton, El Paso, Fort Bend, Hardin, Harris, Jefferson, Galveston, Liberty, Montgomery, Orange, Tarrant, and Waller counties. The twenty-two counties designated as affected counties include: Bastrop, Bexar, Caldwell, Comal, Ellis, Gregg, Guadalupe, Harrison, Hays, Johnson, Kaufman, Nueces, Parker, Rockwall, Rusk, San Patricio, Smith, Travis, Upshur, Victoria, Williamson, and Wilson County. 3 These counties are Henderson, Hood and Hunt counties in the Dallas – Fort Worth area. 4 Testimony presented by Mr. Gregg Cooke to the Texas State Legislature, May, 2005.