No, under the Fall 2022 Indexed REC RFP Rules the project maturity requirements apply to all Projects. Please note that it is not a requirement for a project to have a system impact study in order to participate.

In the Part 1 Proposal, the Officer of the Seller is required to make a representation that the Project has reached the appropriate development milestones to fully expect that the Project will deliver its first REC to each Company by a date consistent with terms of the Indexed REC Contract. In the Part 1 Proposal, an RFP Bidder will also be required to provide documentation to demonstrate adequate project maturity. The RFP Bidder must provide, if available for the Project, one of the documents listed in the RFP Rules related to interconnection; however, if none of these documents is available for the Project, then the Bidder must: (i) describe the stage of development of the Project applicable to the point of interconnection and to the size of the Project; and (ii) demonstrate control for a portion of the Project site as described in Paragraph IV.6.2 of the RFP Rules.

According to Paragraph IV.6.2 of the RFP Rules, a “Bidder that demonstrates site control to meet the requirements of Paragraph IV.6.1, must do so for a portion of the Project site that covers an area of at least 40 acres times the Project size for a utility-scale wind project, an area of at least 4 acres times the Project size for a utility-scale solar project, or an area of at least 3 acres times the Project size for a brownfield site photovoltaic project.” For example, if the Project size for a utility-scale solar project is 10 MW, then the Bidder must demonstrate control for 40 acres included in the Project site.

Please note that there is a comment process that will take place prior to the issuance of the Summer 2023 procurement’s RFP Rules and Contract and elements of the Fall 2022 Indexed REC Rules may be subject to change. Please see the Calendar posted on the procurement website for deadlines regarding this comment process.