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through 2020. When the utilities start ramping their procurement back up to meet the <br /> 50%-by-2030 RPS requirement, the supply-demand balance in the market may shift, <br /> resulting in higher-than-expected prices unless an increase in suppliers and development <br /> opportunities matches the increase in demand. <br /> Given the potential upward price pressures from tax credits that are currently expected to expire <br /> and from higher demand for renewable power to meet the 50%-by-2030 requirement and the <br /> potential downward price pressures from falling renewable development costs, the possibility for <br /> lower cost procurement through the use of RECs, and the possibility that the expiry of the tax <br /> credits will be further delayed, it is unclear whether renewable prices will continue to fall (as <br /> NREL, LBNL, and others are predicting) or will start to stabilize and rise. MRW has addressed <br /> this uncertainty by considering two scenarios. In the base renewable cost forecast, MRW used <br /> the$52 per MWh average price of recent municipal utility and CCA wind and solar contracts as <br /> the price through 2022 (in nominal dollars), increasing the price with inflation in subsequent <br /> years. This results in a price of$59 per MWh in 2030. In the high renewable cost scenario, <br /> MRW increased the base case renewable prices to account for the expected expiration of the tax <br /> credits, resulting in a price of$77 per MWh in 2030. These scenarios provide a reasonable <br /> window of renewable price projections based on current market conditions and analysts' <br /> expectations. <br /> MRW used these same renewable prices to calculate PG&E's renewable power costs. However, <br /> as described in Appendix B in the PG&E forecast, these renewable energy prices are used only <br /> for incremental power that is needed above PG&E's existing RPS contracts. For Alameda CCA, <br /> these prices are used as the basis for its entire RPS-eligible portfolio. <br /> MRW additionally included a premium for the portion of Alameda CCA's RPS portfolio <br /> assumed in each scenario to be located in Alameda County. While solar energy is anticipated to <br /> provide the largest share of incremental supply located in-county, the solar resource in Alameda <br /> is not as strong as in the areas being developed to supply the contracts discussed above. As a <br /> result,the cost of solar generation in Alameda is expected to be higher than the contract prices <br /> we have assumed for non-Alameda supplies. Additionally, there are economies of scale in solar <br /> power development that mean small, local solar projects will cost more than the utility-scale <br /> projects upon which the average contract prices were derived. Based on information provided in <br /> the CPUC's current RPS calculator, which provides cost estimates for renewable energy projects <br /> located around California, large solar projects in Alameda are expected to have a 15%premium <br /> over projects in areas with the best solar resource. Generation from smaller projects (<3 MW) in <br /> Alameda are assumed to cost 55%more than the base contract price assumed in our forecast. <br /> Given the high levels of renewable energy assumed in each of the scenarios, and the variable <br /> patterns of renewable energy production, there are likely to be periods during which the <br /> renewable energy projects with which the Alameda CCA has contracted are producing more than <br /> its customers require. i0 This excess supply must be managed by the Alameda CCA and will <br /> likely add to its overall supply costs. For the purpose of this assessment, MRW assumed that the <br /> excess renewable supply would be sold at 10% of the cost of additional renewable purchases <br /> 10 The annual oversupply is equal to the sum of positive hourly differences between RPS generation and load. <br /> July,2016 B-3 MRW&Associates,LLC <br />