The Social Geography of the Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SREC) Market

Abstract

The social geography profile of solar energy markets is a critical building block of the fair energy transition. Unfair benefit or harm distribution within a market, or the existence of disproportion-ate policy incentives that accelerate some societal segments over others, call into question the concept of a sustainable future for all. In this report, we analyze the solar renewable energy credit (SREC) market to test for its ability to deliver a fair energy transition by looking into its social ge-ography profile. Using a case study analysis, we find that there are significant potential issues within SREC markets in that especially vulnerable communities are often participating in the on-going energy transition at a comparatively much lower level, meaning that solar energy benefits, like SRECs, disproportionately benefit the less vulnerable communities.

Keywords: SRECs, solar energy, renewable energy, just sustainability, sustainable energy utility (SEU), rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV)