Procuring Large-Scale Renewables through Aggregation: A Guide for Local Governments

Local governments across the United States are setting ambitious goals to transition to renewable energy. Since most municipalities cannot supply 100 percent of their electricity needs with on-site supply alone, they often look to purchase off-site renewable energy. One approach to do this that can provide numerous benefits is buyer-led aggregation.

Aggregation is an innovative yet underutilized approach in which two or more buyers collaborate to purchase energy from a large-scale generation facility. Aggregated deals present several opportunities for buyers:

• They allow buyers to support new renewable energy projects that meet their specific needs.
• They help grow the demand for renewable energy by enrolling participants who lack the resources or electricity demand to sign large-scale contracts on their own.
• Buyers can collectively negotiate for better contract terms and prices.

This guide outlines how local governments can pursue buyer-led aggregated PPAs for utility-scale renewable projects. It includes the benefits of aggregation, off-site procurement options available to aggregation groups, and case studies of five successful aggregated renewables procurements. The guide also presents a seven-step process to guide local governments to pursue an aggregated procurement.