You may have heard of the acronym NYGATS floating around the state, but what is it exactly? Let’s Dig In.
What is NYGATS?
For its 20 million residents and 2 million businesses, New York state keeps track of the power produced and consumed through its New York Generation Attribute Tracking System, dubbed NYGATS.
NYGATS is an online certificate-tracking system that records information about electricity generated, imported, and consumed in New York state. Using unique serial numbers, it can issue, track, and manage energy attribute certificates and renewable energy certificates (RECs). It avoids double counting of RECs and generates public reports. It also records a full audit trail of all transactions to support the legitimacy of the RECs issued and maintained in the system.
Below is your cheat sheet with the basics and links to resources you can visit to learn and utilize the NYGATS program.
Who founded and who uses the NYGATS system?
The program was launched in 2012 by New York Generation Attribute Tracking System (NYGATS) by the New York State Energy & Research Development Authority (NYSERDA), in consultation with the New York State Department of Public Service, as part of the Governor’s clean energy initiatives.
Renewable energy generators use the system, energy service companies (ESCOs), aggregators, and renewable energy brokers. And they can register here.
What does NYGATS do?
One of the most powerful impacts of the NYGATS system is its ability to manage renewable energy credits (RECs). Customers who register their project in NYGATS correctly (more info here) are eligible to receive one REC for each MWh of renewable generation reported. They can then transfer RECs within NYGATS as part of transactions such as lease agreements. Once they reach a final “home,” they are retired in NYGATS to ensure that no two entities take credit for the same MWh of renewable energy.
Where can you access NYGATS?
You can access the NYGATS system here if you already have an account: https://nygats.ny.gov/.
If you are new to NYGATS, you can register here: https://nygats.ny.gov/ng/Admin/Account
NYGATS Account Navigation and Login Management tutorial video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LDF2maLLEg&list=PL58TKuO6kC84xnbGobF9pSW4G4SDmyExQ&ab_channel=APXRegistryVideos
When was NYGATS founded?
The NYGATS system became operational in 2012, and it has gained massive traction in its first decade.
Why is NYGATS an essential part of the decarbonization of buildings in New York State?
In addition to renewable energy, New York aims to decrease energy demand through energy efficiency by investing over 6.8 billion dollars in decarbonizing buildings across the state. New York aims to reduce carbon pollution and on-site energy consumption by 185 trillion BTUs by 2025, the equivalent of powering 1.8 million homes.
NYGATS will record and track information on electricity generated, imported, and consumed within New York State. Additionally, NYGATS will demonstrate Load Serving Entities (LSEs) compliance with, and progress toward, the Clean Energy Standard (CES) goal.
NYGATS and Cleartrace
The Cleartrace platform takes NYGATS data a few steps further.
- Cleartrace enhances data; it looks at the carbon intensity of the grid’s power vs. simply marking that power as not renewable. This is important for real estate owners and corporations with ESG goals that want to track their decarbonization on a granular level.
- Cleartrace connects to renewable power generation down to the meter, generating data on power generated each hour of each day.
- Cleartrace connects the users and the generators. Cleartrace provides a previously unseen datapoint on how load curves line up by layering consumption data with generation data. This aspect of time-matching will be critical for any grid to achieve 100% clean power on a 24/7 basis.
NYGATS will continue to be a crucial source of truth for RECs and energy data in New York State, and Cleartrace is walking hand-in-hand with NYGATS to bring the future of 24/7 decarbonization a few steps closer.
