Dive Brief:

• The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has granted Apple market-based rate authority, giving it the right to sell excess power into the grid, Bloomberg Markets reported. 

• Apple will now be able to sell power is does not need from renewable resources it owns or has under contract.

• In granting the selling power to Apple, FERC ruled that the tech giant would not be in a position to unfairly influence power prices in regions where it owns or controls power generation facilities.

Dive Insight:

Large corporations are not only buying renewable power, they are beginning to sell it.

FERC in February 2010 granted Google market-based rate authority. Apple following Google’s lead, applied to FERC in June to be able to sell power into wholesale competitive markets.

With FERC’s approval, Apple will now be better able to manage its power portfolio.

According to the FERC filing, Apple owns the 20 MW Ft. Churchill solar farm in Lyon County, Nevada, the 50 MW Bonnybrooke solar facility under construction in Pinal County, Arizona, and due online in the fourth quarter, as well as two behind-the-meter generating plants totaling 18 MW on its California campus. And Apple has a long-term firm power purchase agreement with First Solar for 130 MW from a solar farm under construction in California.

Apple also owns 67.5 MW of facilities in North Carolina and a little over 3 MW of plants in Oregon that do not fall under FERC jurisdiction.

“When you own power production facilities then you would typically want to have authority to sell power,” Kit Konolige, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, told Bloomberg Markets. "It is indicative of a number of related trends that are lowering demand for power produced by utilities.”