Simple Cost-Benefit Analyses of Biogas Use and Tariff Options for an Existing Anaerobic Digester System on a New York State Dairy Farm

Abstract

New York State (NYS) enacted the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) in 2019 that established a renewable energy program under public service law and listed renewable energy systems. This listing resulted in modification of the Value Stack tariff components that are applicable to anaerobic digester gas (ADG)-to-electricity systems, specifically eliminating the Environmental (E) Value component. A set of simple cost-benefit analyses of an existing dairy farm manure ADG-to-electricity system under the historical net energy metering (NEM) tariff, the Value Stack tariff, the Value Stack tariff with the NYS E Value included, and the Value Stack tariff with a calculated E value reflecting total GHG emission reduction revealed that the latter two hypothetical cases produce an annual net income to the farm of $100,000 and $330,000, respectively, while the available NYS tariff options produce none. While the 2,000-cow dairy generates up to 77 percent more electricity than it uses and supplies it to the utility grid, it can only offset its own utility electricity costs with the revenue possible under available NYS tariffs.