M-RETS Fee Structure Analysis and Updates 2016

Midwest Renewable Energy Tracking System
Project completed December 2016

The Midwest Renewable Energy Tracking System (M-RETS) tracks information about renewable energy production and delivery in participating states and provinces (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Manitoba, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin). The Fee Structure Model (FSM) is a tool first developed by Synapse for M-RETS in September 2012. The FSM uses historical data from both publicly available sources and M-RETS internal tracking to project future annual revenues. A key part of this forecast is an annual calibration of the tool to determine whether significant revisions should be made to the FSM. In its comparison of 2015 projected vs actual revenues, Synapse identified and then addressed two areas for updates in 2016, subscriptions and voluntary retirements.