CETC to harmonize energy tracking amid renewable procurement shifts
Published October 14, 2025 in S&P Global Platts
by Carlos Barraza, Price Reporter – Energy Transition & Renewables
- US, international stakeholders invited to collaborate
- Tracking functionality should be developed slightly ahead of market demand
- First technical working group will focus on hourly data, certificates
The Center for Resource Solutions launched the Clean Energy Tracking Collaborative program in September to support the harmonization of energy tracking systems amid new renewable energy procurement complexities.
James Critchfield, head of registry and market integrity at CleanCounts, formerly known as M-RETS, a renewable tracking system, said that the CETC could focus on standardizing and expanding attributes and functionalities.
“And we can see where some of these options may result in certificates being valued more directly based on their underlying attributes,” Critchfield said.
For emerging areas like hourly RECs or alternative fuels, Matt Clouse, Head of Market Development at the CRS, a non-profit that creates policy and market solutions to advance sustainable energy, told Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, that tracking functionality should ideally be developed slightly ahead of market demand to avoid delays, stranded investments, or credibility gaps once policies or buyers require it.
Clouse said that “having the critical infrastructure provides needed certainty, enabling new markets to scale quickly and transparently.”
Regulatory and voluntary reporting standards are evolving, and market participants will be more interested in access to granular certificates to accomplish higher integrity climate targets and comply with standards that require more hourly accounting and tracking.
New federal incentives like the clean hydrogen (45V) tax credit and emerging state requirements for hourly procurement require granular, verifiable data that not all current registries can fully provide.
There has been debate around the temporal barriers of renewable energy procurement and the REC’s granularity. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s Scope 2 guideline is under review and states in its Upcoming Scope 2 Public Consultation: Overview of Revisions site that under the proposed updates, “hourly matching would apply whenever an organization uses contractual instruments under the market-based method, either through a voluntary procurement or Standard Supply.”
Alex Piper, head of US Policy and Markets at EnergyTag, an independent non-profit organization, sees that supply and demand for granular certificates drive one another together.
“Developing the functionality helps to provide greater certainty for market operators to pursue higher integrity targets and policymakers to implement granular matching policies,” Piper said. “At the same time, market demand helps provide the impetus for tracking systems to make the investments needed to create this functionality.”
Greenhouse Gas Protocol and other voluntary standards could drive both supply and demand for granular certificates.
“[They] will also help push this market demand and granular tracking functionality by setting the future rules of the road,” Piper said.
“Having the critical infrastructure provides needed certainty, enabling new markets to scale quickly and transparently,” Clouse said.
Critchfield said that “increasingly, companies participating in Advanced Market Commitments for low-carbon commodities need a trusted, non-profit, and tech-forward registry to ensure their intended market outcomes.”
Katie Doyle, senior vice president of registry solutions at Xpansiv, told Platts that the relationship between market demand and tracking system functionality often presents a chicken-and-egg challenge, “Markets hesitate to adopt features that don’t yet exist, while system developers wait for clear demand before building them.”
“As such, it’s critical to invest in tracking systems and technology that are both flexible and scalable so that they can meet market demand as it evolves,” Doyle said.
CETC to gather US, international stakeholders
In the US, there are ten different certificate tracking systems. Each energy tracking system operates independently of the others.
CETC (“set-see”) provides a forum for stakeholders, including regulators, government agencies, industry leaders, and tracking system operators, to collaborate and identify ways to improve tracking systems’ utility and interoperability.
While the CRS is based in the US, CETC encourages participation from international stakeholders. Clouse believes that participants both from within and outside the US have something valuable to share.
CETC aims to harmonize tracking systems across regions by fostering collaboration among registries, regulators, and stakeholders to identify common functionalities, data requirements, and procedures.
According to Clouse, US stakeholders can share expertise in developing and operating large-scale registries, implementing hourly tracking, and integrating energy attribute certificate systems with both voluntary and compliance markets.
“International stakeholders bring important experience in areas like renewable fuels tracking and innovative policy frameworks,” Clouse added. “By fostering this exchange, CETC strengthens interoperability, avoids duplicating efforts, and ensures that best practices travel across borders, helping markets and the systems they depend on evolve more quickly and consistently.”
“It’s excellent to participate with CETC to safeguard the integrity of clean energy market infrastructure and governance, especially given the recent regulatory rollbacks at the Federal level across the renewable and clean energy space,” Doyle said.
Clouse said that convening stakeholders at this time could help CRS reduce risks, align systems and ensure that infrastructure meets market and policy needs, suggesting that it may be an appropriate moment to initiate CETC.