A Local Government’s Guide to Off-Site Renewable PPA Risk Mitigation

This guide outlines the risks and mitigation strategies for local governments using off-site renewable power purchase agreements (PPAs) to achieve clean energy goals, specifically addressing six types of risk and providing strategies for virtual and physical PPAs.

• Local governments in the United States are increasingly using large-scale off-site renewable power purchase agreements (PPAs) to reach clean energy goals, with nearly 200 cities and counties and eight states committing to 100% clean energy, representing about one-third of the US population.
• Off-site PPAs introduce specific financial and operational risks due to the nature of wholesale markets, which may be unfamiliar to local governments. The guide identifies six specific risk categories: price, basis, non-energy market, shape, operational, and volume.
• The document provides nine mitigation strategies tailored to the two main types of PPAs: virtual PPAs and physical PPAs.

APA

RMI (2021). A Local Government’s Guide to Off-Site Renewable PPA Risk Mitigation. https://rmi.org/resources/a-local-governments-guide-to-off-site-renewable-ppa-risk-mitigation/

Chicago

RMI. A Local Government’s Guide to Off-Site Renewable PPA Risk Mitigation. 2021. https://rmi.org/resources/a-local-governments-guide-to-off-site-renewable-ppa-risk-mitigation/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=A Local Government’s Guide to Off-Site Renewable PPA Risk Mitigation |date=25 March 2021 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/a-local-governments-guide-to-off-site-renewable-ppa-risk-mitigation/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2021local, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{A Local Government’s Guide to Off-Site Renewable PPA Risk Mitigation}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2021}, month = mar, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/a-local-governments-guide-to-off-site-renewable-ppa-risk-mitigation/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }