Think of the REC Registry as the land titles office for renewable energy certificates. A certificate only exists once it is a record there, and ownership only changes when the record is transferred.
What happens in the registry
- Creation. A registered person or agent enters the system details and creates the STCs, with a declaration. This is the “registered” step.
- Validation. The CER checks the claim. STCs can be marked as passing automatically, pending audit, or failed.
- Transfer. Once validated, the certificates are transferred to the buyer’s account, which is a trader, or ultimately a retailer. Payment is separate from the transfer.
- Surrender. Liable entities surrender STCs to the CER to meet their obligation, which removes them from circulation.
Account types
| Account | What it does |
|---|---|
| General | Holds and transfers certificates |
| Registered person | Creates STCs for your own systems |
| Registered agent | Creates STCs on behalf of system owners |
The CER charges for registered accounts and a per-certificate creation fee; the figures are on what registering yourself costs. Most installers never log in, because they assign the right to create STCs on the signed assignment form and their trader does the registry work. See the STC assignment form.
Registered and unregistered
You will hear traders quote different rates for “registered” and “unregistered” STCs. Registered STCs are already in the registry; unregistered are those still to be created, which a buyer takes on risk for, since the claim might fail. See the best price for each.
What this means for installers
You do not need a login to be paid for STCs, but you should know the status words you will see on a trader’s dashboard: pending, validated, failed, audit. The registry is also where mistakes surface. A wrong serial number, a missing photo or an ineligible product can cause a failure, delay or later clawback. See why STC claims are rejected.
For the commercial route, the STC trading pillar explains what a registered agent does, and how it works shows how we handle the registry steps. Terms are defined in the certificate trading glossary.
Why the status words matter
A certificate that is pending audit has not failed, but it may not be transferable until the CER finishes. A failed one has been rejected and needs a fix and resubmission. Knowing the difference stops you panicking on a pending status or assuming a validated one is already paid. Ask your trader for a plain-English status list on day one.