Community Solar Iowa Economic DevelopmentCommunity Efficient and Renewable Energy Workshop

Warren McKenna -- Farmers Electric Cooperative

wmckenna@feckalona.com

FEC - The Vision – 25x25

Energy Tracking and Monitoring (3%)Energy Efficiency and Conservation (7%)

Renewable Energy (15% energy) (30%/PD)

• Site Based – Customer owned (400 KW)

• Community Solar / Solar Garden (100 KW)

• Solar Farm – Cooperative Ownership (1 MW)

25% reduction of outside energy consumption by 2025

“Inside out” <> “Outside in” view of sustainability

A Solar Gardenis a community shared solar array(s) with grid-connected subscriberswhere power is credited to your electric bill, as if the panels were on your own property.

Community Solar is growing fast

Virtual Metering – Credit directly on the subscribers

bill for subscriber’s ownership portion of the array

OthersSubscription model – HOA’s, renters,

affordable housing, shaded locations, and historic

districts

Distributed Generation – Rooftop or

ground mount system connects to local power lines or

substations.

Solar Gardeners

Community organizer and project manager

Find host sites and subscribers for solar gardens and community supported energy

Organize for policy – Community and Utility

Work with local non-profits, apply for grants

Getting Started

Host Sites

• Near 3-Phase distribution line, transformer, or substation

• About 100-150 kilowatts (kW) per acre

• Industrial sites

• Retired farmland

• Reclaimed landfills, buffer zones, and parks

• Parking lots, storage

• Large roofs

• Water Treatment plants

• Airports

Where to put it…

Cooperatives

Florida Keys Electric Cooperative – 120 kW

Utility owned, subscriber lease panels

Delta Montrose Electric Association (CO) – 20 kW

Subscribers purchase shares, minimum $10

Holy Cross Energy (CO) – 900 kW

Third party owned, subscribers own modules

Cooperative Board approval needed

Municipal Utilities'

Ellensburg (WA) – 100 kW

Utility managed, subscribers lease panels

Sacramento (CA) – 1 MW

Utility owned, subscribers buy blocks of power

Colorado Springs (CO) – 4 gardens, 500 kW each

Third party owned, subscriber’s buy modules

Utility Board or City Council approval

Investor Owned Utilities

XCEL Energy (CO, MN) 2 MW to 18 MW

Projects chosen FCFS

Third party managed by subscriber organization

Ownership, lease, or PPA

Dominion Power (VA) – 33 MW owned by utility, with 3 MW

private carv-out

State legislation and Utility Commission rulemaking

Subscribers

• Must be within

• service territory

• same county

• same utility

• Residential – affluent and moderate income

• Local Business and Industry

• Farmers

• Non-profits, libraries, schools, hospitals, churches

• Municipal and county buildings

Anyone who is grid connected

Subscriber Owned Panels

• Individual ownership of panels

• Cost – range from $350 - $ 500 per module about $ 1000/kW

• Up front payment or loan

• Pay-back time 10 to 15 years

• Low income assignment/allocation

• Credit on power bill at net-metering or PPA rate

Community Supported Energy

Obstacles

• Lack of access to federal tax incentives

• Securities regulation

• Subscription or lease versus ownership shares

• Ground-mount versus rooftop solar installations

• Utility participation, interconnection, metering

• Overpriced installation – Gold plating

• Zoning, permitting, environmental approvals

High potential but slow growth

• All modules are socialized under a single meter

• 1 kWhr / number of modules = Allocation Factor

• 1/112 = .00892

• .00892 x kWhrs x ModQty = -kWh

• -kWh x Rate = Credit

• averages $3/mnth/mod

Production Credits (FEC model)kWhrs to $ and measurement, monitoring, billing

1. Easy way to invest

2. Concern about environment

3. Quick payback

4. Keep payments in community

FEC Customer SurveyDecision to purchase

Introduced at 20 panels for $ 250 each and they sold in 2 days

We kept a list and double panel offering to 40

Increased the price to around $ 400 and offered discount to area Churches.

Sold offering in first week.

Currently have 112 modules and 90 participants

Recently offered another row of 40 modules

Cooperative is working on a 500 kW to 1 MW Solar Farm

Participation @ FECVery popular program!

IMS Community Solar Project – 50 KW

Solar Energy Paradigm Shift

FERC Chair Jon Wellinghoff:

Solar ‘Is Going to Overtake Everything’

Geothermal, wind, and other resources will supplement solar, Wellinghoff said.

AEE Dealer Conference in AZ -- 1st annual – 2007

Greensburg Greentown in KS, -- Rebuild after Tornado

RMI and SEI in CO, “Small is Profitable” distributed model

Make It Right in LA, -- New Orleans housing

Sierra Club Iowa and Heinrich Boll Stiftung, Iowa Speaking Tour • German Cooperatives, Dr. Andreas Wieg, Michael Diestel

Bakken Fields in ND – The End of Easy Oil

Germany, -- 25x25 week long tour from Frankfurt to Berlin• RE Site visits to the Reichstag for politics and policy

SOLAR 2013 – Baltimore MD• Lonnie Gamble, Maharishi Sustainable Living Center, Fairfield IA

State Agriculture and Rural Leaders• Legislative Ag Chairs Summit XII | Vancouver, British Columbia

Iowa Solar Energy Trade Association

Networking Please consider joining ISETATours

Training

Newsletter

Policy

IowaSETA.org

References and Resources

http://www.feckalona.com

http://communitypowernetwork.com/

http://www.solargardens.org/

A Guide to Community Share Solar:

Utility, Private, and Nonprofit Project Development

SunShot U.S. Department of Energy

Community Solar Power - Obstacles and Opportunities

John Farrell, www.newrules.org

THANK YOU!