ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Minnesota
is looking to grow its share of electricity fueled by the sun and is
counting on community solar gardens to help make it happen. A sweeping state energy law approved
this spring demands that utilities generate or procure 1.5 percent of
their power from solar sources by 2020 -- a big step up from where the
state is now.
Under that law, Xcel Energy Inc. has until Monday to tell
how the giant electricity provider would like to manage the rollout of
the developer-driven gardens, which are neighborhood hubs of solar
panels used to generate small amounts of power for the utility.
Rather than relying on people
forking over thousands for a few glass panels atop their homes or
businesses, gardens will allow them to claim a slice of a bigger solar
array through subscriptions. While the electricity produced goes into
the general power grid, subscribers get breaks on their monthly bills
based on their share of the solar energy that's harnessed.
"Community solar is how we're going
to provide this opportunity for the masses. It is the Model T of solar
energy," said Ken Bradley, chief executive of Minnesota Community Solar,
an upstart company already cultivating sites and a subscriber base.
It's a concept that has taken hold
in other states, mostly out West. Xcel is more than a year into a
similar program in Colorado. If all goes as planned, the Minnesota
gardens will start cropping up next year.
In an interview Friday, Xcel
officials previewed Monday's filing but declined to reveal specific
details before it's formally submitted. The company's plan is subject to
Public Utilities Commission approval and will dictate how soon the
projects ramp up.
Deb Sundin, an Xcel director of
renewable strategy and planning, said the company would seek to limit
the number of new solar megawatts it accepts every few months to make
sure the company's engineering systems can manage the intake and so that
gardens that are better developed can get approval more quickly. She
said the plan also structures the bill credits available to subscribers.
And the company wants assurances that the power produced from the
gardens count toward Xcel's solar power mandate rather than be allowed
for sale on the open market to companies looking to achieve similar
goals.
The law requires customer
subscriptions to be for at least 200 watts of generating capacity and a
person or entity can't own more than a 40 percent interest in a garden.
It's possible someone could buy a stake that produces more power than
they consume, allowing them to make money on their investment.
Sundin and Xcel regional vice
president Laura McCarten said the program should make it more attractive
for people to grab a stake in solar power. "Obviously there are those who feel
they're more environmental with their energy use are going to be
interested in this," Sundin said. "We are also going to see gardens that
are promoted by church groups, cities or counties or maybe schools.
There's going to be multiple motivations for participating."
The utilities commission has no
timetable to act and will seek public comment first. Other
investor-owned utilities in Minnesota can develop their own programs but
weren't ordered to like Xcel.
As states try to encourage utilities
to reduce reliance on coal and other fossil fuels, they have set
mandates attempting to boost use of renewable sources such as
hydropower, biomass and wind. Solar remains one of the smallest
electricity sources, at 0.11 percent of all electricity produced in the
country in 2012, according to the U.S. Energy Information
Administration. Minnesota Republicans resisted the
solar mandate, arguing it will drive up electricity rates. Rep. Pat
Garofalo, R-Farmington, said the community gardens could be too
expensive for most customers to tap into and those with the financial
means will reap the rewards.
"Many people will perceive this as
free money and free money is always popular. But ultimately someone is
going to pick up the tab for this," Garofalo said. "There are more
affordable, more efficient ways to provide renewable energy. We should
be giving flexibility to provide that instead of mandating in law a
certain power source."
House Energy Policy Committee
Chairwoman Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, predicted the costs of
solar would fall as demand for the commodity rises. Hortman said she
doubts utilities would embrace the push for community-derived power if
they didn't face a requirement. "We wanted to have more people have
the ability to become power producers and sell it to the utilities,"
Hortman said.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2013/09/27/environment/xcel-energy-solar-gardens
No comments:
Post a Comment