Your PUD News Release

International magazine features SNAP program

Chelan County PUD
News Release
2/25/2002

Utility green power: Innovative alternative energy choices for the consumer

In a region with some of the lowest power rates in the United States, alternative energy can be a hard sell among consumers. But an innovative program at Chelan County Public Utility District in north central Washington state, USA is finding success even in low-cost hydro country. Susan Gillin reports.

Chelan County Public Utility District started its program in August 2001. Called SNAP (for Sustainable Natural Alternative Power), the program links local customers who want to purchase solar and wind power with local people who want to produce it.

Intermediary role

The utility acts as an intermediary and facilitator, collecting funds from customers who voluntarily pay a little more on their electric bills each month to support development of additional renewable resources. Amounts range from U.S. $2.50 per month for individuals to U.S. $50 per month for businesses. These customers are essentially purchasing solar and wind power in addition to the utility's hydropower.

On the production side, the generators are owned and maintained by the individual customers. The utility does not install systems, but provides technical expertise to residents of Chelan County who want to establish solar- or wind-power generation. Generation from these producers is added to the existing hydropower base and transferred across the utility’s electrical grid.

Promoting the “little guy”

The SNAP program promotes the “little guy” – the producer generating 25 kilowatts or less – who lives within the county. The program is only available to producers within the utility’s service territory. The renewable power installations are not “net-metered.” Each renewable generator is metered separately from the home or business. A standard revenue meter base is simply wired backwards so that 100 percent of the power production is recorded by the utility’s meter reader.

The amount the utility pays these producers for their energy is determined by the amount of support from SNAP participants. And therein lies the beauty of the program, says Jim White, senior engineer at Chelan County Public Utility District. The greater the amount contributed by purchasers, the greater the amount that will be distributed among participating producers. Unlike most utility green power programs, the program does not sell fixed blocks of power. The price alternative power producers are paid is dependent upon the total amount of power they generate and the total amount of contributions paid into the SNAP program, up to a maximum of U.S. $1.50 per kWh. (Price per kWh = total SNAP contributions divided by total kWh of SNAP power produced).

For example, if a SNAP producer generated 3 percent of the total SNAP power produced during one year and SNAP purchasers contributed $30,000 to the SNAP fund during that year, then the producer could receive an annual payment of $900 ($30,000 times 3 percent). Payments to producers are made once a year, on or around Earth Day on April 21. In addition to their share of the voluntary contributions, producers are also paid for the wholesale market value of the power.

Starting small

The SNAP program now has four solar producers. The program started out small – very small – in the summer of 2001 with a 300-watt photovoltaic system at the home of renewable-energy consultant Randy Brooks. That was followed by two solar installations on public buildings: a 10-kW system at the federal post office and a 10-kW system at the local community college in Wenatchee, Washington, the county seat. Last September, a middle school in the small community of Cashmere, Washington put up four panels generating up to 600 watts, becoming SNAP’s fourth solar generator.

A farm couple living on a windy ridge in the southern part of Chelan County erected SNAP’s first wind turbine last May. Owner Charlie Nichols knew he’d picked the best spot, he said, because the wind blew his haystacks over when he’d build them there. The couple invested $37,000 in their Bergey turbine, which can produce a maximum of 10 kilowatts. Given enough SNAP contributions and wind, they hope to recoup their investment in as little as four years.

Solar in the schools

Additional solar and wind installations are planned for 2003. The utility hopes eventually to assemble solar arrays at every public school in the rural county, population 68,281. These would become part of a regional project called the One Megawatt School. Through private and public funding, Pacific Northwest schools with small solar installations will link up via the Internet to collectively produce one megawatt of solar electricity.

Having PV panels in the schoolyard gives teachers the added bonus of using solar energy in their science curriculum. Students can monitor the output of their panels and, using computer software, compare that with the output at other schools. Knowing that some of their money is going to support local schools also encourages continued customer payments into the SNAP program.

The SNAP program has received excellent support from the WesternSun (Solar Utility Network) Cooperative and the Washington State University Energy Extension Office. Green power advocate Mike Nelson, project manager with the university’s energy office, travels around Washington state teaching students about the remarkable possibilities of harvesting power from the sun. He was an integral part of setting up the program at Cashmere Middle School for SNAP.

Chelan County Public Utility District officials are also putting together a community solar farm. Citizens will have an opportunity to buy or sponsor individual solar panels that are part of a larger communal array. Initially, the farm will start out with just 2 kW of solar panels, but can easily grow if there is additional demand.

All told, the SNAP program should have an installed solar and wind capacity of about 45 kilowatts by Summer 2003.

Promoting solar in hydro country
When Engineer Jim White first suggested the SNAP concept, he encountered a bit of skepticism among utility staff. Would customers who pay less than 3 cents per kilowatt-hour for power generated by the utility’s Columbia River dams be interested in alternative sources of energy? Would anyone pay extra for a commodity if they weren’t forced to do so?

Utility surveys had indicated that over 60 percent of consumers liked the idea of green power. The question was, would they actually support an alternative energy program when it came time to write a cheque. White was confident that they would. While more than half of the voluntary green power programs in the United States have customer participation rates of less than 1 percent, the SNAP program is currently running at over 2 percent.

The utility hired an experienced advertising firm to develop a name, logo and initial outreach materials. Customers received a colorful brochure with a postage-paid card that allowed them to sign up for SNAP and designate the amount of their contribution. The utility’s communications staff wrote news releases and articles about the unique program, garnering media interest.

To date, SNAP contributions total about $30,000 per year (One dollar per year per residential meter). Utility officials believe additional marketing community outreach will be necessary to maintain or raise public awareness. The planned solar farm also will offer the public another option for supporting solar power – one in which they may feel more ownership as the sponsor of a panel or panels. The bottom line? “If grid-connected solar energy is cost-effective in Chelan County,” White says, “it can be made to work anywhere.”

Contact: Susan Gillin, Public Information Officer or Jim White, Senior Engineer, Chelan County PUD, USA. Tel: +1 509-663-8121

Reprinted from Refocus magazine - February 2002

Copyright 2002
Elsevier Advanced Technology
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