California City’s solar plans thrown for loop
The Family YMCA of the Desert seemed the perfect showcase for the California Solar Initiative.
K Kaufmann /The Desert Sun / February 25, 2007
source: Desert Sun
http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070225/NEWS07/702250328/1006
With about $90,000 worth of solar panels and state rebates on the system, the Y’s Palm Desert building on San Pablo Avenue would be knocking about a third off its monthly energy bills – which can run between $4,000 and $5,000 during summer peak periods. The savings would go into tuition grants to help kids and families take part in Y programs, and set an example for Palm Desert businesses and residents to jump on board the city’s five-year plan to cut energy use 30 percent, said director Rob Ballew.
But, when GenSelf, a Palm Desert solar installer, crunched the numbers, there was a problem. Senate Bill 1, the new state law on solar energy that went into effect Jan. 1, requires consumers who apply for the state rebates to pay different rates that are often higher than normal rates. For the Y and other solar users in Southern California Edison’s service area, that means their summer electric bills could go through the roof – solar panels and all. “This will effectively kill solar in Palm Desert – and the Coachella Valley,” said Patrick Conlon, Palm Desert’s director of energy management.
With summer fast approaching, Conlon and other solar advocates are organizing to put a hold on the bill’s time-of-use requirement to allow the California Public Utilities Commission and utility companies to work out a solution. The California Solar Energy Industries Association likely will file an emergency petition with the commission this week to make the time-of-use rates optional, pending changes that would solve the problem, said Sue Kateley, the group’s director.
Palm Desert City Council voted Thursday to back the move with letters of support to Coachella Valley state legislators – Assembly members John J. Benoit, R-Palm Desert, and Bonnie Garcia, R-Cathedral City, and Sen. Jim Battin, R-La Quinta. “If (the rates) don’t go down, people will not put in solar,” said Councilman Robert A. Spiegel. “It will hurt our commitment to reduction.” Quick action by the commission is possible within weeks, said Susan Carothers, a spokeswoman for the group.
Sounded good
Everyone agrees, the time-of -use requirements in the bill were intended to promote solar. The law says time-of-use rates are supposed to provide incentives to reward consumers for installing the often expensive energy-saving technology. And in cooler climates or in cases where consumers are not running their air conditioners during peak day time hours, they can, said Kateley.
In those situations, solar panels are generating electricity that is fed back into the state power grid, and the owners get a credit. But, for Edison customers in the Coachella Valley, time of use carries a double-whammy: Due to hot summers, many customers do run air conditioners during peak hours.
And even with a solar, Edison’s rates for peak use top out at more than 40 cents per kilowatt hour. “It’s like we’re passing a solar initiative, and we’re penalizing everyone who uses it,” said Roy Barrett, owner of the locally based California Solar Energy Co. “That’s not cricket.”
Imperial Irrigation District, which provides power for the eastern side of the valley, has lower rates – as do Northern California utility companies like Pacific Gas and Electric. David Bruder, Edison’s manager for the California Solar Initiative, said the company has not analyzed the impact of its time-of -use rates, but is open to looking at the issue. “We want to work together with all the stakeholders,” Bruder said. “If there is a problem to solve, we want to be part of the process of helping to solve it.”
In the meantime, solar companies in the area are waiting to see if the rates will change, and some prospective contracts could depend on it. Gordon Bloom, vice president of GenSelf, said he’s got about 10 potential customers on hold and could have to close down the company’s Coachella Valley office. “We have not been able to write a single contract,” Bloom said. “If it goes on any longer we’ll have to work only in San Diego.”
Kateley is concerned about association members like GenSelf, but she said, she also wants to make sure customers aren’t penalized. “This isn’t solar,” she said.