CLEAN Traveling Team Participants go to Germany

The first I-CITE study tour, held from 21-26 August 2011, took 15 Americans (primarily from Colorado and South Dakota) and 5 Europeans (from Germany, Latvia, and Sweden) around Bavaria, Germany and Upper Austria to explore how policies, vision, and political leadership are spurring businesses and entrepreneurs to bring about a transition to an energy system dominated by renewable energy.  The tour was designed to have conversations with entrepreneurs, farmers, foresters, politicians, researchers, and local politicians to see what different approaches are available to achieve these goals.  Tour participants were able to see village and farm level integrated renewable energy systems, and to look at how the feed-in tariff and other policies have resulted in increasing numbers of renewable installations and led to economic development.

Over the course of five days, the participants were able to visit a number of renewable energy installations. “The participants were impressed by the entrepreneurial and business activity being driven by the political support provided for renewables at the regional, state, and EU levels,” said Dominic Marcellino, Fellow and renewable energy expert at Ecologic Institute Washington. During the tour, participants discussed methods for transmitting and transferring lessons, best practices, and effective policies into their respective regional situations. They were able to discuss these issues in depth with several political leaders: Mr. Hans-Josef Fell (Member of the German Bundestag), Ms. Christine Kamm (Member of the Bavarian State Assembly), and Mr. Rudi Anschober, the Upper Austrian Minister for the Environment. The Energiesparverband of Upper Austria assisted with the program in Austria and also hosted a dinner for the group on 24 August 2011, where they were joined by Dr. Gerhard Dell, head of the Verband, and Mr. Hannes Herndl, the President of the Upper Austrian Chamber of Agriculture.

We have a new CLEAN Traveling Team

Our CLEAN Traveling Team

was  invited to Germany and Austria in August, 2011, to observe and learn about alternative energy and its economics.   Since their return they have been working on a presentation to share their experience and newly acquired knowledge with the public.  Look for upcoming dates for the presentation and plan to attend.

Durango’s Electricity Franchise- Are There Lessons to Learn from Boulder?

Sponsored by
Green Business Roundtable &
Sustainability Alliance of Southwest Colorado (SJCA and SASCO)

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

The City of Durango’s franchise agreement with LPEA for electricity has entered a re-negotiation phase, and a new agreement will be put before Durango voters next spring. The City of Boulder’s decision to replace its 20-year franchise with a municipal utility that offers more local control over their energy future has drawn renewed national attention to ongoing efforts to stabilize rates while maintaining reliability and supporting more  renewable energy. Guest speakers from the energy education and advocacy groups in Boulder explain the franchise process and what it might mean for Durango.

 

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·        Noon - Green Business Roundtable Luncheon, $15 cash lunch, Henry Strater Theater, 699 Main Avenue. (Place a reservation by Monday before the luncheon – by phone to Mary Beth (970) 259-3583 or by email to marybeth@sanjuancitizens.org

·         7pm - Sustainability Dialogue, Durango City Council Chambers, no charge 

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CLEAN Key points

Distributed Renewable Energy…

…Is Good for You and Good for Your Community

A CLEAN policy levels the playing field for local ownership because the all-in-one price drastically simplifies the development process for community-based or individually-owned projects. No need to cobble together an unwieldy structure of local investors and tax-equity investors.

Modestly scaled renewable energy projects enable local ownership. Local ownership multiplies the benefit renewable energy brings to rural communities.

Renewable energy can be harvested and used locally or regionally, therefore keeping more dollars in the local and regional economy.

Renewable energy resources provide the opportunity for a more sustainable economic foundation for rural areas than do extractive industries or scenic resources. Renewable energy is a sustainable resource: it never runs out. Thus it is unlikely that communities depending on renewable energy will suffer the boom and bust cycle that communities depending on mineral or fossil fuels do. And, as we all know, tourism can suffer in difficult economic times of which Durango has seen several in the last 20 years.

…Enables Local Ownership

Large-scale solar projects require big capital, but modest-sized, distributed renewable projects allow local communities to own the tools that turn their local renewable resources into electricity.  With local ownership, the neighbors of energy generation are also the economic beneficiaries, creating a constituency for rapidly expanding renewable power and transforming energy consumers into energy producers.

RE developers benefit from the long-term stability of the revenue streams generated from electricity sales, which helps foster a high level of investment security.

Several studies have documented the significantly higher impact of local ownership of renewable energy projects on employment and economic benefits. The research typically shows nearly two-thirds again as many jobs in a locally owned project compared to an absentee owned one, and anywhere from two to five times the total economic impact.

A CLEAN policy not only keeps dollars local, but allows the small rate increases to leverage far more dollars through bank loans for the projects that can now be made because of utility guaranteed payments for the power generated.

…Increases Economic Development

Smaller-scale, distributed renewable energy projects are more likely to tap into local talent for financing, construction and maintenance and (with local ownership) retain more of the project’s cash flow in the local economy.

As reported by ClearSky Advisors , solar PV creates 12 times more jobs than nuclear per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated and 15 times more than coal

…Is Cost-Competitive and Scalable

If the sun shines everywhere, then our new electricity system does not have to mimic the old – with centralized coal and gas power plants sending electricity long distance to consumers.  Instead, electricity can be generated at many, dispersed renewable energy power plants and close to where it is used.  The evidence suggests that this decentralized model is cost competitive with and can scale as quickly as centralized generation.

…Reduces Transmission Losses

Distributed renewable energy production means putting modest-sized generators closer to where it is used.  This means less electricity lost in transmission.

Smaller PV projects could connect virtually anywhere because they will be on the distribution system and likely very close to where the electricity will be consumed.

…Reduces Infrastructure Costs

Distributed renewable energy production means putting modest-sized generators closer to load.  This means less stress on the electricity grid, especially reducing demand for new, long-distance high-voltage transmission lines that cost approximately $3 million per mile.

…CLEAN vs. Tax Credits and Rebates

The federal tax credit for solar energy is only useful for individuals who have sufficient tax liability.
A family of four with the median family income of $44,000 would require 12 years to successfully absorb the tax credit on a 5kW residential solar array, but tax law only gives them 5-6 years (until 2016). In other words, incentives are less generous and less certain than the CLEAN program (20 year contracts).

Rebates are generally short lived and ever changing.

There are a number of reasons that CLEAN is more effective than cash and tax incentives towards spurring renewable growth:

• CLEAN is a performance based incentive – Quality of system design and performance is determined based on a need for return on investment.

• CLEAN does not depend on taxes – Since incentives rely on tax money, at some point those coffers will empty and the incentives run out.  A CLEAN project can be financed many ways, usually in the electric market. This takes a burden off of strapped state and federal budgets, and permits renewable growth to scale.

• CLEAN offers a predictable return on investment – Solar energy systems offer a predictable rate of production whose value increases as the cost of electricity increases. Given the state of the economy, a renewable investment can be more secure than the stock market!

…Is Clean

The effects of burning coal and natural gas, with its impacts on global climate and human health, are never fully priced into the cost of the electric power that utility companies send down the grid.

The ClearSky report says coal-fired power plants cost Ontario, Canada nearly $0.127 per kilowatt hour in environmental and social impacts. The US does not factor in carbon emissions into their cost estimates.

Resources: NREL- National Renewable Energy Lab at www.nrel.gov

Institute for Local Self-Reliance at www.ilsr.org

New Rules Project at www.newrules.org