Missouri Solar Energy Industry Association (MOSEIA) vice president Caleb Arthur and other solar power advocates attended Intercounty Electric Cooperative’s annual meeting June 26 at Licking City Park.
Arthur – who is also CEO of the Houston-based business, Missouri Sun Solar – and the group collected about 35 signatures at the event to include with a letter to send to Intercounty general manager Aaron Bradshaw to ask the firm to support renewable energy rather than the burning of coal. During the business portion of the meeting, Arthur got up and proposed the forming of a committee made up of Intercounty members to explore the feasibility of a solar power farm for the community, as well as other solar initiatives.
The solar advocate group at the meeting included Sierra Club representative John Delurey and several Missouri Sun Solar customers who live in Intercounty territory.
Arthur and Intercounty general manager Aaron Bradshaw each provided the Herald with viewpoints and statements regarding several aspects of coal and solar electric power sources.
BRADSHAW
Will a committee be formed as proposed?
“As with any member request, the Board will consider and discuss his suggestion at their upcoming meetings. That being said, it will likely require some time to bring the two new directors up to speed so that they can have an informed exchange and decide how to move forward.
“While Mr. Arthur proposed the formation of a committee, the directors are actually the elected representatives of the membership and as such have the ultimate responsibility for the governance of the cooperative.”
What role do you feel solar will play in Intercounty’s future?
“I think that’s a question that most of the industry is trying to answer, not just Intercounty.
“The cooperatives have generally been at the forefront of generation technologies. In Missouri, their leadership is apparent when you consider that the cooperatives brought the first wind farms to the state and most recently supported the development of small-scale nuclear reactors in Missouri.
The addition of the wind energy, even though it is more expensive than coal or gas, is part of Associated Electric’s strategy to develop a diversified portfolio of generation. With the addition of wind farms in Kansas and Oklahoma, Associated now has 750 megawatts of contracted wind energy from six wind farms in its portfolio. That generation is projected to produce electricity equivalent to that used by about 181,000 member households in a year.
“The addition of wind energy was part of an extensively researched and carefully deliberated plan. A chief consideration of that plan was maintaining reliability and affordability for the cooperative members who still have to pay a power bill each month.
“Associated, the Missouri electric cooperatives, and Intercounty are taking the same approach with solar. Renewables as part of an overall strategy to diversify generation sources are a good thing. Leaping into a technology without doing your due diligence however, is a bad idea.
Currently, the electric cooperatives are reviewing and evaluating several real-world utility scale projects including a community solar project at Platte Clay Electric Cooperative in Kearney, Mo. We expect that the data generated by these projects will provide the information we need to make the right decisions going forward.
“While it is significantly cheaper to install utility scale solar (due to economies of scale) than individual distributed generation, we do expect to see more member owned solar panels as the price comes down. The thing to remember, however, is that solar power is not free. Members still have to pay for the equipment, which can be expensive. It can take several years to recover the initial cost of a solar array. “According to the PV Watts solar calculator, found on the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) website, the average cost of the energy from a solar array is 14-15 cents per kilowatt-hour. That’s around 50 percent higher than the rates most cooperative members are now paying.
“For those members interested in reducing their carbon footprint, interested in disconnecting from the grid or just interested in renewable generation, I think solar is an avenue worth exploring. That being said, at this time, solar as a money saving or money generating proposition, just doesn’t work on paper for me when I calculate initial investment verses avoided cost. If you are interested in solar, the good news is that it is heavily subsidized with rebates funded by tax dollars.
“And every politician I’ve spoken with about it expects those subsidies to continue well past 2016 despite what you might be hearing in the news. This gives you time to do your own research and decide if it is right for you.
“If you decide solar might be right for you, please make sure you select a reputable vendor. Choosing the right solar company is important to ensure that you receive a quality installation and will have someone to service your solar array if it needs repair or replacement. Check them out online and take the time to visit with some of their former customers.
“Along those lines, I have a background in energy, I have a Certified Energy Manager designation from the Association of Energy Engineers, and most of my continuing education is in renewables. As such, I’ve often been asked to review proposed projects in both Florida and Missouri.
“Among the things I regularly found questionable when reviewing solar materials were the projected output of panels and the expected increase in power rates. Projected kWh outputs need to be determined based on national solar radiance charts, not just the rated output of the panels. There are a number of websites that provide an unbiased report of what that output will likely be. Additionally, solar salespeople often project a rise in power cost of 5-percent to 7-percent per year.
“For the most part, the increase in cost of electricity has stayed below the national rate of inflation for the past 50 years. In fact, when adjusted against inflation (and how it has affected most things we buy) power is actually cheaper than it was twenty years ago. Finally, many of the models ignore repair and replacement cost for parts with shorter warrantees than the actual panels.
“This isn’t to say I’m against solar. Quite the opposite, in fact. I think it is a very cool technology with a lot of promise, and I think that with the subsidies being offered, the industry is being driven toward new innovations. I just want to make sure that members deciding to ‘go solar’ are doing it for the right reasons.
“With regard to Intercounty offering additional financial support for solar, the cooperative business model operates for the benefit of all of its members. Therefore, we believe it is unfair to expect all members to further subsidize those who can afford to install solar panels. Adding solar panels takes away revenue that would otherwise help pay for generation and transmission systems that solar users would still need at night.
“Combined with the fact that solar does little to reduce peak demand on the generation for the state (which usually occurs in early morning or late evening rather than when the sun is high) additional financial support just isn’t justified at this point.
“So, back to the initial question, for the immediate future, I expect that Intercounty will continue with its current net metering policy while monitoring several real world projects as we (along with our generation and transmission cooperatives) formulate a path forward. Long-term, I anticipate that the cost of solar equipment will eventually fall enough to make it a viable source for utility scale production. At that point, you will see utilities investing in solar in an effort to further diversify and stabilize energy production.”
Where does Intercounty stand with regard to the Environmental Protecition Agency (EPA) and its efforts against coal?
“Interestingly, construction of most of the coal-based power plants began in the 1960s and ’70s under mandates from the federal government that required conserving natural gas, which was in short supply. Coal was the only option, and so members invested in Associated’s coal fleet and continue to rely on it today for affordable and reliable power.
“So as it turns out, the EPA’s anti-coal agenda is really part of a cycle. Add a few decades and whatever is in vogue today will be seen as a problem. While I believe that coal has been inappropriately cast as the boogieman considering how much cleaner the air is today than it was thirty years ago (Associated Electric Cooperative has spent $1.1 billion so that they have the capability of reducing emissions at their current plants by 90-percent), I understand that it is part of the process.
“The biggest issue I have with the EPA’s mandates isn’t that they want to eliminate a cheap source of power (although that’s bothersome and I won’t even go into the ridiculousness of mandating the use of technologies that don’t exist) it’s that they want to rush the closing of power plants that aren’t at the end of useful life. As I said, at the annual meeting, that’s the equivalent of purchasing a car, driving it for a year before a government mandate says cars that use that kind of gas aren’t allowed, then being forced to park it in the driveway for the next five years while you continue to make the payments every month.
“It’s flat unfair to expect Intercounty’s members to make those payments every month on their power bills. That’s why we have fought to make sure a common sense approach is taken with regard to the regulation of carbon dioxide.
“The fact is that many of our members live in areas that are economically repressed. A government that claims to look out for those that are struggling shouldn’t be championing programs that hurt those folks the most. Electricity is integral to modern life. Many of our members flat can’t afford a significant increase to their bill. The majority of our members see reliability and affordability as the primary goals of their cooperative. Therefore, it is the stance of Intercounty that any plan by the EPA or any other government body should take those factors into account.
“Finally, given the recent Supreme Court decision on the matter, it would seem that we aren’t the only ones with that viewpoint.”
ARTHUR
What do you believe is wrong with the way electric cooperatives are handling the EPA’s stance against coal?
“We’ve noticed that Intercounty and a lot of the co-ops across Missouri are taking millions of dollars of member money trying to get people to sign a petition against the EPA that they want to send the government saying they don’t want to follow rules regarding emissions at coal-fired power plants. Republican T.J. Berry, the Missouri House utilities chairman, spoke to the solar industry and utility industry a month ago and said it’s fine if you don’t agree with the EPA, but trying to fight emissions regulations that are coming down doesn’t make sense because there’s no way to get around it.
“One of our goals for being at the meeting was to ask the co-op to stop attacking the EPA with member money.”
Do you think the future of solar rests in the hands of large operations that sell power to lots of customers?
“Something interesting that just recently happened is that Ameren Missouri – the largest utility company in the state – is planning to build another huge solar farm along I-70, many times bigger than one they’ve already built. It’s going to be a 70 million watt solar array, and what they have now in Springfield is a 4 million watt array that takes up 40-some acres. This thing will be huge.
“Keep in mind they’re an investor-owned utility, so they have to do things that provide a profit to their shareholders. My question is, if investor-owned utilities like Ameren are doing big things with solar, what’s the co-op’s excuse? They’re supposed to be able to operate at a cheaper level because they’re not profit-driven, and yet they’re still kicking the can down the road saying, ‘we want to burn coal and we want to fight the EPA to do it.’
“It’s crazy – I wouldn’t think the free-market profiteers would be going after solar harder than the co-ops, but that appears to be the case and it’s surprising.
“There’s only one co-op in Missouri doing anything with solar: Platte Clay Electric near Kansas City. And that’s only 150,000 watts – heck, we do that for a commercial property.
“Right now, coal-fired power plants can produce electricity for about three cents a kilowatt hour. There are solar farms going up in Texas for four-and-a-half cents a kilowatt hour, so you’re only 1.5 cents a kilowatt hour before solar beat coal – and coal is going up and solar is going down. I’d anticipate that in the next four or five years you’ll be able to run a solar farm cheaper than a coal burning plant, and I think the fact that there will very soon be very real competition for them really scares these co-ops.”
What needs to be done for solar to gain a bigger foothold in Missouri?
“A lot of the older people read their Intercounty news every month and are told to send a letter to the EPA, so they do. But younger people, with the Internet and all the other forms information realize there has to be some kind of action taken whether they believe in climate change or not, because otherwise global pollution is going to get so bad. Younger people are very concerned, and they’re a lot more engaged than they often get credit for.
“What’s interesting, too, is that almost everyone in the group we had at the meeting was an Intercounty member. We also had a Sierra Club member with us, and the club is actually involved with the co-ops on a long-term level. I think it’s important for people to know that instead of sitting back and saying ‘we demand that you stop burning coal,’ we’re actually going in and showing how co-ops in other states are doing it. The Sierra Club has really taken a liking to helping the solar industry and needs to get a thumbs-up for that.
“What we were doing was just another step in an ongoing educational process, and something we will continue to do is help people understand they do have a voice and can make a difference.”
Intercounty Electric Cooperative’s phone number is 866-621-3679 and its web address is www.ieca.com.
Missouri Sun Solar’s phone number is 417-413-1786 and its web address is www.missourisunsolar.com.
This is an expanded version of an article that appears in the July 9 Houston Herald.