cooperating for community renewable energy

Cooperating for Community

Renewable Energy

A presentation to the South Dakota Resources Coalition

John Farrell

October 31, 2009

@ Inst. For Local Self-Reliance

John Farrell, ILSR, jfarrell@ilsr.orgOct. 31, 2009: SDRC

Thesis

By creating decentralized, community-

based renewable energy projects, tapping

into the existing grid, and applying new

smart grid technology, South Dakotans can

maximize the economic returns of energy

production.

The Opportunity !

! Percent of power from coal: 47%

! Number of SD coal mines: 0

! Percent of coal power owned locally: 5%

! Possible percent of power from wind: > 1000%

! Possible percent of wind power owned locally:

Getting There !

! Smarter grid

! Scale and ownership

! Smarter policy and strategy

Smart grids

! $9.6 million for South

Dakota

! Will provide grid

interactivity and

information

! Empower the

consumer

! More than a meter…

Smart grids

! Bay Localize did a survey of rooftops in a section

of East Oakland, CA and determined that 70% of

the electrical power needs for that area could be

generated on the rooftops of the existing structures

in the area. My own sense is that if the new

technologies were available 100 years ago, we

would have had very few long distance

transmission lines and large power companies.

! Arthur Boone, Oakland

Smarter grid

! Minnesota Distributed Generation Study

! High level engineering analysis done by

utilities

! 600 MW of dispersed wind (10 to 40 MW)

with little to no infrastructure upgrades

Smarter grid

Smart about scale

Smart about scaleMost wind power economies of scale are captured at 10 MW

Smart about scale

! Price of transmission = $3 million per mile

Smart about scale

! Distributed projects are

enabled by new technology

! They tie into existing

infrastructure

! They capture most economies of

! They enable local ownership

Absentee = lost opportunity

! I live out on the Buffalo Ridge...Ilook out my window and I seehundreds of wind turbines. Mostof those turbines are owned bythe foreign multinationals. Outof two counties in Minnesotawe export about $80 milliondollars a year to France,Florida, Italy, Portugal, Spain.

-Dan Juhl, community winddeveloper

$80 million

Local Ownership = growth

! Two times the jobs

! Four to five times more economic impact

Locally ownedAbsentee owned

! Federal incentives inhibit local ownership

! Production Tax Credit is not accessible

! Tax bill of $100,000 a year

! Nonprofits, rural electric coop, city, or county need not apply

! Only income from rental or business partnership

! Rewards income instead of production

Smart policy

! Collective investment rules

! Securities and Exchange Commission

exemptions

! State registration

! Audits

Smart policy

! Reform the PTC

! Allow all income

! Make refundable

! Reward production

e.g. Stimulus grants

Smart policy

! Property Assessed Clean Energy

! Municipal bonds & aggregate purchasing

! Opt-in

! No upfront money, long-term loans, fixed toproperty

! California, Colorado, New Mexico

Smart policy

! Utility-based community energy

! Rural electric cooperative United Powercommunity solar farm

! 25-year lease for a solar panel

Smart strategy?

! Long-distance

centralized renewable

energy - “hot spots”

! Harness renewable

energy everywhere

Renewable Resources (wind)

Credit: NREL

Renewable Resources (solar)

Credit: SEIA

Renewable Resources (geothermal)

Credit: NREL

Hot spot strategy

Strong

geothermal

resource

Strong solar

resource

Strong wind

resource

Hot spot strategy

Strong

geothermal

resource

Strong solar

resource

Strong wind

resource

Existing high voltage

transmission line

Proposed high voltage

transmission line (765kV)Transmission plan credit:American Electric Power

Federal

preemption of

alternatives

Hot spot strategy: costly

Strong

geothermal

resource

Strong solar

resource

Strong wind

resource

Existing high voltage

transmission line

Proposed high voltage

transmission line (765kV)

$100 billion to 200 billion

Hot spot strategy: unpopular

! Want this in your backyard?

Hot spot strategy: unpopular

! In May 2009, 10 East Coast governors:

! Requiring our residents and businesses to paybillions of dollars for new transmission lines thatwould import electricity from the upperMidwest and Southwest into their region“could jeopardize our states’ efforts to developwind resources ... “ They added, “it is wellaccepted that local generation is more responsiveand effective in solving reliability issues than longdistance energy inputs.”

Hot spot: caveat emptor

! A victory for interstate transmission may be

at the expense of broader public support for

renewable energy

Hot spot strategy: unnecessary

Source:ILSR

Smart strategy

! Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and

Environmental Affairs, Ian Bowles:

! Lawmakers should resist calls to add an extensive

and costly new transmission system that would

carry electricity from…the Great Plains…to

places with high energy demands like Boston,

Chicago, and New York ... Renewable energy

resources are found all across the country; they

don’t need to be harnessed from just one place.

Smart strategy

! Smart grids

! Electric cars

! Distributed generation

! Local ownership

Smart strategy: Willmar, MN

! Willmar, MN

! Municipal utility

! Two wind turbines, cheaper than coal

Smart strategy: Morris, MN

! University of Minnesota

! Wind turbine(s)

! Biomass district heating

Smart strategy: MMPA

! Minnesota Municipal Power Association

! 12 wind turbine, 12 cities

Thesis

By creating decentralized, community-

based renewable energy projects, tapping

into the existing grid, and applying new

smart grid technology, South Dakotans can

maximize the economic returns of energy

production.

Thank you!

! John Farrell

! New Rules Project -

www.newrules.org

! jfarrell@ilsr.org

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