This Committee meeting was posted Tuesday morning, March 29th at 8:35 AM. Will HB 1128 become a vehicle for SB 251?
Agenda for: Senate Utilities & Technology Committee
Thursday, March 31, 2011
10:00 AM EDT
ROOM 233, State House, Indianapolis
Chairman : Merritt
Members : Leising R.M., Gard, Kruse, Schneider, Tomes, Yoder,
Randolph R.M.M., Breaux, R. Young
Hearing : HB 1128 Renewable energy resources. (Koch Merritt)
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/opinion/guest-commentary/article_f681cf99-6c8c-54cc-81d2-dbfdbe575104.html
By Kerwin Olson | Posted: Sunday, March 27, 2011 12:00 am
Businesses, consumers and local governments, be warned! There is a piece of legislation at the Indiana Statehouse that will cause you to lose sleep at night.
Senate Bill 251, which passed the Senate, is nothing more than a money grab by the Indiana Energy Association and the monopoly utilities they represent. Indeed, this piece of legislation promises to lead to confiscatory utility rates, to the detriment of Indiana's economy, and will flip the regulatory construct on its head.
Let's not forget, Indiana's electric utilities are state-franchised monopolies. They are protected from competition and insulated from risk. In exchange, they agree to government regulation. The primary function of that regulation is to serve as competition in the absence thereof.
SB 251 essentially turns the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission into a rubber stamp and hands the utilities the proverbial blank check, ultimately stifling competition with the intent of protecting and even enhancing the profits of monopolies.
As a result, the ability of Hoosier small businesses and large industries to remain competitive will be jeopardized as significant increases in the cost of energy will have to be passed through the price of their products and services or, worse yet, through reductions in payroll or even relocation of their business.
In addition, already struggling school corporations and municipalities will be forced to make even deeper cuts to education, essential infrastructure needs and public safety just to ensure these monopolies satisfy their insatiable appetite for ratepayer dollars, regardless of the cost to society.
SB 251 also defies market economics. A free market is defined at its core by having a willing buyer and a willing seller. Ratepayers held captive by design are anything but willing and deserve the protections guaranteed them by law.
The market also teaches us that profit is the reward for risk. SB 251 not only shifts all business risk onto captive ratepayers but also instructs the IURC to reward these monopolies extra profit to carry out their high-risk, excessively expensive business plans. Those assuming the risk should reap the benefit and not get saddled with exorbitant and unjust rate increases to pad the pockets of monopolies.
Let's hope Speaker Brian Bosma and the House of Representatives recognize SB 251 for what it is and instead work on energy policy and regulatory reform that will invite competition and protect Hoosier households and businesses from the greed of monopolies.
Kerwin Olson is program director of the Citizens Action Coalition. The opinion expressed in this column is the writer's and not necessarily that of The Times.
InsideINdianaBusiness.com Report
Energy Solutions by JMS says work is progressing on what it calls one of the largest solar farms in Indianapolis. The company says it's partnering with solar panel manufacturer NuSun Inc., which announced in December plans to create 240 jobs at a facility in Columbus. Construction on the expanded solar farm is expected to be completed in the spring.
March 25, 2011
News Release
INDIANAPOLIS – -- Energy Solutions by JMS’ egg-beater-style wind generators are already catching the eye of thousands of people who travel I-465 on the southwest side of Indianapolis each day, and soon one of the largest solar farms in the city will be visible as well.
Energy Solutions started construction in January to expand its demonstration site for new developments in renewable energy. The expansion is adding a 100-kilowatt solar array at 5925 Stockberger Place, which will be one of the largest solar farms in Indianapolis. The demonstration site is part of the company’s initiative to design and build solar arrays in Indiana and market them throughout the U.S.
Nick Melloh, president of Energy Solutions, is committed to supporting Indiana companies and creating and preserving Indiana jobs. Said Melloh, “We are partnering with NuSun, Inc. of Columbus, which will help them create the 240 new jobs they announced in December. We also are working with local banks for financing options and with Tuttle Aluminum in Fishers for hardware and racking.”
Energy Solutions was formed in 2009 by Schmidt Associates, a full-service architecture and engineering firm, and Johnson-Melloh, a mechanical contractor. The renewable energy demonstration site is at Johnson-Melloh’s location.
“Many of our customers in the K-12 and higher education markets have inquired about renewable energy sources in the last few years," said Melloh. “So we did our homework and tested wind and solar installations at our site. We concluded solar is currently the best long-term solution for our customers.”
Energy Solutions is investing in the larger solar array to prove the products the company sells are a good long-term financial decision: “Having a financial model that makes sense for our own company makes it easy to tell our own story to customers and feel very good about recommending solar to them,” said Melloh.
Although solar energy has been around for decades, Energy Solutions’ solar array product is more affordable now because of tax credits and other incentives and it uses new generation solar technology.
“After a lot of research, we partnered with NuSun because they are committed to making a high quality, high efficiency panel using the highest grade silicon,” said Melloh.
Energy Solutions expects the new renewable energy product line to retain existing jobs that otherwise may have been lost to poor economic conditions for its member firms Johnson-Melloh and Schmidt Associates and to add jobs in the foreseeable future to handle the load for committed solar installations already in the pipeline.
“While we love helping our environment along the way, the renewable energy momentum will create much-needed jobs in Indiana,” Melloh said.
Energy Solutions is marketing the new solar arrays to K-12 school districts and commercial and university prospects in Indiana -- and has fielded inquiries from as far away as Florida, California, Baja Mexico and several Caribbean Island nations.
“There’s a lot of interest right now in alternative energy sources,” said Ron Fisher, a vice president of Energy Solutions. “This can be a way for cash-strapped school districts to save teaching jobs by reducing long-term operating costs and to increase sustainability at the same time.”
A 100-kilowatt solar array such as the one under construction can produce enough energy to power 12 average US homes – or about one-third of the power needed for an elementary school. Arrays can be built larger or smaller to meet capacity requirements.
Construction on the expanded solar farm will be completed by spring. Once the system is generating electricity, the electrical output can be monitored at www.energysolutionsbyjms.com.
For more information visit www.energysolutionsbyjms.com or call (317) 275-1800.
ABOUT ENERGY SOLUTIONS BY JMS: Energy Solutions by JMS was formed in 2009 by Schmidt Associates, a full-service architecture and engineering firm, and Johnson-Melloh, a mechanical contractor. Energy Solutions by JMS designs and constructs energy-efficient systems, offering: systems engineering; management of design-build projects; building optimization; certification for LEED, Energy Star and Green Globes; analysis for renewable resources; alternative funding assistance and 24-hour mechanical service.
Source: Energy Solutions by JMS
On or before March 1st of each year, each Indiana investor-owned electric utility is required to file a net metering status report with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC). This net metering data has been reported since 2005 when the current net metering rules became effective.
The report shows there has been an increase of 55% for the nameplate capacity since 2009. By comparison, the increase in nameplate capacity increased 117% from 2008 to 2009.
There has also been an increase of 50% customer participant growth from 2009 to 2010 for a total of 199 net metering customers statewide. There was an increase of 111% increase in customer participant growth, however, from 2008 to 2009.
There are no reporting requirements for rural electric cooperatives commonly known as REMC's or for municipal electric utilities.
Table 1. Nameplate Capacity by utility and by resource type
| Utility | # customers | Total (kW) | Solar (kW) | Wind (kW) |
| Duke Energy Indiana | 107 | 405 | 320 | 85 |
| NIPSCO | 34 | 157 | 95 | 62 |
| Indiana Michigan Power | 36 | 127 | 23 | 104 |
| SIGECO (Vectren) | 15 | 77 | 73 | 4 |
| IPL | 7 | 18 | 18 | 0 |
| Total | 199 | 783 | 529 | 255 |
It seems to me the "$64,000 question" from this latest report is: Why does Indianapolis Power and Light (IPL) have the fewest number of net metering customers and the lowest nameplate capacity for net metering of the five (5) investor owned electric utilities in Indiana? This is especially troubling since IPL was authorized to increase its net metering program last year in a Demand Side Management (DSM) case before the IURC in Cause No. 43623. The revised net metering tariff became effective on March 30, 2010, and therefore, was in effect for nine (9) out of the twelve (12) months of 2010. Hence, IPL's Standard Contract Rider No. 9 applied to the largest number of customer classes and was five (5) times greater than the maximum system size for the other four (4) investor owned electric utilities in Indiana, however, IPL still had the lowest number of net metering customers. Does this even make sense?
You can find the one page tariff here. IPL Net Metering_Rider 9-Apr 10
Please read the IURC's report yourself and reach your own conclusions. 2010_Net_Metering_Required_Reporting_Summary
Tell me what you think PLUS you can also tell the IURC what you think about their proposed revised net metering regulations.
The proposed net metering rule can be found at http://indianadg.wordpress.com/net-metering/iurc-rm-09-10-lsa-10-662/
Editor's Note: We received a "heads-up" on this action in Illinois from our friends with the Illinois Solar Energy Association. It appears that Illinois is not drinking the coal gasification "Kool Aid".
SPRINGFIELD, IL (AP) - Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has vetoed bills allowing construction of two coal-to-gas power plants that had angered environmentalists and consumer advocates.
The bills would have allowed a $3 billion coal gasification plant on Chicago's southeast side and a $1 billion outfit in Jefferson County in southern Illinois. Utility companies would have been required to buy synthetic natural gas from the plants for a decade or more.
But critics said the synthetic natural gas made from coal and refining waste would cost more than natural gas and be passed onto consumers.
Quinn acknowledged that in his veto messages. He says "our investments in clean coal must not come at the expense of consumers."
Environmentalists feared pollution caused by coal gasification.
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The bills are SB1927 and SB3388
Online: www.ilga.gov