Author Archives Laura Arnold

Tippecanoe County makes wind energy rules friendlier to small projects

Posted by Laura Arnold / April 08, 2010 / Posted in Uncategorized / 1 Comments

By MAX SHOWALTER • mshowalter@jconline.com • April 5, 2010

http://www.jconline.com/article/201004051318/NEWS03/100405012

Two amended ordinances that deal with wind energy fees and regulations were approved today by the Tippecanoe County commissioners.

The majority of the changes made in recent days in the county code benefited people installing micro wind energy conversion systems for their personal use.

While the fee for such systems remains $100, the amended version of the ordinance eliminated payment of an additional annual fee and an inspection fee.

"This board actually has been a real team player," said Cris Post, who has a small wind turbine on his property south of Lafayette and has started a company that sells the devices to homeowners.

Post said lowering the initial $100 fee would lessen the payback time for people using the small turbines to convert energy for their personal use. But he was unable to convince the commissioners to change it.

Several people expressed concerns about the ordinance requirement for commercial wind farms that restricts a turbine to at least 1,000-feet from the property line of a non-participating land owner.

"One thousand feet is way to close. These things (would) just tower over us," said Robert Brooks, who lives in the south end of Tippecanoe County, where a wind farm is a possible future development. "I bought this house nine months ago, and I didn't know anything about this."

Future changes could be made to the ordinances.

"If they need to be tweaked, we will tweak them," said county commissioner David Byers.

Final IPL Feed-in Tariff Effective March 30, 2010

Posted by Laura Arnold / April 01, 2010 / Posted in Feed-in Tariffs (FiT), Uncategorized / 2 Comments

Earlier this year, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) approved the DSM order for IPL that contained a Feed-in Tariff (FiT) or Rate REP (Renewable Energy Production)

See http://indianadg.wordpress.com/2010/02/11/iurc-approves-ipl-feed-in-tariff-or-rate-rep-renewable-energy-production/

Summary of Rate REP (Renewable Energy Production)

by John Haselden, IPL, john.haselden@aes.com

IPL’s new Rate REP, approved by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (“IURC”) in Cause No. 43623, authorizes IPL to purchase renewable energy produced by wind, solar and biomass generated by its customers’ projects connected to IPL’s distribution system in Indianapolis, Indiana. It also offers the option for customers to contract the production for up to 10 years which will provide pricing certainty over the long term. The rates are tailored to the size and technology of the production and vary from 7.5 ¢/kWh for large wind turbines to 24 ¢/kWh for solar projects up to 100 kW of nameplate capacity.

Sometimes called an “Advanced Renewable Contract” or a renewable energy “Feed-in Tariff,” Rate REP is another step taken by IPL to help develop renewable energy investments in Indiana for the benefit of its customers. In an agreement previously approved by the IURC, IPL currently purchases the power from the 106 MW Hoosier Wind Farm located in Benton County, Indiana.

IPL is a low cost provider of electricity which has made it difficult for alternative energy technologies, which typically have high capital costs, to compete on an economic basis. However, with the current federal tax incentives coupled with IPL’s Rate REP compensation, such projects can be economically viable.

A key requirement of Rate REP is that all of the renewable energy production is separately metered and purchased by IPL. The customer continues to purchase all of their electrical energy requirements from IPL. IPL retains all environmental attributes such as Renewable Energy Credits (“RECs”), Greenhouse Gas (“GHG”) Offsets, etc. to be used or sold for the benefit of its customers. For those customers who wish to purchase renewable energy, IPL offers this product through its Green Power program at one of the lowest costs in the US.

Getting Started:

The first step is to obtain approval for interconnection to IPL’s electric system and enter into an interconnection agreement. Standard forms for this process are available at www.iplpower.com under the Business tab or by calling IPL.

Next, contact IPL about participation in Rate REP. One or more IPL meters will be required and located in an acceptable location in order to meter the output of the renewable energy generator. IPL must have clear access to meters. This can be determined in the interconnection design process.

Choose Your Pricing Method:

Pricing shown on the current approved Rate REP is not fixed. IPL may, with IURC approval, change pricing as cost variables significantly change. Such variables include tax effects, system costs, efficiency improvements, etc. To mitigate the risk of changing prices, a customer may enter into a pricing contract with IPL for up to ten years. Such contracts will generally allow customers to lock in pricing which will include an annual price escalation (fixed percentage) and includes other terms and conditions. There are no financial penalties for performance or quotas for energy production. All long-term contracts require the approval of the IURC.

Potential participants should be aware that IPL is only authorized to offer Rate REP and long-term contracts for a period of three years. Nine months prior to that time, IPL is required to present recommendations to the IURC for approval to continue the rate, modify I, or possibly terminate the rate, if appropriate.

IPL Rate REP_Effective_Mar 30 2010

IURC 2009 Net Metering Required Reporting Summary

Posted by Laura Arnold / March 23, 2010 / Posted in Uncategorized / No Comments

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) has released its annual report on net metering this month.

The full report can be found here: http://www.in.gov/iurc/files/2009_Net_Metering_Required_Reporting_Summary.pdf

Indiana’s net metering rules (rules) became effective in March 2005 and spell out the minimum standard offering required of utilities as well as the participation requirements for eligible customers and utilities alike. As defined in 170 IAC §4‐4.2, an eligible net metering customer means a customer in good standing who owns and operates a solar, wind, or hydroelectric generating facility with a capacity of less than or equal to 10kW on their premises.

This report summarizes the net metering reports filed by each of the investor‐owned utilities (IOU) in compliance with 170 IAC §4‐4.2‐9(c).

170 IAC 4‐4.2‐9(c) On or before March 1 of each year, each investor‐owned electric utility shall file with the commission a net metering report. The net metering report shall contain the following:

(1) The total number of eligible net metering customers and facilities.

(2) The number, size, and type (solar, wind, hydro) of net metering facilities.

(3) The number of new eligible net metering customers interconnected during the previous calendar year.

(4) The number of existing eligible net metering customers that ceased participation in the net metering tariff during the previous calendar year.

(5) If available, data on the amount of electricity generated by net metering facilities.

(6) A list of any system emergency disconnections that occurred in accordance with section 5(f) of this rule and an explanation of each system emergency.

We note the rules afford the opportunity for a utility to move beyond the minimum standard offering and provide net metering to customers above that level at its discretion. A review of the submitted net metering reports identifies Duke Energy Indiana as a utility that has exercised this opportunity. The individual utility net metering reports are included in Appendix A.

An Open Letter to Governor Daniels about net metering

Posted by Laura Arnold / March 18, 2010 / Posted in Uncategorized / No Comments

3/17/2010

For the second year in a row, the general assembly was unable to agree on an improvement in Indiana’s sickly net metering policy. In the last 5 years, we have seen each and every state around Indiana legislatively enact into law renewable energy policy that stands up to comparison with the ‘best practices’ of states like California and New Jersey. Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and even Kentucky have enacted policies that range from Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards to Advanced Renewable Energy Contracts, and all of them have expanded net metering. Despite this apparent disadvantage for Indiana when it comes to policy in the Midwest, we have still managed to become one of the nation’s largest areas of centralized commercial wind development. But centralized commercial wind development is where the good news ends. Distributed Generation (the idea that anyone can have a small renewable energy system to power their local needs) has suffered consistent demise at the Indiana General Assembly. In the last six years, we have not passed a single piece of legislation that directly encourages the development of Indiana based distributed generation resources.Indiana’s net metering law is one of the most limiting in the United States. Under the current rules, churches, businesses, libraries, police stations, and government buildings are not allowed to net meter. In addition, the limit on nameplate capacity is well below that which is easily and safely accomplished with minimal or no impact to ratepayers. These basic issues, as well as others, have caused Indiana to receive a grade of ‘F’ in NNEC’s annual net metering report. This grade has more implications than just bad press. It has severely limited companies like ours and others around the state from expanding and hiring more Hoosiers. We are forced to look to other states for business opportunities. For the last two years, leaders in both the Senate and the House have authored bills that would improve Indiana’s Net Metering Law. While there have been disagreements, the one thing that everyone understands is that Indiana small business need this improvement.Senator Merritt recently sent you a letter encouraging you to direct the IURC to engage in a rule-making with the goal of expanding the states net metering policy. ECI Wind and Solar stands with Senator Merritt, and asks you to grant his request. The IURC has always had the authority to issue new and expanded net metering rules, but they have chosen not to act in light of the consistent legislative activity surrounding the issue. Now it’s 2010, and we still have a net metering law from 2004 that puts us at a serious competitive disadvantage for distributed generation development compared to other states in the Midwest. Indiana has consistently missed out on the economic growth and the permanent local jobs that come with expanded distributed generation. It is our opinion that an increase in the maximum nameplate capacity from 10KW to 200KW would be easily obtainable within the limitations of the current distribution system and eliminate the safety concerns not already addressed by the states interconnection policies. We would further recommend that all customer classes be allowed to participate in net metering. Governor Daniels, please stand with Senator Merritt and Indiana small business; direct the IURC to initiate the rule-making.

Eric Cotton, Parter, ECI Wind and Solar, 9005 E. 1125 S., Fairmont, IN 46928

This was originally posted at http://www.eciwindandsolar.com/Index/anopenlettertogovernordaniels.php

Sen. Merritt asks governor to intervene on net metering issue

Posted by Laura Arnold / March 17, 2010 / Posted in Uncategorized / No Comments

Note: A copy of the letter follows this news release.

STATEHOUSE (March 16, 2010) – State Sen. Jim Merritt said today he’s asked Gov. Mitch Daniels to do what lawmakers ultimately could not during the recently concluded legislative session – push for progress on the issue of net metering.

Net metering would provide homeowners, schools and businesses greater financial incentives to produce their own renewable energy and allow them to sell any excess electricity back to the utilities.

Legislation authored by Merritt (R-Indianapolis) to broaden both the customer class and type of renewable generation eligible for net metering failed in the final days of the 2010 session when Senate and House negotiators couldn’t agree on a final conference committee report. But Merritt emphasized in a letter to Gov. Mitch Daniels that the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission doesn’t need a new law to begin updating Indiana’s restrictive net metering regulations.

“The IURC currently has the authority to declare net metering rules without legislative guidance or mandate,” Merritt today wrote to Daniels. “In fact, the IURC currently has effective net metering administrative rules in place for residential and K-12 schools.”

Merritt said he’s asked the governor to request IURC officials begin rulemaking activities and believes the initial conference committee report produced by Senate negotiators “is a reasonable template” for the agency’s work.

“My proposals broaden both the customer class and type of renewable generation eligible for net metering while maintaining the necessary cost-benefit balance for all electricity customers whether they engage in net metering generation or not,” Merritt said. “I hope the governor will take action to improve Indiana’s policies on this important issue.”

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For your convenience, a high-resolution photo of Sen. Merritt is available at: http://www.in.gov/legislative/senate_republicans/newsroom/photo-gallery.htm

Jennifer Regazzi, Press Secretary
Senate Majority Communications Office
Room 401F, Statehouse
200 W. Washington Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204
317-232-9499
jregazzi@iga.in.gov

Net metering letter from Merritt to Governor Daniels_2010_03_16