Public Power - July/August 2008 - (Page 42)

GREEN ENERGY Renewables at a Local Level By William Atkinson le a growing number of states implement renewable portfolio standards, some public power utilities create clean energy goals that are tougher than state requirements. Without a state mandate to create a renewable portfolio standard, some public power communities in the United States have created their own. Fort Collins, Colo.; Austin, Texas; and Columbia, Mo., established renewable standards for their local public power utilities, while the utilities in San Antonio, Long Island, N.Y., Lansing, Mich., and Jacksonville, Fla., created their own Whi the utility’s commitment to generate at least 7.5 percent of its electric capacity from “clean and green energy sources” by 2015. Eligible renewable energy resources include solar, biomass, biogas (methane from landfills and sewage treatment plants) and wind. JEA is already the largest producer of solar power in Florida, and the only utility in the United States to install photovoltaic solar systems in every high school in its service territory, said Jay Worley, the utility’s director of environmental programs. It also has solar systems in place at the Jacksonville International Airport, several local universities and city buildings, as well as solar thermal hot water pools at a few locations. “In total, we have about 9.3 megawatts associated with solar In Michigan, the Lansing Board of Water and Light Commissioners set a series of goals: to increase gradually from renewables comprising 2 percent of retail sales by the end of 2008, to 5 percent by the end of 2012, and 7 percent by the end of 2016. The board reserves the right to make future adjustments to its renewable portfolio standard. “The board passed the standard in January 2007, making Lansing the first utility in the state with its own RPS,” said Mark Nixon, Lansing’s communications director. “We are proud of this.” Michigan is behind the curve in creating a renewable portfolio standard, although the governor has repeatedly called for one, he said. “Our general manager, J. Peter Lark, who is the former With 70 MW generated from clean sources of energy, JEA is about 20 percent of the way to meeting its goal of supplying 7.5 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2015. renewable standards. The state renewable portfolio standard adopted in Colorado requires municipal utilities serving more than 40,000 customers to meet 10 percent of their power needs with renewable energy by 2020. The Fort Collins City Council adopted a tougher standard, requiring Fort Collins Utilities to provide a minimum 2 percent of its electricity from renewable energy by 2004, and 15 percent of its supply from clean resources by 2017. In November 1999, JEA signed a memorandum of understanding with the Sierra Club and the American Lung Association of Florida, detailing 42 JULY-AUGUST 2008 photovoltaic and thermal,” said Worley. JEA also stays green through a contract it signed with two of the city’s landfills for methane gas and the operation of its own wastewater treatment plant, where it captures methane to recycle as energy. About 10 MW of JEA’s supply comes from a wind farm in Nebraska, while it has gained 43 MW of additional capacity through energy efficiency measures. With 70 MW generated from clean sources of energy, JEA is about 20 percent of the way to meeting its goal of supplying 7.5 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2015. chair of the Michigan Public Service Commission, has also called on the state Legislature to enact an RPS. So far, though, they have not done so.” Prior to the renewable portfolio standard, the utility obtained power from a couple of hydroelectric dams in northern Michigan and from the utility’s small hydroelectric dam on the Grand River near downtown Lansing. But these hydro resources are insufficient to get the utility to its goal. In mid-2007, the Lansing Board of Water and Light signed a 21-year, $83 million purchase contract with Granger, one of the largest landfill comPUBLIC POWER

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Public Power - July/August 2008

Public Power- July/August 2008 Contents Perspective 10 Questions Solar Energy Rising Sacramento's Solar Shares Gainesville Crowns a Conservation Idol By the Numbers Curbing Costs of Outages Reliability Green Energy Hometown Connections Customer Service Parting Shot

Public Power - July/August 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.