Public Power - July/August 2008 - (Page 44)

panies in Michigan, for 6 MW of landfill methane generation, with a future option to increase the purchase to as much as 12 MW. “We believe that the first phase, which will involve 3 megawatts, will be enough to power 2,270 homes in our community,” Nixon said. “We think that, within 10 years, there will be enough electricity generated from that landfill to power 11,000 homes. It is actually very convenient for both of us, because our transmission lines end pretty much right on their property.” Lansing is also considering investing in wind energy, Nixon said. Citizens of Columbia, Mo., voted in November 2004 to adopt a local renewable portfolio standard. The ballot initiative requires Columbia Water & Light to generate or purchase electricity from eligible renewable energy resources at the following levels: 2 percent by the end of 2007; 5 percent by the end of 2012; 10 percent by the end of 2017; and 15 percent by the end of 2022. “The three [resources] we are concentrating on are wind, solar, and biomass,” said Jay Hasheider, Columbia’s energy services supervisor. “All three have their challenges, though.” Up until this point, biomass has consisted of landfill gas projects. The utility is now completing a $3 million project with the city’s landfill to produce about 2.1 MW of power, beginning in spring 2008. The utility has also signed a 20-year agreement to purchase power from a landfill in Jefferson City. How- generation of three turbines for a period of 20 years. “We expect this to be another 2 percent of our power,” he said. Solar, of course, is a challenge in Missouri. “One thing we are doing is trying to set up a solar utility, which will buy solar energy and then sell it to our customers,” said Hasheider. “We quest for proposals for two blocks of energy from renewable sources. Each block is 150 gigawatts a year. One block would begin in 2008 and the other in 2009. Possible sources include hydro and landfill gas. “The utility is developing a request for proposals for an additional 50 megawatts of solar,” “Wind has potential, but so much of it is tied to transmission constraints, so it is impossible to predict the potential.” ever, delays in the construction startup of the plant have caused it to remain offline. “We hope it will be done by late 2008 or early 2009,” Hasheider said. When completed, the two projects will be able to provide about 3 percent of Columbia’s power. In 2004, the utility signed a purchase power agreement for energy from a 24-turbine wind farm in the northwestern part of the state. “In 2006, we had a renewable energy conference, and we invited the developer of the wind farm to speak,” said Hasheider. “We got involved just at the right time, and we were able to add three turbines to that project.” The utility purchased the rights to the hope that, one day, this will generate enough momentum to create a significant solar presence in Columbia.” In the future, the utility is looking to expand landfill and solar. “Wind has potential, but so much of it is tied to transmission constraints, so it is impossible to predict the potential,” he said. As a public power utility, the Long Island Power Authority is not obligated to comply with the state’s renewable portfolio standard. Nevertheless, LIPA has implemented its own renewable portfolio plan which is consistent with the requirements placed on New York’s investor-owned utilities. The initiative, outlined in LIPA’s 2004-2013 Energy Plan, approved in June 2004, intends to comply with the state requirement: 24 percent of electricity generation should come from renewable resources by 2013. “Kevin Law, president and CEO, as well as his predecessor, have been committed to meeting the renewable portfolio standard,” said Michael Deering, LIPA’s vice president for environmental affairs. Recently, LIPA issued a resaid Deering. “We already have a very aggressive solar program, which has been in effect for a number of years and has more than 1,200 homes, municipal facilities and commercial buildings tied to it. And, we are looking at ways to increase our use of biofuels and wind power.“ The renewable portfolio standard in Texas requires investor-owned utilities to provide 5,880 MW of renewable power by 2015; municipal utilities and rural electric cooperatives are not required to participate. However, the Austin City Council set a goal for its municipal utility, Austin Energy, to meet 5 percent of its energy needs from renewables by 2004 and 30 percent by 2020. San Antonio’s municipal utility, CPS Energy, also set a goal of 15 percent renewables, coming primarily from wind, by 2020. ❚ Order entry, work order and billing for video, data, and voice services Broadband Billing Solutions for Utilities Automated provisioning of FTTH Network and all other technologies Use your existing utility billing system or ETI’s optional module 800.332.1078 www.etisoftware.com 44 JULY-AUGUST 2008 PUBLIC POWER http://www.etisoftware.com

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

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