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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09212022 PACAB Work Session NotesWORK SESSION NOTES Port and Commerce Advisory Board Called by: PACAB Time: 12:04 Date: 9-21-2022 Purpose: Discuss Renewable Energy in Seward Jeremy Rogers, Norm Regis, Kris Board Members Present: Present: Peck, Tony Baclaan, Lori Landstrom, Atwood, Paquette, Bill Hearn, David Paperman plus Hughes, Woelkers Bruce Jaffa telephonically and Rob Montgomery telephonically Meeting called to order at 12:04 by Vice Chair Paquette City Utility Director Rob Montgomery participated telephonically. Montgomery said when a customer is putting power back into the grid, there is a deduction on their bill. Jaffa asked if it was true that the city had to maintain a certain capacity from whatever the source and if 24 people producing power would reduce the city's revenue. Montgomery said it was similar to people leaving Seward in the winter. There was a minimum charge that each person was going to get. There was a system delivery charge to ensure that all the net metering customers were contributing to maintaining the Seward electric system. Jaffa asked if we continue to promote renewable energy, would there be a point where the city utility value decreases? An electric utility buyer might consider the revenue decrease and how it might affect their bottom line. Montgomery said that was a concern initially, but there were built in mechanisms to ensure there was revenue. However, Bruce was correct, they would need to keep an eye on their revenue bottom line. Jaffa asked if Homer and Chugiak Electric support interconnect customers as well. Montgomery confirmed they do and said that's the trend of the world we're in. We need to work with customers and offer these types of programs. Hughes said the number of people taking advantage of net metering had increased and the program was starting to work. Hughes asked what the price rebate was for generating power back to the grid. Utility Accounting Technician Jeremy Rogers replied it was a tiered system at the moment. Anyone who used more than 150kw/hour for month it is a 1-for-1 exchange. In the range of 0-149kw the flat charge is in effect. Once you are sending more than receiving, there is a formula that takes into account the yearly estimated line loss. Bill Hearn, inside city limits, said he has 12 solar panels with an initial start up cost of $14,800. He estimated he would break even in 21 years, but he was still very happy with his solar panel setup. The billing system has been tricky and he has not paid a utility bill since July 2021, because there wasn't a WORK SESSION NOTES Port and Commerce Advisory Board bill ready to match his account. He felt the city could have a trust fund to take payments without a monthly bill being ready. David Paperman was happy with the setup process. Initially he wasn't sure how easy the city would be to work with, but all the paperwork was super simple. He thanked Montgomery for making it easy and thanked Jeremy for doing a great job. Paperman kept a running total of how much he predicts he is going to owe the city. He has 17 panels on a tall, south facing house which was a great location. The app on his phone gives him cool graphs and stats on his solar panels. Overall, Paperman was pleased with the whole process. He estimated it will takel 1-12 years to break even with his investment. It was $2000 more to buy solar panels from California than Singapore. Paperman initially looked at wind power, thinking that wind would be better for Seward. However, he was talked out of it due to vibration on the house. In order to do wind power on a tower behind the house, it would have required a significant amount of earthwork. Lori Landstrom said she looked at a pole mounted system and ended up with a ground mounted system. She had 14 panels on an A -frame structure installed in August 2021. The electric utility had run out of meters at that point, despite ordering them months in advance. Supply chain issues prevented them from getting a meter right away. The meters arrived in February of 2022 much to her delight. The complicated and delayed billing was an issue, but Jeremy was working hard trying to get them caught up. Due to software issues, Jeremy was required to hand -read every solar reader and create the bills manually. Overall, she was very happy and supportive of renewable energies in Seward. Hughes has embraced solar power and currently has 24 panels and Jaffa will soon have a similar setup. Jeremy said a manual bill can be paid at the utility counter. They are trying to get the third -party software glitches corrected to make billing easier. In 2021, solar panels produced 11,800 kw hours back into the grid. This year that figure has tripled. Bill Hearn said his solar panels were very particular about the wi-fi network settings. Jeremy said one customer does have a battery installed that is used at the end of each day. Paquette said people would eventually want to expand their system to include the battery backup as the costs come down. Adj ourned at 1:17 WS Notes by Kris Peck Deputy City Clerk