Title: Clean Energy Communities: How to Make a Municipal Clean Energy Purchase
1Clean Energy CommunitiesHow to Make a Municipal
Clean Energy Purchase
- Bob Wall Director, Energy Market Initiatives,
CT Clean Energy Fund - Clean Energy Regional Workshops 2009
2CT Clean Energy Communities
- Program Steps
- Town commits to the 20 by 2010 Campaign and
makes a municipal town purchase (9 in 2009 13
in 2010) - Town commits to EPA Community Energy Challenge
- Reach point threshold for local signups to
CTCleanEnergyOptions program and clean energy
systems - Reward earn clean energy systems (e.g., solar
PV, solar thermal, wind)
3Preliminary Steps
- Determine annual municipal electricity use
- Period Calendar Year, Fiscal Year, Any 12-month
period - Include Town buildings, schools, streetlights
- Gather monthly electric bills (DPW, Bd of Ed,
Finance) or work with utility account rep - Provide total usage in kWh to CCEF get free
cost estimates - Recommend a line-item in municipal budget
- Remember that electricity use varies over time
lowering usage also lowers your clean energy
target (and vice versa)
4What Counts?
- Sign up one or more town facilities with
CTCleanEnergyOptions - Purchase Green-e certified Renewable Energy
Certificates (RECs) - Install a Class I Renewable Energy System
- Any combination of the above
Cheshire Town Hall
5CTCleanEnergyOptions
- Contact CCEO Suppliers for Presentation
- Community Energy mark.garrett_at_newwindenergy.com
- Sterling Planet
- kwest_at_sterlingplanet.com
- Pros
- Supports state program
- Earns rebates for signups
- Supports some local renewables
- Carbon claim via RGGI set-aside
- Cons
- More expensive than RECs
6Green-e Certified RECs
- Check options on EPA Green Power Partnership site
- http//www.epa.gov/grnpower/pubs/gplocator.htm
- Pros
- Green-e certified products
- Choose resource mix and location
- Lower first cost
- Rebates may be available from Sterling Planet and
Community Energy - Cons
- Potentially less environmental value
- Lacks connection with CCEO program
7Install Clean Energy Systems
- Check technologies and incentives on CT Clean
Energy Fund site - http//www.ctcleanenergy.com/
- Pros
- Return on investment
- Truly local resources
- Supports development of industry
- Creates local jobs
- Cons
- High initial capital cost
- Limited technology options
- Potential siting issues
Essex Recycling Center
8Strategy 1 Competitive Supplier
- Town switches to competitive supplier for
generation service - Use savings to finance clean energy purchase
- Example
- Town uses 2 million kWh/year
- Town switches from CLP (gen. svc. chg.
11.9/kWh) to Acme Electric (10.4/kWh) - Savings 1.5/kWh or 30,000
- Use portion of savings to purchase 9 clean
energy (180 RECs at 5-13 total cost of 900
to 2,340)
9Strategy 2 Energy Efficiency
- Town joins EPA Community Energy Challenge and
pledges to reduce energy use by 10 - Use savings to finance clean energy purchase
- Example
- Town uses 2 million kWh/year
- Through conservation efficiency measures, town
reduces use to 1.8 million kWh (i.e., 10 less) - At 16/kWh, town saves 32,000
- Use portion of savings to purchase 9 clean
energy (now only 162 RECs at 5-13 total cost
of 810 to 2,106)
10Strategy 3 CCEO Rebates
- Town partners with CCEO Suppliers and gets
rebates for local customers it helps to enroll - Use rebates to finance clean energy purchase
- Example
- Town uses 2 million kWh/year
- Town seeks 9 clean energy purchase (180 RECs at
5-13 total cost of 900 to 2,340) - Town gets 20-25 rebate per customer enrolled
- Every 50 customers yields rebates of 1,000 -
1,250
11Strategy 4 Solar PV Savings
- Town would qualify as Clean Energy Community but
for its failure to make a town purchase - Use savings from solar PV system to help finance
clean energy purchase - Example
- Town would earn a 4 kW solar PV system if it made
a 9 CE purchase - PV system would generate 4,800 kWh/year
- At 16/kWh, town would save 768/year nearly
enough to cover the cost of Green-e certified
RECs (i.e., 900 _at_ 5/REC) - Output also counts towards towns CE target, thus
lowering cost
12Building a Bigger System
- 4kW requires 400 points, which are earned by CCEO
signups (1 point all signups) or local clean
energy installations (3 points) (note new
solar thermal and geothermal systems will count) - But you can earn bonuses
- Each 5 household participation earns a bonus 1
kW (does not apply to towns with fewer than 1,000
households) - Designation as an EPA Green Power Community earns
1 kW - And you can combine with other grants
- Use town money to purchase extra kW at lower cost
(note CCEF will not allow EECBG contribution
because of addl costs) - CCEF has funding to support purchase extra kW
(50 of cost, up to 8,000)
13Strategy 5 Climate Change Action Plan
- Town pursues comprehensive Greenhouse Gas
Emission reduction strategies - Opportunities include
- Increased conservation, efficiency renewables
- Reduced VMTs in town fleet
- Reduced water usage
- Increased recycling
- High performance buildings for new
construction/renovations - Use savings from action steps to help finance
clean energy purchase
14Additional Resources
- Resource Page
- Community Forums
- Program changes
- Town commitment
- Signups
- EPA Challenge
- CIGP
- Sustainability
- Regional Workshop Page
- Web Videos (coming soon)
- Custom Collateral
ctcleanenergy.com/communities
15CCEF Fuel Cell Programs
- On-Site Renewable DG Program
- 14M (all commercial, industrial institutional
CII) - Open only to CLP and United Illuminating
customers - Federal ARRA State Energy Program (SEP)
- 8M (all CII)
- Open to all Connecticut applicants
- Program Rules and Incentives same in both cases
- Up to 2,500/kW
- Capped at 4,000,000
Middletown High School 200 kW Fuel Cell
16CCEF Solar Thermal Program
Solar Hot Water Collectors
16 kw
Solar Photovoltaic Panels
17Solar Thermal
- Use sunlight to heat domestic hot water
- Typical System Components
- Solar collectors (flat plate or evacuated tube)
- Water tank
- Rack, plumbing, valves, pumps, etc.
- System Considerations
- Demand for DHW (showers, cafeteria)
- Building usage (daily, seasonal)
- Size to meet 50-80 of DHW needs
18CCEF Solar Thermal Program
- Federal ARRA State Energy Program (SEP)
- 4M for commercial or residential projects
- Incentives
- Not-for-profit and governmental projects -- 900
per MMBtu of predicted system output for October
through March - Maximum incentive awarded per installation -
82,500 - Project Eligibility
- Open to all Connecticut applicants
- Domestic hot water only (no space heating or
pools) - Roof must have 15 years of life left
19CCEF Geothermal Program
- Federal ARRA State Energy Program (SEP)
- 5M for commercial or residential projects
- Program pending CCEF Board approval in late 2009
- Incentives
- CII not-for-profit -- 2,000 per ton of
air-conditioning capacity - Maximum incentive for CII 100 tons
- Project Eligibility
- Open to all Connecticut applicants
20The Application ProcessSolar Thermal and
Geothermal
- Non-competitive, first come, first served
- Residential system owner must be the applicant
- Commercial system owner must be the applicant
- Installers contract with customer must be for
full cost - Incentive Payments made to system owner
- 100 when installed as proposed, commissioned and
inspected satisfactorily - Installation variances from application will be
subject to incentive adjustment
21High Performance Schools Program
- Circuit Rider - education outreach on benefits
of and incentives for high performance schools - Contact Bill Leahy/ISE at (860) 465-0252 or
leahyw_at_easternct.edu - Technical Assistance - grants for feasibility
studies for renewable or sustainable features - Solar PV Grants - funding for PV systems (25-100
kW), helps earn LEED points for renewable energy
and innovation
Barnard Magnet School New Haven
22 Bob.Wall_at_ctcleanenergy.com 860.257.2354 www.c
tcleanenergy.com