HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-Status Report of the District's SB-1 Solar ProgramAgenda Item # 11
WORKSHOP
To:
Board of Directors
From:
Kathleen Neus
Date:
October 16, 2013
Subject:
Status Report of the District's SB-1 Solar Program
1. WHY THIS MATTER IS BEFORE THE BOARD
This workshop item is a review of the District's Solar Program (SB-1).
2. HISTORY
As part of the State's Million Solar Roof Program, publicly owned electric utilities must
adopt, implement and finance a solar initiative program by January 1, 2008. SB-1
imposes a state mandated local program that requires the District to make program
information available to its customers. In addition, SB-1 establishes specific
requirements for local programs, including system incentives and a minimum rebate
amount. Additionally, the state mandates that the rebate amount must decrease by a
minimum of 7% per year. At the September 16, 2009 Board meeting, the Board set the
rebate amount for the remainder of the program as seen in the table below.
• 2013
$2.95
per watt installed
• 2014
$2.66
per watt installed
• 2015
$2.39
per watt installed
• 2016
$2.15
per watt installed
• 2017
$1.94
per watt installed
The District must use rate payer funds and expend $1,773,408 over ten years. The
dollar amount was set by the California State Legislature and is based upon the
District's percentage of the total statewide load served by all local publicly owned
electric utilities within California.
At the end of 2008, the Federal Government extended the tax credit for eight years
and increased the tax credit from $2,000 to 30% of the cost of the solar project. Due
to the tax extension and the increased dollar amount, many applicants requested their
applications be moved to either 2009 or 2010.
3. NEW INFORMATION
Beginning in 2009 all Northern California Power Agency (NCPA) members joined with
the members Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA) to submit a joint
status report to the California Energy Commission (CEC). The results of the report
show that for some utilities there were fewer installs in 2012 compared to 2011, some
there were more installs from 2011-2012, and all the way to the "money is gone". The
full report is included as Attachment 1. The CEC compiled the results in tables
reflecting a summary report of all publicly owned utilities included as Attachment 2 and
a report detailing the life of the program to date included as Attachment 3.
The District has a pretty lucrative dollar per kilowatt rebate; $2.95 / watt installed for a
maximum rebate amount of $8,850 residential and a maximum of $14,750 for all non-
residential. Even with this large rebate amount the District still has not reserved the
entire annual amount.
Below is a table showina the Dast five vears of the Droaram.
Applications
Installations
Kilowatts Installed
Rebate Dollars
2008
16
10
35.3
$141,000
2009
15
6
127.6
$115,000
2010
21
8
27.1
$97,000
2011
15
15
55.7
$144,000
2012
9
8
25.7
$63,000
TOTALS
76
47
271.4
$560,000
In 2009 the Truckee Sanitary District installed the largest system to date; 105
kilowatts.
All systems installed to date are fully functioning and operational.
The 2013 queue has 19 applications, $173,475 rebate dollars reserved, totaling 78.5
kW expected to be installed. There have been two installations to date resulting in
$11,684 rebated and 4.2 kilowatts installed. As of December 31, 2012, there is
$1,091,460 still to be spent until the end of the program in 2017.
4. FISCAL IMPACT
The Board approved a customer charge to fund the District's Solar Program. The
customer charge to raise $177, 400 annually is as follows:
Residential
Small Commercial
Medium Commercial
Large Commercial
$0.60 per month
$5.00 per month
$10.00 per month
$15.00 per month
5. RECOMMENDATION
Receive this report and provide comments to staff.
Michael D. Holley
General Manager