Tag Archives: APS

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Solar Battle Heats Up in Arizona

Solar Action at the State Capitol

Solar Action at the State Capitol

From the Arizona Republic:

About 100 solar-industry workers protested at the state Capitol on Tuesday, hoping to draw interest in a battle with Arizona Public Service Co. that could alter the rooftop-solar industry in the state.

APS has proposed changing the way it gives new customers credit for the electricity their solar panels send to the power grid. The changes would not affect the 18,000 current APS customers with solar, or those who have a reservation to get their panels by Oct. 15.

SolarCity Corp., a California rooftop-solar company, is leading the opposition, but representatives from a variety of solar companies, including REC Solar, Wilson Electric and Kyocera were present Tuesday.

Under tents on the Capitol grounds, they spoke to the media about the importance of solar. Some carried signs supporting the industry, and most wore solar-company logos.

“It’s frightening and disappointing to think that solar energy in Arizona could be undermined by APS,” said Mark Holohan, solar-division manager at Wilson Electric in Tempe. “Arizona’s monopoly utilities are attempting to limit solar due to fears about competition.”

via Solar-industry workers protest at state Capitol.

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New Report Links Water, Electrical Generation in Western States

Click on image to go to the report

The most important natural resource for generating electricity in the United States isn’t coal, natural gas, or uranium.

It’s water.

All of these fuels (and solar power, too) rely on water as a coolant, consuming massive quantities of a precious resource that is dwindling in many parts of the Southwest. Climate change means even less water in the future for the arid lands of the West — while energy consumption continues to grow.

[Water is also used in other parts of the energy cycle. For example, an average of 3 million gallons of water are used per natural gas well in the controversial “fracking” process — the subject of the Oscar-nominated documentary, Gasland.]

According to a new study, “Every Drop Counts: Valuing the Water Used to Generate Electricity,” by Western Resource Advocates, electrical power plants in six Western states — Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming — used a staggering 129 billion gallons of water in 2005.

As the report points out, such intensive use of water “impact(s) our region’s rivers and aquifers, and tie(s) up water that could meet growing urban, agricultural, or environmental needs.”

There’s a growing awareness of the Water/Energy Nexus — at least among researchers, environmental organizations and within the power industry itself. “Every Drop Counts” is a welcome addition to the literature on one of the nation’s most pressing — and least reported — issues.

From "Every Drop Counts," Executive Summary.

The report makes an important distinction between three usually interchangeable terms: Value, cost, and price.

  • Value - the amount that the user is willing to pay for it.
  • Cost - the cost of delivering water for a particular use.
  • Price - the amount users actually pay.

The price of water is typically far below the value, the authors note, because of subsidies and related political decisions.

The report includes a state-by-state analysis of water and energy policies for each of the six Western states. In Arizona, for example, the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) under the leadership of Chair Kris Mayes helped lead the Western states in factoring water into the electrical utility equation. (Mayes was recently term-limited off the ACC. Early indications from the new commissioners suggest that the ACC may forfeit many of the gains made under Mayes.)

In 2005, as part of a settlement on a rate-making case, the ACC ordered Arizona Public Service (APS) to consider the feasibility of expanding utility-scale solar generation at existing coal-fired power plants, noting the environmental benefits of potential water savings associated with solar generation.

The report also praises the state’s largest utility, APS, for its water policies. In 2009, the utility began reporting how much water was consumed by its electrical generation. The APS nuclear power plant at Palo Verde (the largest in the nation) uses only recycled water.

“Every Drop Counts” — which could also be titled “Count Every Drop” — may be a bit wonkish for the average reader. That said, the report will help Western residents make sense of their utility bills and give them the information they need to lobby for responsible, positive change.

For more on this issue, see:

Website: Circle of Blue

Reports:

Reducing Water Consumption of Concentrating Solar Power Electricity Generation (Report to Congress, DOE)

Energy Demands on Water Resources (Report to Congress, DOE)

Overview of the Water-Energy Nexus in the United States (National Conference of State Legislatures)

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If insulation is sexy, Arizona is totally hot

While the national media are focused on Arizona because of the state’s controversial immigration law, there was virtually no coverage of a momentous leap in an area President Obama himself has declared “sexy.”

I’m talking about Arizona’s adoption, Tuesday, of a toughest-in-the-nation rule on energy efficiency.

Hot hot hot

The new rules require state-regulated utilities to cut the amount of electricity they sell 22 percent by the year 2020, through a variety of measures that help customers increase energy efficiency. These include rebates for insulating homes, planting shade trees, and buying more efficient air conditioners.

“This is huge,” says Jeff Schlegel, of the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project. “It puts Arizona in a leadership position in energy efficiency across the country.”

The rules, which still need to be approved by the state attorney general’s office, will save Arizona residents $9 billion in reduced utility bills over ten years, according to a study commissioned by SWEEP.

The Arizona Corporation Commission, which regulates utilities, voted 5-0 in favor of the measure last night.

ACC chairwoman Republican Kris Mayes, who as been called “a rock star” of the solar power movement for her past work making Arizona a leader in renewable energy production, told a local reporter she considers the energy efficiency measure “the most important thing I will ever do in my life.”

Fellow commissioner Democrat Paul Newman, in an email this morning, also stressed the importance of the new rule.

“EE [energy efficiency] is absolutely the cheapest way to reduce power costs, and carbon and toxic emission,” he wrote. “It’s an ambitious goal to be sure, but one that’s achievable and will force Arizona to pull out all the stops to reduce power use.”

Those comments were echoed by what might seem to be an unlikely source: APS, Arizona’s largest utility.

“APS is supportive of the new Energy Efficiency Standard,” said Jim Wontor, manager of the utility’s energy efficiency programs, in an email. “It is aggressive and challenging, but achievable.”

In addition to saving money for costumers, the new rule ultimately benefits the utility, wrote Wontor, by “reducing the cost to APS of meeting the increasing demand for electricity in the future.”

Not all utilities agree. Tucson Electric Power, for example, has objected to the measure it called unreasonable and costly.

SWEEP’s Jeff Schlegel, dismisses those claims. He points, instead, to additional benefits of the new rules:

“This will create 12,000 jobs, mostly in construction. It benefits consumers with lower electric bills, and it’s good for the environment.”

If the program is successful, Schlegel thinks the Arizona standard will spread to other states, and beyond.

“We hope,” he said, “that Arizona’s lead will have an impact on federal policy.”