Water and Light Advisory Board pushes city to boost solar power

Solar energy currently makes up an infinitesimal portion of the city of Columbia's renewable energy portfolio, but the Columbia Water and Light Department has plans to increase its investment in solar over the next several fiscal years and to more aggressively promote customers' use of solar.

At the end of the 2012 calendar year, solar energy made up two-hundredths of 1 percent of the city's renewable energy portfolio, which makes up about 8 percent of all of the city's energy sources. Connie Kacprowicz, a spokeswoman for Water and Light, said although December totals for renewable energy are not yet in, renewables continued to make up 8 percent of the city's energy portfolio on average through 2013.

City officials say solar power's relatively high cost and the 3 percent cap on how much Water and Light can spend on renewable energy as part of its renewables mandate have served as barriers to including more solar in its portfolio.

A new solar panel hasn't been installed on city property since November 2012. But over the past year, Columbia residents and businesses have taken the lead on installing new solar; Kacprowicz said eight Water and Light customers installed solar arrays in fiscal year 2013, which ended Sept. 30. From fiscal 2008 through fiscal 2012, seven customers installed solar arrays.

The city now has about 375 kilowatts of solar set up at the Columbia Transload Facility in northeast Columbia, and it has solar shingles at its West Ash pump station that produce a small portion of the city's solar capacity. The panels at the transload facility are owned by Free Power Co., and the city leases energy from the panels at $54.95 per megawatt-hour.

Water and Light proposed to spend $500,000 this fiscal year on a community solar program in which electric customers who could not install panels on their own properties would be able to invest in energy from a centralized array and would be able to use the power generated as credit for their utility bill, a program that Kacprowicz said could be revenue-neutral.

Additionally, in the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, the department proposes to spend $200,000 on city-owned solar, which Kacprowicz said would cover the installation of 100 kilowatts of solar.

In a letter issued to the Columbia City Council earlier this month, the Water and Light Advisory Board wrote that with the right investments, the city's "next power plant" might be built on the roofs of homes, businesses and schools, and the city should install 100 kilowatts of solar capacity each year, including on its own buildings.
 

The board recommends the city move quickly on solar so people will be able to take advantage of federal tax credit programs — which allow businesses and homeowners to claim up to 30 percent of their expenditures on solar, wind and geothermal systems — that are set to either expire or be reduced significantly by 2017.

Tom O'Connor, a member of the Water and Light Advisory Board, owner of H2O'C Engineering and a Tribune columnist, said with more solar in the city, more of Water and Light's electric revenue would stay local rather than being shipped out to the "energy overlords" who provide most of the city's electricity. Less than 10 percent of Columbia's total energy portfolio is produced locally.

Water and Light Advisory Board member Hank Ottinger said he doesn't see the city's goals for more solar as "pie in the sky" but said even if the city is not able to meet all the goals it sets for solar, it would at least increase its use.

"If we fall a little short, so be it," Ottinger said. "But I think anyone who takes an objective, broad look at solar will see it's growing exponentially."

This article was published in the Tuesday, December 31, 2013 edition of the Columbia Daily Tribune with the headline "Board pushes city to boost solar power: Tax credits are prompting plan."