Homegrown power

By Matt Weafer
Messenger-Inquirer Special Publications
Real Estate Inside Out: Lighter Living
Nov. 24, 2007

Jack Frost’s frigid fingers tighten their grip on Owensboro as winter draws near. Gas prices loom near $3 and many individuals have resorted to public transit, bicycling and carpooling. Global Warming has become a household term that strikes an ominous chord, conjuring mental images of civilization degrading the landscape into desert.

For some the damage civilization has caused to the Earth is heart-wrenching. And those people will take whatever steps feasibly possible to do their part to right them.

A recent growing trend is alternative energy for the home including wind and solar energy. But there lies a series of problems: What if the power is unreliable? Can I remove my home from the local power grid? Are there state regulations? Isn’t a photovoltaic system really expensive?

The solution many states have adopted to supplying alternative, reliable energy is net metering. At the customer’s expense the home-owner installs solar panels and a meter that measures both the input and the output of energy to and from the home.

With solar power, energy is abundant at peak hours, but during a stormy winter week when the sun barely pokes its transcendent rays through the atmosphere, the energy is intermittent.

With net metering, during the low times, the home would draw from the local power grid. During peak times, the energy would go to the home and then flow back to storage on the energy grid and essentially sell energy back to the energy company.

In successful areas at the end of a month, when a customer would normally receive a bill, he or she may pay only base fees and at the end of the year receive a check for roll-over credits. But that’s an extremity — an ideal location with a profuse supply of energy and minimal consumption.

Requirements for net metering vary in each state.

Kentucky state legislature, as of April 22, 2004, "require(s) all investor-owned utilities and rural electric cooperatives to offer net metering to customers with photovoltaic systems of 15 kW or less."

However other states such as Iowa allow systems as large as 500 kW, though the majority of states allow only systems lower than 100 kW.

According to Joshua Bills, installer of solar systems and owner of Sunbelievable, "15 kW is a pretty big system." On average 15 kW can produce 1,800 kW hours per month. "And that’s quite more than most people have," he added. "Most people have maybe 800 kW."

John Robbins, energy consultant and solar home designer for Northern Kentucky, said a 15kW hour system in four hours of direct sun light could generate 60kW hours, which is more than an average home uses at one time. So the excess would overflow back to the grid.

For Owensboro, Kenergy Director of Member Services David Hamilton said, net metering is available for Kenergy customers. But no one has taken advantage of the opportunity yet. "It’s the kind of thing someone really must want to do," Hamilton said due to the cost of the photovoltaic cells and installation. "The cost return may not be there because of the low cost of electricity in Kentucky," he said. "(But) we’d be willing to work with anyone that’s interested in trying this."

Owensboro Municipal Utilities does not have a formal policy regarding net metering, OMU Public Relations and Communications Specialist Sonya Dixon said. "But we do plan to have one by 2008," she said. Dixon said, OMU is still researching PURPA requirements, recommendations and the Kentucky net metering tariff.

PURPA or Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act — enacted in 1978 — requires utilities to purchase whatever amount of energy is available from qualifying facilities. Developed by President Jimmy Carter, PURPA sought to decrease the Nation’s dependence on foreign oil by promoting local alternative sources. PURPA may be overturned.
But in the meantime, Dixon said, she is not aware of any requests by customers for net metering.


Reprinted with permission, Messenger-Inquirer.