The Power of Local Renewable Energy

T H E P O W E R O F L O C A LH O W T O A D VA N C E D I S T R I B U T E D R E N E W A B L E E N E R G Y

John Farrell Director of Democratic Energy

August 24, 2014

H U G E P O T E N T I A L

I L L I N O I S

143 billion kW-hr

???

I L L I N O I S R O O F T O P S O L A R P O T E N T I A L ?

143 billion kW-hr

17%

I L L I N O I S R O O F T O P S O L A R P O T E N T I A L ?

143 billion kW-hr

???

I L L I N O I S W I N D P O T E N T I A L ?

143 billion kW-hr

517%

143 billion kW-hr

I L L I N O I S W I N D P O T E N T I A L ?

POTENTIAL PERCENT OF POWER FROM LOCAL

RENEWABLES

100% or more 50 to 100% 25 to 50% 10 to 25% 10% or less

M A S S I V E L O C A L P O T E N T I A L

Source: Energy Self-Reliant States

32 states - 100%+

0¢

10¢

20¢

30¢

40¢

50¢

0 MW

3,000 MW

6,000 MW

9,000 MW

12,000 MW

15,000 MW

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Installed MW

Levelized cost

I N S TA L L E D S O L A R C A PA C I T Y & L E V E L I Z E D C O S T ( U . S . )

W E ’ R E G E T T I N G T H E R E , B U T C A N I T G O F U R T H E R ?

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013

I N S TA L L E D W I N D A N D S O L A R , G E R M A N Y ( M E G A W AT T S )

G E R M A N Y: C L E A N P O W E R

25% RenewableY E S

Other 53%

Individuals & Farmers 47%

G E R M A N Y: P E O P L E P O W E R E D

O W N E R S H I P O F G E R M A N W I N D A N D S O L A R

3 4 , 0 0 0 M W

# 1 S O L A R U T I L I T Y, I N I O W A ?

79%

Solar 21%

A 4 2 % R E N E W A B L E C O O P E R AT I V E

Biomass 12%

Non-renewable 58%

Customer solar 6%

Utility solar 14%

Hydro 9%

A D VA N TA G E L O C A L

$??? billion in IL energy imports

For 143 billion kWh of electricity

$12 billion in IL energy imports

$12 billion in potential

By turning energy imports into local energy production

Total Economic Impact

Locally Owned Renewable Energy

Not local

0 25 50 75 100

very negative negative neutral positive very positive

L O C A L P O W E R VA L U E(political)

Attitude towards increased use of local wind energy

Not local

0 25 50 75 100

very negative negative neutral positive very positive

-44%

+33%

+77% net approvalLocal

Ownership

L O C A L P O W E R VA L U E(political)

“ G R E E N T E A C O A L I T I O N ”

L O C A L P O W E R VA L U E

A D VA N TA G E I N C U M B E N T ?

1 0 - 1 1 % R O I F O R I N F R A S T R U C T U R E

2 0 T H C E N T U R Y U T I L I T Y

Utility Electricity Sales Going Flat

Utility Power Generation Must Shift

2 1 S T C E N T U R Y U T I L I T Y ?

U T I L I T I E S P R O F I T F R O M O W N I N G R E N E WA B L E S

F R E E D O M T O G E N E R AT E U N D E R F I R E

States facing challenges to distributed generation

Sources: Renewable Energy World, Greentech Media, IREC, Vote Solar and many more

5/21/14

U T I L I T I E S P R O F I T F R O M F I G H T I N G C U S T O M E R -O W N E D R E N E WA B L E S

U T I L I T I E S P R O F I T F R O M O W N I N G C U S T O M E R -S I T E D R E N E WA B L E S

P R O D U C I N G E L E C T R I C I T Y T O M E E T D E M A N DEl

ectr

icity

Dea

mnd

Time of day

1 AM 3 AM 5 AM 7 AM 9 AM 11 AM 1 PM 3 PM 5 PM 7 PM 9 PM 11 PM

Adapted from David Mills: http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2010/12/02/3081889.htm

W I T H B A S E L O A D

Baseload (coal or nuclear)

Intermediate peaking (e.g. natural gas combined cycle)

Fast peaking (e.g. gas combustion turbine)

P R O D U C I N G E L E C T R I C I T Y T O M E E T D E M A N DEl

ectr

icity

Dea

mnd

Time of day

1 AM 3 AM 5 AM 7 AM 9 AM 11 AM 1 PM 3 PM 5 PM 7 PM 9 PM 11 PM

Adapted from David Mills: http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2010/12/02/3081889.htm

W I T H B A S E L O A D

Baseload (coal or nuclear)

Intermediate peaking (e.g. natural gas combined cycle)

Fast peaking (e.g. gas combustion turbine)

U T I L I T I E S L O S E M O N E Y I F S O L A R C O M P E T E S W I T H

T H E I R P O W E R P L A N T S

T E C H N I C A L LY FA L S E

H O W U T I L I T I E S F I G H T D E M O C R A T I C E N E R G Y

I N T E R M I T T E N C Y

A T I N Y P R O B L E M

99%

Solar 1%

S P R E A D O U T T O S O LV E

Geographic Dispersion Lowers Solar Backup Costs

$0.00

$0.01

$0.02

$0.03

$0.04

1 location 5 locations 25 locations

$0.001

$0.010

$0.040

$ per kWh

Implications of Wide-Area Geographic Diversity for Short- Term Variability of Solar Power (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

S U N I S P R E D I C TA B L E

W E AT H E R I S T O O

W E AT H E R I S T O O

Nov. 10, 2011 BOULDER, Colo.

Advanced Wind Forecasts Save Millions of Dollars for Xcel Energy

S U M M A R Y: I N T E G R AT I O N O F R E N E W A B L E E N E R G Y I S M A N A G E A B L E

C H A N G I N G T H E R U L E S ( 8 O F ‘ E M )

Average'(me'in'one'residence:'''Finance'terms:'

10515'years'

556'years' 556'years'

556'years'

L O C A L E N E R G Y F I N A N C I N G1

10#15%years%

5#6%years% 5#6%years%

L O C A L E N E R G Y F I N A N C I N G1

T I E T O T H E P R O P E R T Y

L O C A L E N E R G Y F I N A N C I N G

http://pacenow.org/

1

L O C A L E N E R G Y F I N A N C I N G

http://pacenow.org/

1

2

CCA

CCA Current utility

C O M M U N I T Y C H O I C E A G G R E G AT I O N

C O M M U N I T Y C H O I C E2

S TA T E S W I T H C O M M U N I T Y C H O I C E A U T H O R I T Y

G R E E N C O M M U N I T Y C H O I C E

67%

Renewable 33%

AT A L O W E R C O S T

2

L O C A L P O W E R P U R C H A S I N G3

State sets min and maxState sets min, certain cities can exceedNo state standard (local authority)

voluntary min.

B U I L D I N G C O D E A U T H O R I T Y4

State VNM Eligibility

California Multi-tenant properties, local governments

Colorado IOU customers; solar gardens

Connecticut Municipal customers only

Dist. of Columbia All customers

Illinois Utility choice to offer

Maine All customers

Maryland Allowed for agricultural customers, non-profit organizations, and municipal governments or their affiliates

Massachusetts All customers

Minnesota Xcel Energy customers only, awaiting rulemaking, 10/16/13

Rhode Island Local and state governments

Vermont All customers

5V I R T U A L N E T M E T E R I N G

C O L L E C T I V E O W N E R S H I P6

C O L L E C T I V E O W N E R S H I P6

Source: SharedRenewables.org

C O L L E C T I V E O W N E R S H I P6

J O B S A C T

F R A N C H I S E

LEVERAGEUtilitiesCities

7

F R A N C H I S E

MONEYUtilitiesCities

7

L O C A L P O W E R

S A N TA F EB O U L D E R

2x Coal

8

P R O P O S E D C I T Y- O W N E D U T I L I T I E S

.org

ilsr.orgL I S T E N I N

K E E P U P - T O - D AT E

L E A R N M O R E

If God had wanted us to live sustainably, she’d have given us brains