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INDEPENDENT
ENERGY QUARTERLY: COOPERATIVE
EDITION
Summer 2004
Volume 2, Issue 2 |
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Celebrating
Energy Independence
As we announced in January, 2004 is Northwest
SEED’s Year of Energy Independence. In this edition
we mark the summer season of the year with our Co-op Edition
of the IEQ. In this edition, we celebrate how regional communities
are working together to make investments in energy independence.
We hope you enjoy your summer!
Download the PDF Version
(Need
Acrobat Reader?) |
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| County Commissioner Don
Marble has been "the wind in the sails" of the
Liberty 10 kW community wind project. |
LIBERTY & WIND
POWER FOR ALL
Rethinking Wind Power and Energy Use
in Montana
by Thom Wallace
The Liberty County Commissioners didn’t
just stumble across the idea of
putting up a wind turbine. It swept them off their feet. Wind
in the Hi-Line region of Montana is a constant presence and
has long been a nemesis to many. These days, however, if the
wind stops blowing for just a moment, residents anxiously
await its return.
A commissioner in Liberty County for the last
year and a retired aeronautical engineer, Don Marble has considered
the potential for wind power in the region during his thirty
or so years living in Montana. Other commissioners started
to take notice when monitoring and recording of heat, wind
and precipitation for tracking drought showed exactly how
powerful wind was in Liberty County. The commissioners formulated
a plan to install a wind turbine, along with Northwest SEED
and Our Wind Cooperative, that would bring both renewable
energy and awareness to the local community. When the County’s
Bergey 10 kW turbine construction was completed this past
February, a swarm of community members, including politicians
and school children, attended the “Energy Independence”
dedication to celebrate the installation. Liberty County’s
plan has succeeded beyond all expectations, and the process
has changed the community’s relationship with energy
usage.
The moment the turbine started spinning at the
County shop this past winter, employees started spinning their
own ideas. “The generator made everyone around here
aware of what energy use is all about,” said County
Road Director Sean Norick. “It’s was the realization
of what we were not doing [to save energy] that was the real
surprise to us,” he added. Norick didn’t say that
just to sound good. In April 2003, the Liberty County shop
used 1615 kWh for the entire month. One year later, in April
2004 with their turbine generating 680 kWh and some creative
energy efficiency tactics, the shop purchased only 470 kWh.
That is an 1145 kWh energy savings, or close to a $100 savings
for that month from the previous year. Electricity produced
by the wind turbine accounts for 60% of the reduction in electricity
purchased from the utility. Conservation measures account
for the rest.
"You
don't mind the wind blowin' now!"
- Shawn Norick, Liberty County Road
Manager |
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| Employees of the Liberty
County shop stand outside the shop on a beautiful Montana
day. The County's Bergey 10 kW wind turbine is creating
more than power; it's building energy awareness in the
Liberty Community. |
“I didn’t realize the way it would
change the way people think around here as much as it has,”
says Marble who is pleased with the way the County employees
in the shop have kept striving to be more energy efficient.
“Community folks come up to me and say ‘I look
up at the turbine every day and see the turbine turning and
it just makes me feel good,’ and that indicates how
much of a success story this is,” added Marble. The
shop contacted NorthWestern Energy and began asking questions
on how they could change their practices to save energy. In
addition to strategically turning off lights during peak demand
hours and before the office closes, Liberty County installed
ceiling fans to move heat down from the radiant arms of the
high ceiling roof. According to Norick, the big CATs used
for road maintenance are like 10 ton ice blocks when brought
inside the shop in the winter, so heating up the shop used
to mean big gas bills. Now with more heat being circulated
and brought down from the rafters, the County is also using
less gas to heat the shop.
Montana communities are taking notice of what
is going on in Liberty County, and the Commissioners are the
ones to thank. Their vision and leadership to develop windpower
is paying off in a lot of ways that can be counted and Marble
says that “we are just getting started.” Don,
along with his fellow County Commissioners, are exploring
larger turbine sites in the area for a community wind project.
With many in Montana talking about what wind could do for
their state, Liberty County is showing the region exactly
what it will do.
Another unexpected outcome, adds Norick,
is that on those windy days on the Hi-Line plains of Montana,
“You don’t mind the wind blowin now!” Liberty
County will be remembered in the annals of Montana history
for that achievement.
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Northwest Co-ops and the Power of Cooperation
by Doug Boleyn, Northwest SEED Board Member
Throughout history, groups of dispersed individuals
such as farmers, ranchers, and artisans have formed cooperative
groups to strengthen either their purchasing power or marketing
power for their products – or both – to be viable
in the marketplace and ensure their livelihood.
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| Northwest SEED Board Member
Doug Boleyn delivers a check to Northwest Solar Co-op
Members for the value of the Green Tags produced from
their solar panels. |
The Northwest Solar Cooperative, operated by
Cascade Solar Consulting, and Our Wind Co-op, organized by
Northwest SEED and its partners, are forging ahead with a
new type of cooperative. These cooperatives link together
individuals and small renewable energy systems to produce
clean, renewable energy “by and for the people”
of the Northwest, and are defining the phrase “the power
of cooperation.”
With abundant solar and wind energy available
throughout the Northwest there is a growing demand for renewable
energy. For many, the systems to capture this energy are still
(relatively) expensive. While sending electricity from these
individual systems to “market” through local utility
lines is easy, marketing the “green” or environmental
attributes (which can be sold in the form of Green Tags) to
a big audience of buyers is daunting for many homeowners,
land owners, and farmers.
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| A 4.8 kilowatt solar photovoltaic
array owned by Scott McMahon in Klamath Falls, Oregon,
is the second largest residential system in the NW Solar
Co-op. |
This is where the “power of cooperation”
kicks in. The cooperative business model offers a combined
market presence for small systems while reducing the installation
and financing barriers. This collective product is tangible
for regional foundations, individuals, businesses, and agencies
that want to invest in alternative energy options.
As part of the NW Solar Co-op in Oregon, 10% of the up-front
cost of a small solar power system is paid for by Oregon Taxpayers,
40% by Oregon utility ratepayers, 7% from co-op sales of Green
Tags, and 43% from the owner/producer. In Washington, 7% is
provided by Washington taxpayers by means of the sales tax
exemption, and another 7% by the Co-op Sales of Green Tags.
Northwest SEED, through its fundraising efforts, has leveraged
over 50% funding for small wind turbines installed through
Our Wind Co-op. As a result of a stronger market value and
state incentives for distributed generation, residents, businesses
and non-profits throughout the region can now own solar and
wind power systems even more affordably.
Not only do these Co-ops allow members
to “aggregate" the market value of their clean
energy systems and capitalize on state incentives, they are
also strengthening the regional community of renewable energy
producers. These new producer co-ops bring geographically
diverse people together to leverage experience, knowledge,
and partnerships. In more ways than one, Our Wind Co-op and
NW Solar Co-op are placing “the power” back into
the hands of individuals and communities and that, by all
means, is American.
Doug Boleyn has been a board member for
Northwest SEED since 2003 and is the owner of Cascade Solar
LLC based out of Portland, Oregon. Doug served for 20 years
for a utility as solar/renewable energy consultant and also
developed conservation marketing programs. He is currently
President of the Solar Energy Association of Oregon, a member
of the American Solar Energy Society, and a registered Professional
Engineer in Oregon. Visit
for more information.
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For Washington's
Low-Income Families, a Breath of Fresh Air
by Sarah Peterson
With the growing wind energy industry poised
to provide significant amounts of new, low-cost, sustainable
energy for the Northwest, a partnership including NWSEED is
undertaking a new initiative to bring clean renewable energy
to households in need while also increasing the effectiveness
of low income energy assistance programs.
Clean Power and Low-Income Households -
NWSEED Helps Make a Connection
This spring, NWSEED began working with A World
Institute for a Sustainable Humanity (A W.I.S.H.) on a new
project to develop creative means of using sustainable wind
energy development to help low-income families in Washington.
The new collaboration is funded by a U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services grant to AWISH as a part of Washington’s
Residential Energy Assistance Challenge (REACh) project.
The REACh project aims to build on previous efforts in both
community-based wind and energy assistance to create low-
and stable-priced renewable energy options for low income
households in Washington. The REACh initiative shifts away
from a demand-side model of energy assistance, partnering
with the growing wind power industry to develop supply-side
solutions for residents trying to pay their energy bills.
Securing long-term, fixed-price energy sources and non-federal
energy assistance through wind power development will increase
the self-sufficiency of low-income families for the next 20
years – the minimum expected life span of a wind power
plant.
“This precedent-setting grant will allow
us to continue the successful partnerships we developed with
stakeholders during the first phase of the REACh project by
creating a slice of fixed-price power that is both green and
affordable and earmarking it for low-income households in
the state,” said Michael Karp, president and chief executive
officer of A W.I.S.H.
Northwest SEED will be working over the
next year to bring Our Wind Co-op into the project by exploring
ways for public utilities to use the green energy from small
scale wind projects for low income energy assistance programs.
As we kick off our newest partnership in 2004, Northwest SEED
looks forward to actively supporting the REACh project as
a viable way to utilize sustainable energy options to deliver
economic benefits to all communities throughout the Northwest.
With this project, we are helping low income families look
to wind to provide a breath of fresh air in more ways than
one.
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Our Wind Coop:
The Power of Cooperation: A Closer
Look at the Numbers
In this section we take a look at the
past year of energy production from the first 5 turbines installed
in the small turbine cooperative organized and assisted by
Northwest SEED.
Our Wind Co-op is a unique cooperative investing in small-scale
wind turbines for farms, ranches and public and private facilities
across the rural Northwest.
By the end of 2004, at least ten 10-kW turbines will have
been installed at sites serviced by publicly-owned utilities.
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Site
Location |
Date
of Installation |
Tower
Height |
Vw.
Photo |
May, 23, 2003 |
100 ft. |
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Sept. 30, 2003 |
100 ft. |
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Feb. 22, 2004 |
60 ft. |
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Nov. 3, 2003 |
80 ft. |
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Dec. 16, 2003 |
80 ft. |
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Energy
Generated |
Avg.
Wind Speed |
Energy
Generated |
Avg.
Wind Speed* |
+
View Larger Version of Chart
| Gwen
Bassetti, resident of Goldendale and Seattle, Washington,
is the newest member of the Our Wind Co-op. Located on
her farm near Ed Kennell's site (#4),Gwen’s will
be the sixth turbine in the co-op. Gwen just completed
all necessary siting and county permitting processes and
her site is currently under NEPA review. Construction
is expected to begin this summer with a final installation
occurring by September 30th. We look forward to a community
dedication event for the two Klickitat County sites in
early fall 2004. |
| With the initial
goal of installing ten, 10 kW turbines, the Co-op is currently
working on a handful of viable prospects for sites 7-10
in the Northwest region. Upon completion of turbine #10,
the Co-op will evaluate future growth. |
| In addition to
sharing updates on the weather and crops, the members
of Our Wind Co-op have been meeting monthly to discuss
strategies for marketing the Co-op Green Tags. The Co-op
is currently working with the Bonneville Environmental
Foundation to sell the tags to utilities in Washington
and Montana. The Co-op has also received strong support
and interest in purchasing co-op tags from the Washington
Association of Churches. |
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NWSEED News and Updates
Seattle City Light and BEF Fund
Our Wind Co-op
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| Seattle City Light representative
Jean Becker and Rob Harmon of the Bonneville Environmental
Foundation hand over a check to Heather Rhoads-Weaver
of Northwest SEED. |
In January 2004 Northwest SEED staff
met with representatives of Seattle City Light and Bonneville
Environmental Foundation to celebrate the recent collaboration
between the three organizations. SCL’s Green Power program
purchased Green Tags from the Bonneville Environmental Foundation
to help NWSEED install several of Our Wind Co-op’s Washington
small wind turbines. SCL’s purchase of the BEF Green
Tags provided $20,000 for NWSEED to support this effort.
In addition to enabling OWC members to install new turbines
in Washington, the environmental benefits of this purchase
include a reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere equivalent
to removing 121 cars from the roads for a year. Thanks to
BEF, SCL and all of its Green Power customers!
2003 Year in Review Now Available
NWSEED’s most recent publication
is our first Year in Review, released and published in early
April of 2004. In addition to a recap of the organization’s
main program area accomplishments, the publication reviews
fund support for 2003 and recognizes our many foundation supporters,
partners, donors, and in-kind contributors.
Click Here to Read It
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NWSEED Volunteers
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| Diane Pfeifle has volunteered
continuously during the past healf year, primarily dedicated
to communications and outreach work. Thanks Diane, for
all of your dedication! |
Our volunteers are essential for us to
carry out our mission to promote renewable energy and economic
opportunities in rural areas. We appreciate volunteers’
dedication and the priceless gifts of their time, talents
and resources. This month we are recognizing two stalwart
volunteers who have served the organization with passion and
determination.
To learn about how you can get involved, visit the
Sid, Good Luck in your future endeavors
and congratulations on your marriage!
Thanks to all
our other volunteers!
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STRENGTHENING
THE RURAL ECONOMY
