Greening the Co-op: Advancing the Right Strategy For Your Community Atlanta, Georgia September 23, 2011 Jill K. Cliburn Clean Energy Ambassadors jkcliburn@gmail.com.

Greening the Co-op:Advancing the Right StrategyFor Your CommunityAtlanta, GeorgiaSeptember 23, 2011

Green Resources Available for Greenhouse Gas Reductions by 2030

Source: ASES

Your challenge

1. Understand the basics of utility resource planning

2. See energy efficiency as a resource 3. Get a clear picture of opportunities for

solar, wind, biomass, other renewables4. Put these in context for your co-op5. Change hearts and minds

Mark Gerken, AMP (Ohio)

• Former chairman, APPA• Former new coal proponent• Outspoken new leader in EE & renewables

Generation in a diverse portfolio

* PV and mixed-renewables in smart-grid fleets promise greater flexibility

Utility programs work with market-driven changes (better building materials and equipment) plus policies, such as codes and standards.

Efficiency first!

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 20120

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Supply Side Resources

Market- and Policy-Driven EE

Utility-Driven EE

What makes energy efficiency

and DSM a resource?

• Measurable

• Long-term

• Reliable

• Cost-effective

• Suited to the utility

Sample measures*

* There’s a difference between a measure and a program!

Okay, let’sread themeter…

The link between marketing andEE program results*

1) Top-level support2) Utilities? Yes, if mission-oriented3) Trained, motivated trade allies4) Word-of-mouth (social) marketing5) Well-scheduled promotions6) Public participation is an engine for success

* Jane Peters, 30 Years of Process Evaluation (2008)

Can co-ops redefine revenue requirements?

Premium servicesPlug-in electric vehiclesEE FinancingGSHPSWH

Renewables: race the clock

US DOE believes in 15-20% wind & solar… Do you?

Rural America leads in wind development

A story of co-op wind from the heartland…

Wind farm near Atchinson-Holt Electric Cooperative, Missouri

Co-op Wind Survey: Nearly every co-op that invested in wind had looked at the economics earlier & later revisited wind

Often cited reasons driving interest in wind:• Customer interest• Seeking diversity, risk management• Drawn to local resources• Environmental concerns• Long-term outlook for lower energy cost

“Co-ops found manyadvantages after they had

operated their systems.”

Not to minimizeBiomass, biochar,or geothermal…

3 Solar Development Tracks

• Customer-driven PV–Predominant today; most co-ops skeptical of net benefits

• Centralized PV technologies–Similar to conventional generation model; useful, but limited by land & grid requirements, line losses, and resource variability issues that are mitigated by distributed PV strategies (below)

• Utility-Driven Strategic Distributed PVDeployed on land or rooftops, designed to utility specifications(e.g., location, scale, orientation, and operation). Its design, procurement,and operation are strategically planned to deliver value to the utility,in terms of generation, transmission, and/or distribution systembenefits, beyond those that naturally occur whenever PV is sited &operated on the utility system.*

*See Cliburn and Robertson, ASES 2006, 2007

Solar market rolls off the coasts; Prices drop

Utility PV Services Circa 1997NW PPD, Nebraska (NRECA Member)

Starting Point? A community solar garden

Neither this…. Nor that…

Initially 25- to 500-kW PV, usually in partnership with a 3rd Party and/or with a utility, supported by individual ownership, leases, or subscriptions.

Source: Cliburn, CRN 2010

Widely accepted ranges for solar PV value*: APS

Source: RW Beck 2009* REC value may add 10 to 20 cents

It’s time to start looking at theindividual resources—where they are and how they perform.– Bobby Hollis, NV Energy

In confidence thatthere is a renewableenergy solution,your first challengeis help co-opleaders to makethe Switch*.

*using this and many other sources

Thank You!jkcliburn@gmail.comCleanenergyambassadors.ning.com