Rhode Island Zero Energy Building (ZEB)Task Force Sixth Meeting October, 2015
Rhode Island Zero Energy Building (ZEB)Task
Force
Sixth Meeting
October, 2015
Agenda for October 23 Meeting
Topic Time Lead/
Facilitator
Introduction by host, Dryvit Inc 9:00 – 9:10 Dean Balcirak
Recap of Sept 2015 Meeting 9:10 – 9:25 Puja Vohra
Renewable Energy Overview 9:25– 9:35 Fran Boucher
State Energy Office Renewable
Initiatives
9:35 – 9:50 Shauna Beland
SolarWise Initiative through Renewable
Growth
9:50 – 10:00 Laura Rodormer
Designing a balanced portfolio for RI 10:00 – 10:15 Karsten Bard
Renewable energy--Summary 10:15-10:30 Fran Boucher
Discussions, next Steps & timelines 10:30 – 11:00 All
Recap September Meeting
Facilitator hiring update
White paper outline: High level feedback from team,
progress on homework assignment, any questions
Summary of September exercise: 2015-2017 forecast
Sept Recap: What is Happening
State Policy
• Renewable funding
• Solarize
• RIIB+PACE
• Governor sustainability
Utility
• Taskforce
• ZNE Ready (resi challenge)
• SolarWise
Education
• Some trainings
• Tours
• Showcase events
Others
• SBA capital planning for schools
• DOE definitions
What is Happening/will Happen (2015-2017)
Sept Recap: What NEEDS to
Happen (2015-2017 & Beyond0
State Policy
• Governor to adopt our white paper
• Require all NC projects to submit solar sighting
• Bills for solar+EE tax incentives*
• Consumer energy legistation
• Solar orientation requirements
• Roof structure requirements
Utility
• Act upon white paper recos.
• Incentives for ZNE projects
• ZNE demo projects
• Grow SolarWise
• Virtual net-metering for community solar*
• Resolve interconnection issues for high volume
• Approve 2016 ceiling prices*
Sept Recap: What NEEDS to
Happen (2015-2017 & Beyond0
Education/
Awareness
• Moisture/IAQ trainings
• Increase awareness: Social media, lectures
• Focus tech tracks on ZNE
• More funding for trainings
• Database of ZNE projects
• Present whitepaper to community
Others
• SBA capital funds
• Partnership with DOE/others
• Experimental growth in retrofit existing bldg stock*
• Use master planning for district-wide E savings + production*
• Greater attention to EE projects in State projects pipeline
• Identify potential state ZNE projects
Renewables Challenges
Renewable power is clean energy
National Grid is a huge supporter of renewables
:
Renewables Issues
Renewables present challenges to
utilities
Typical model
Utility pays for pipe or wire
Customer repays through rates
Renewables Issues
Renewables owners pay little or nothing for it service they get (use the grid 8760 hrs. year!)
With net metering
Customers pay little or no conservation charge
They don’t pay into funds that fund renewables
ZNE customers get maximum benefit but don’t pay anything back
Cost covered by “others”
The more renewables the higher the cost
Renewables Issues
Surplus Generation and the last
straw
Filling a wine glass with a fire hose
A house / building renewable system can generate 5 to 7
times the demand of the house at certain times of the
year
Transformers are designed for less than the peak
demand of each connected house/ building
Multiple houses with renewables will exceed transformer
capacity ( each PV system = 5 to 7 houses)
“Next on” must pay the entire cost of the transformer!
The person before or after that pays nothing.
Surplus Generation and the last
straw
Cost to maintain not covered
Two or three transformers instead of one
2x or 3x as much to maintain
2x or 3x the cost if a storm takes the pole down
Storms:
Increased inventory?
Increased restoration time waiting for transformers?
Meanwhile, the users that drive the extra equipment are paying little or nothing to the utility.
Underground neighborhoods
Situation compounded
More space needed on customer’s lawn for Xfrmr
The person with xfrmer may not be person with PV
Existing neighborhoods wires likely undersized
Case for grid/ community solar so these neighborhoods aren’t priced out?
New neighborhoods
Change standards for larger wire and larger transformer?
Who pays?
What if it never gets used ( community or grid scale PV)
Requires new policies
Requires economic analysis
New thinking?
Lottery for capacity?
Auction for capacity?
Loans for private owners to have capacity?
14
Components of charges
Meter readings
Wires and poles depreciation and maintenance
Customer services
Emergency response
Retirement payment obligations
All office and facilities costs
All transportation and equipment costs
Regulatory costs and rate case
Cost of procuring energy
15
Grid scale verses individual
homes
Grid scale renewables eliminates
Grid scale connected “upstream” on larger lines
Eliminates:
Cost of upgrading maintaining thousands of small
transformers is
Strain on underground residential neighborhoods
“Last Straw” sole bearer of additional transformer cost
Cheaper? Safer?
Few barriers to growth?
Battery storage more viable?
16
Our mission is to lead Rhode Island to a
secure, cost-effective, and sustainable energy
future
Currently Available RI State
Renewable Energy Programs
Renewable Energy Fund
Managed by the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation and provides grants for:
Residential and small commercial PV and solar hot water projects
Commercial Scale renewable energy projects as defined in RIGL § 39-26-5 (primarily solar PV and wind)
The REF also provides loans for the feasibility of renewable energy projects, specifically for brownfield solar PV, anaerobic digestion, and small scale hydro
REF uses system benefits charge funds as the capital source
All projects awarded through the REF programs are expected to be net-metered
REF pays for a quality assurance program for all
Solarize Rhode Island
Purpose
Solarize is a community-driven program designed to drive down the costs of installing small-scale solar energy systems
Key components include:
Tiered pricing system that leverages economies of scale
Competitively-selected installer
Community-based marketing
Partnership between Commerce RI, OER, and SmartPower
Job Growth in the PV Industry - new installers entering into the RI market to participate
19
Solarize Rhode
Island Program
Summary
Phase I Solarize North Smithfield
• 9 Week Campaign
• 84 contracts signed for a total of 623 kW
• Only four solar PV projects had been installed in the community prior to the Program
• Program had the direct effect of lowering the statewide cost of solar from an average of $4.35/watt to $3.95/watt as of May 2015.
• Program reached Tier 3 in the 4th week, meaning the base price for all participants was $3.45/watt
• The first educational workshop had a standing room only crowd of 123 people
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7
2
13
8 7
6
12
25
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Num
be
r o
f C
on
tra
cts
Sig
ne
d
Program Week
Systems Contracted
Systems contracted
Solarize Rhode Island Program Summary
Phase II Tiverton and Little
Compton
• Communities were chosen to
see if a Solarize campaign can
help with National Grid’s
System Reliability.
• Contracts were signed for a
total of 485 kW nameplate of
solar. This represents 252 kW
in Little Compton (37 contracts)
and 232 kW in Tiverton (30
contracts).
• 64 out of 67 systems were on
feeders 3 and 4 (the “SRP
area”). The Program far
exceeded the pilot goal of 240
kW from Solarize residential
and small commercial projects.
# of
systems
# of SRP
systems
Nameplate
kW
SRP
kW Little
Compton 37 37 252.89
128.1
0
Tiverton 30 27 232.26 69.85
Total 67 64 485.15
197.9
4
Fall 2015 Solarize Communities
October 8, 2015 the Solarize Program Administrators
held a Fall Campaign Kickoff Event which announced
the following communities:
Foster
South Kingstown
Barrington
Warwick
Aquidneck Island - Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth
Installer-Community Interview Day – October 22 to
choose the selected installers for the campaign.
Solarize @ Work
Parallel to the Municipal Solarize campaigns, OER is working with SmartPower to pilot a Solarize “Affinity” model targeting where people work rather than where they live
Partner with a RI based company or Community to educate employees about solar PV
Program will increase solar adoption in RI across a wide geographic area
Selected businesses will work with Program Administrators throughout 2015- 2016 while running the Municipal Solarize Program in Fall 2015 and Spring 2016
Dividend Solar will be offering financing for small scale PV systems through solar loans
Solarize@Work will utilize a Dividend Solar’s network of New England and RI based installers
23
Renewable Energy Growth Program
Managed by National Grid with oversight by OER and the Distributed Generation Board
160 Megawatt Renewable Energy Program between 2015 and 2019
15 and 20 Year Tariffs provided to renewable energy system owners for the financing/incentives of the installations
Eligible technologies include solar, wind, anaerobic digestion and small-scale hydropower
The DG Board approved the 2016 ceiling prices on October 19.
These are not net metered projects.
The PUC approved $125,000 toward a quality assurance program for PV and Wind projects, vendor soon to be under contract with OER
The 2016 ceiling prices also include three new pricing categories for income eligible, non-profit, and multifamily projects.
This program is in lieu of a solar RPS carve out.
Summary of 2016 Ceiling Prices
Recommended for PUC Approval (1)
25
Ceiling Price Category (kW) CP Description
Recommended
CP
(all prices in
¢/kWh)
Small Solar I, Host Owned (1-10)
15-year Tariff, With 30%
ITC 37.65
20-year Tariff, With 30%
ITC 33.45
Small Solar I, Third-Party Owned
(1-10)
15-year Tariff, With 30%
ITC 29.90
20-year Tariff, With 30%
ITC 26.10
Small Solar II (11-25) 20-year Tariff, With 30%
ITC 26.15
Medium Solar (26-250) 20-year Tariff, With 30%
ITC 24.40
Commercial Solar (251-999) 20-year Tariff, With 10%
ITC
23.15
Large Solar (1,000-5,000) 18.35
Wind I (1,500-2,999)
20-year Tariff, Without PTC
24.45
Wind II (3,000-5,000; 2-turbine) 23.45
Wind III (3,000-5,000; 3-turbine) 22.65
Anaerobic Digestion I (150-500) 21.20
Anaerobic Digestion II (501-1,000) 21.20
Hydro I (10-250) 21.00
Hydro II (251-1,000) 19.75
Not compet
itive
Competitive
Summary of 2016 Ceiling Prices
Recommended for PUC Approval (2)
26
Ceiling Price Category (kW) CP Description
Recommended
CP
(all prices in
¢/kWh)
Small-Scale Solar – Residential or
Non-profit master metered single
unit building (1-10 kW)
15-year 45.25
20-year 39.85
Small Scale Solar – Residential,
Small Commercial, or Non-profit
master metered multi-unit building
(2-4 tenant units) (11-25 kW)
20-year 30.15
Medium Solar - Non-profit or multi-
unit (5 or more tenant units) master
metered building
(26-250 kW)
20-year 29.55
These three new ceiling prices are not competitive
Future Rhode Island Infrastructure
Bank Programs
General Overview of RIIB
Over 20 years of experience in issuing bonds (AAA-rated)
Over $1.4 billion
Article 14 of the FY 2016 budget expanded responsibilities of the Rhode Island Clean Water Finance Agency to include energy efficiency and renewable energy, and brownfields financing programs
Programs meet a market failure for energy efficiency and renewable energy investment needs
Job creation mechanism
RICWFA’s name was changed (on September 1st) to better reflect the expanded responsibilities of the agency
Oversees Clean Water State Revolving Fund, Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, Road and Bridge Revolving Loan Fund, Septic and Sewer tie-ins
Efficient Buildings Fund
Public entity revolving loan fund for municipalities and school districts to make clean energy improvements
Eligible improvements include energy efficiency and renewable energy investments
Encourages deep retrofits, energy savings greater than 20% of baseline
RI Office of Energy Resources will solicit projects through a project priority list from local governments early in 2016
OER will rank and publish the project priority list and RIIB will make financing decisions from the OER EBF PPL
Finance structure will be through a municipal lease arrangement
Requires appropriation pledge
Annual energy savings will be greater than or equal to the annual debt service
National Grid incentives available to reduce total cost of the project
Property Assessed Clean Energy – Residential and Commercial
Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) is a financing vehicle for commercial and residential property owners to finance energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements on their property
RIIB has solicited third party administrator(s) to administer the commercial and residential PACE programs
RIIB currently reviewing proposals
Program policies and procedures in development
Municipalities must voluntary opt-in to a PACE resolution
PACE funding is arranged by a third party administrator for 100% of a project’s cost
Private capital provides 100% upfront, long-term financing
Repayment through an assessment on property taxes
Improvements and loan term create positive cash flow
Energy savings must exceed investment cost
Lien transfers to new owner if the property is sold
Residential PACE lien is subordinate to the mortgage
Commercial PACE lien is superior to the mortgage and requires mortgage holder consent
Envisioning an Integrated Renewable
Future for RI
Large-scale renewables are
most cost-effective
Large-scale renewables are
most cost-effective per kwh
of clean energy and ton of
carbon emission avoided
Are there large-scale
“shared renewables”
programs that should be part
of the ZNE future?
31
National Grid chart, from data in: https://www.lazard.com/media/1777/levelized_cost_of_energy_-_version_80.pdf
Zero Net Energy should not be
about “going off the grid”
32
If a PV customer were to try and get the same services independent of the
grid, it would cost 4-8X as much
Extra PV panels (beyond the annual kWh requirement)
Battery storage
Charge controller
Backup generator
EPRI Integrated Grid 2014 report: http://www.epri.com/abstracts/Pages/ProductAbstract.aspx?ProductId=000000003002002733
Aren’t battery storage prices
coming down?
Yes.
Some early-adopter customers may
deploy storage in near-term for demand
charge mitigation and potential resiliency
benefit.
But long-term, storage’s value to
customers and to the utility will depend on
the ability to achieve multiple types of
benefits.
There are many unknowns!
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ZNE is an important part of the
integrated grid
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“The future of the distribution utility is evolving towards the integration of load and generation at the distribution level, for the benefit of customers receiving deliveries of electricity and customers generating electricity behind or at the meter.”
National Grid, Massachusetts Grid Modernization Plan, August 19, 2015