Middle Ga. 'solar farm' might offer new power source

Source: http://m.chronicle.augusta.com

 

ATLANTA -- A proposal from a start-up business promises to lower electricity rates by rebating profits to customers if it is given a chance to compete as Georgia Power Co.’s “mirror image.”

 

To proceed with its long-range plan of developing 2 gigawatts of solar power, the start-up, Georgia Solar Utilities Inc., wants to start by building an 80-megawatt “solar farm” near Milledgeville as soon as it gets a green light from the Georgia Public Service Commission. GaSU filed its request last week, and as of Monday, it’s still too fresh for public evaluation.

 

So radical is the proposal that spokespersons for Georgia Power and the Georgia Solar Energy Association said they were still evaluating it and could not comment. Groups that normally advocate for customers are also being quiet.

 

GaSU executives recognize such a big change won’t come easily.

 

“There are obstacles. There’s no question there are obstacles, but you have to look at the rewards,” GaSU President Robert E. Green said at a Capitol news conference. “We don’t know what it’s going to take, but we are prepared to go through legislative action if necessary.”

 

Legislative action is indeed likely to be necessary, according to observers. A 40-year-old law divides the state up and gives regional monopolies to Georgia Power, the electric-membership cooperatives and nearly 50 cities.

 

Anyone familiar with the nasty fights that were frequent before the law’s passage tends to be reluctant to open it up to changes. That was the reaction last year to legislation sponsored by Sen. Buddy Carter, R-Pooler, that sought to alter the law so that other companies could sell solar power in small batches to customers who make their roofs available as sites for solar panels through purchased-power agreements.

 

 

 

All five members of the Public Service Commission have called for more renewable energy. Two of them, David Everett and Lauren “Bubba” McDonald attended last week’s GaSU press conference but said they were not prejudging its proposal.

 

Commissioner Chuck Eaton issued a press release saying he had been working with Georgia Power on a proposal for expanded solar that meets his requirement of not boosting customers’ rates. The giant utility is expected to release details soon.

 

“That’s one of the big things we’re trying to do is work that out so it doesn’t put that upward pressure on rates,” said Georgia Power spokesman John Kraft.

 

GaSU could build its solar farm without action by the legislature or the PSC, and existing federal law would require Georgia Power to buy its electricity. But it would only pay GaSU an amount equal to what it could buy electricity from its cheapest, wholesale supplier.

 

The start-up wants instead to sell its electricity directly to retail customers who would be billed by Georgia Power or the other existing utilities, similar to how natural gas is marketed here. GaSU would pay the utilities for the use of their wires in the electric grid and any profits would be shared with customers like a cooperative.

 

Because GaSU has no aging power plants and wouldn’t have to buy coal or gas as fuel to generate its electricity, its executives figure it could be profitable charging lower rates. It would make use of the federal investment-tax credit but expects to need no other subsidy.

 

How the PSC acts remains to be seen, whether it supports Georgia Power’s unseen plan or GaSU’s proposal.

 

As has been noted by solar advocates, Georgia is among the states with the most untapped potential.

 

“GaSU also thinks that because solar is a new technology with new effects on ratepayers, there are good reasons for the GA PSC to consolidate its development into a single company that is a mirror image of (Georgia Power) and is afforded the protection of the (a monopoly utility,)” noted the company’s formal PSC petition.

Proposed solar company could stir up Georgia's utility structure

Source: http://onlineathens.com/

By Walter C. Jones

ATLANTA — A proposal from a start-up business promises to lower electricity rates by rebating profits to customers if given a chance to compete as Georgia Power Co.’s “mirror image.”

To proceed with its long-range plan of developing 2 gigawatts of solar power, the start-up, Georgia Solar Utilities Inc., wants to start by building an 80-megawatt “solar farm” near Milledgeville as soon as it gets a green light from the Georgia Public Service Commission. GaSU filed its request last week, and as of Monday, it’s still too fresh for public evaluation.

So radical is the proposal that spokespersons for Georgia Power and the Georgia Solar Energy Association said they still were evaluating it and could not comment.

Groups that normally advocate for customers also are staying quiet.

GaSU executives recognize such a big change won’t come easily.

“There are obstacles. There’s no question there are obstacles, but you have to look at the rewards,” GaSU President Robert E. Green said at a Capitol news conference. “We don’t know what it’s going to take, but we are prepared to go through legislative action if necessary.”

Legislative action is indeed likely to be necessary, according to observers.

A 40-year-old law divides the state up and gives regional monopolies to Georgia Power, the electric-membership cooperatives and nearly 50 cities.

Anyone familiar with the nasty fights that were frequent before the law’s passage tends to act with reluctance when considering changes to that dynamic. That was the reaction last year to legislation sponsored by Sen. Buddy Carter, R-Pooler, that sought to alter the law so that other companies could sell solar power in small batches to customers who make their roofs available as sites for solar panels through purchased-power agreements.

All five members of the Public Service Commission have called for more renewable energy. Two of them, David Everett and Lauren “Bubba” McDonald, attended last week’s GaSU news conference, but said they were not prejudging its proposal.

Commissioner Chuck Eaton issued a news release saying he had been working with Georgia Power on a proposal for expanded solar that meets his requirement of not boosting customers’ rates. The giant utility is expected to release details soon.

“That’s one of the big things we’re trying to do is work that out so it doesn’t put that upward pressure on rates,” said Georgia Power spokesman John Kraft.

GaSU could build its solar farm without action by the state legislature or the PSC, and existing federal law would require Georgia Power to buy its electricity. But it would only pay GaSU an amount equal to what it could buy electricity from its cheapest wholesale supplier.

The start-up wants instead to sell its electricity directly to retail customers who would be billed by Georgia Power or the other existing utilities, similar to how natural gas is marketed here. GaSU would pay the utilities for the use of their wires in the electric grid and any profits would be shared with customers like a cooperative.

Because GaSU has no aging power plants and wouldn’t have to buy coal or gas as fuel to generate its electricity, its executives figure it could be profitable charging lower rates. It would make use of the federal investment-tax credit, but expects to need no other subsidy.

How the PSC acts remains to be seen, whether it supports Georgia Power’s unseen plan or GaSU’s proposal.

As has been noted by solar advocates, Georgia is among the states with the most untapped potential.

Competition Heats Up For Solar Energy

 

Source: http://www.gpb.org/ 

The competition to provide solar energy in the state is heating up. A company  called Georgia Solar Utilities last week filed a proposal with the Public Service Commission to start an independent solar utility.  Georgia Power plans to submit its own solar proposal this week.(photo courtesy of Creative Commons)
The competition to provide solar energy in the state is heating up. A company called Georgia Solar Utilities last week filed a proposal with the Public Service Commission to start an independent solar utility. Georgia Power plans to submit its own solar proposal this week.(photo courtesy of Creative Commons)

The competition to provide solar energy in the state is heating up. A company called Georgia Solar Utilities last week filed a proposal with the Public Service Commission to start an independent solar utility. Georgia Power plans to submit its own solar proposal this week.

Georgia Power spokesman John Kraft says their solar initiative has been in the works for a while.

He says “ Well we’ve been working with the PSC for the past several months really, to find some new ways we can responsibly add more solar to our mix of generation resources. But we want to do that without causing rates to go up for our customers.”

Georgia Solar Utilities proposes to generate up to five percent of the state’s power from the sun. 

Kraft says Georgia Power was willing to consider buying energy from the plant, but Georgia Solar decided to try to set up in competition.

He says “They proposed that we would own the plant that they would be developing. In our evaluation of that, we determined that it was just not the best value for customers as it was presented.”

PSC Commissioner Bubba McDonald has been pushing for more solar energy. He says now is the time. “I’m excited for the consumers of Georgia. I’m excited because of the technological changes over the last 24 months with solar.”

McDonald thinks there is room enough for both companies to pursue solar energy.

He says “I’m excited that Georgia Power has finally stepped up to the plate. We did the 50 megawatt last year. They were great partners in doing that. But we’re talking about 2 giga watts.”

MacDonald says the plans both warrant a serious review.

Company seeks regulatory permission to create solar utility in U.S. state of Georgia

Source: http://www.solarserver.com/

Georgia Solar Utilities Inc. (Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.) has requested permission from the Georgia Public Service Commission (GPSC) to create a solar utility, with a 90 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) project as its first power generation project and the first phase of 2 GW planned for the state. 

The proposal will require regulatory changes as current law prohibits competition with Southern Company (Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.) subsidiary Georgia Power.  Commissioner Lauren "Bubba" McDonald and a GPSC candidate have backed the plan.

 

Greater benefit in a solar utility than PPAs

Georgia Solar Utilities states that while it has been in negotiations for power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Georgia Power, it recognized that creating a monopoly on utility-scale PV similar to Georgia Power's monopoly on electricity distribution would bring greater benefit to ratepayers.

The company estimates that its plan to build utility-scale solar power in Georgia would save the state's ratepayers USD 10 billion over 40 years.

Georgia Solar Utilities presented the results of its analysis to the GPSC on August 30th, 2012, and filed a plan with GPSC on September 20th, 2012.

Solar developer says Georgia Power 'defaulted' on right to lead development

Source: http://www.snl.com/

By Kelly Harrington-Andrejasich

Arguing that a new model is needed to jump-start Georgia's solar development, Georgia Solar Utilities Inc. has asked state regulators to allow it to build utility-scale solar projects and begin work on a distributed solar power generation system.

In a petition filed with the state Public Service Commission on Sept. 20, Georgia Solar Utilities asked that regulators agree that an 80-MW solar project and similar other projects up to 500 MW be started as a "beginning point for the distributed generation system."

"Georgia Power has defaulted on their right to lead solar development in Georgia," the company said. "The PSC can correct the course of this state."

Georgia Solar Utilities President Robert Green said his company has proposed the creation of a "mutual insurance"-like company, with the right and authority to generate utility-scale power and sell it on the grid at retail rates. "What we're doing, as a mutual company function, is turn the profits back to the ratepayers over time," he said in an interview.

In looking at ways to develop solar in Georgia, the company said it developed a model with 2 GW of solar farms. Georgia Solar Utilities said it found that by creating a new entity with no legacy issues and having all of the rights as a utility, the new solar company would be able to generate enough profits to create a rate reduction fund for customers.

The new entity could also pay Georgia Power the profits on their lost revenues through grid access charges. "The change in corporate structures clearly identified the best way for Georgia to obtain solar energy," the company said in its petition. "This change solved many problems in the way people have sought to finance solar. GaSU's structure 'is' in the best interests of ratepayers, far better than any current proposals."

Green said the setup would not hurt existing utilities. According to the company's model, the distributed power generating system would pay for itself in 20 to 25 years and "over 30 years will generate more than $7 [billion] for [Georgia] ratepayers" and $2 billion in grid access fees and profits for Georgia Power Co. Capital costs would come from private capital, Georgia Solar Utilities said.

While the company modeled 2 GW of distributed solar farms built by 2016, Green said he did not know what the final figure would be. "Our ultimate goal is to build what is optimal for the geography in this state; nobody has made this calculation yet," he said, adding that Georgia has the potential to be third in the country for generation and export of solar.

Green said it is still unknown if the company needs approval from an entity other than the PSC for its idea. "The PSC has authority to do what's in the best interest of ratepayers, and I think we've put forward a plan that's in the best interest of ratepayers," he said.

Georgia Power expects to file a solar plan with the PSC during the week of Sept. 24, said spokesman Mark Williams. He could not provide details of the proposal but said the Southern Co. subsidiary has been working with the commission for several months to find new ways to add more solar to its mix that does not make base rates go up for customers.

Green said Georgia Solar Utilities will read that plan with interest. "Whatever happens, the lack of motion on solar in the state of Georgia is ending. Either way, the state wins," he said. "The question is how much."