Power Purchase Agreement

Today I signed my Power Purchase Agreement with my local utility, and tomorrow I hope to drop off a copy in Raleigh so that it qualifies for NC Green Power.

Our utility is Central Electric Membership Corporation (CEMC), which is headquartered in Sanford, NC. It is a rural electric co-operative in which I have been a member for over a decade.

And I should say that when Tami and I dabbled in real estate, we worked with CEMC to electrify a small neighborhood. We also worked with them to bury the grid to our house, which was a hazardous run through many a rotting pine.

Membership in CEMC is not optional. If you want electricity at my house in Moncure, they are the provider. And membership brings voting rights, and a copy of Carolina Country magazine. My limited understanding of this coop is that it simply distributes power. It basically runs its own grid, buying electricity wholesale from wherever it can get it, and retailing it to its members.

Today they agreed to buy the electricity generated by our solar array for 5.9 cents per kilowatt hour. And they have been watching the system from their end. I was delighted to learn that they have been monitoring it since New Year's Day.

We have two meters on the side of the house, one for production, and one for consumption, with a small battery bank for those rare occasions when the grid disappears.

"It looks like you are making about 6 kilowatts a day, and using about 1.5" said Wes, last week when I called. He mailed me a copy of the power purchase agreement the same day.

I must say that I entered into this project with some trepidation. I had heard horror stories about PV systems that went live, and were mired down in power company negotiations for years before arriving at a Power Purchase Agreement.

This was the first of its kind for CEMC, and that fact that it is in hand nine days after going live is a testament to their cooperation on this project. I had heard good things about the Piedmont Electric Cooperative, which is a member of the same "rural electric family," and I am delighted to report that Central Electric was a breeze to work with.

The start point, of course, was a professional installation. That was provided by Tom Honey and Rebekah. CEMC engineers came out here to peruse the installation, got clear with Tom about their technical requirements, and Tom delivered it just the way they wanted it.

That was permission to tie to the grid. It was followed by an inspection by Chatham County Inspections, and once those two items were taken care of, all we needed was to throw the switch and to wait for some sunshine.

We threw the switch at 12:01 on January 1, in order for the system to qualify for tax credits. And as soon as the sun came up the next day, we were shipping electricity to the grid.

6 kilowatt hours a day is not a lot. This system should be able to double that. But these are the short days of winter. The cold weather is to our advantage right now, but the short days cost us. Because the array is air cooled, mounted in the field instead of on a roof, the efficiency of the panels will be somewhat improved. But the long days of summer also bring haze, and in this polluted Triangle, panels sometimes drop to below their rated output.

But back to CEMC. When NC Green Power first came out I called up CEMC to indicate my desire to participate. They were not familiar with it. NC Green Power is a voluntary, tax deductible contribution program that North Carolinians can join by asking for an increased electric bill. Each 4.00 block of "Green Power" buys 100 Kilowatt hours of "Green" electricity.

When I learned my electric coop was not participating in the program, I went up and down the road to get neighbors to call and write and in no time CEMC started accepting Green Power contributions. I have been contributing ever since.

Today when you walk into the lobby of CEMC, you will see advertisements for NC Green Power.

Today when I walked in to get my Power Purchase Agreement signed, I was invited into the board room, and had a chance to meet Morris McClelion, the CEO of the utility.

He seemed genuinely glad to have another tiny source of power contributing to his grid, and I left inspired to tell everyone in the neighborhood about how easy and satisfying it was.

Here's hoping that this is merely the first of many PV systems that will one day contribute to North Carolina's electrical mix...

Posted by Lyle at January 9, 2006 08:52 PM