BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR

                                                          YOU MIGHT GET IT


                         CBT GRANTS COULD COST CITY MILLIONS


Oct 22   CBT announces $900,000  as the first intake for community buildings alternate energy grants
Application deadline Jan 7, 2019

Balfour already has solar power systems on the Balfour Golf clubhouse, Community Centre and Seniors centre.

$900,000 could instal a lot of community solar power systems in the Nelson hydro service area.


An Alberta firm installed the 3  Balfour systems for an average of  $3.30/watt.
(the Nelson solar garden installed for well over $6/watt because they had nobody who knew what they were doing)

Every likelihood a large group install created by $900,000 could bring this down to $3/w or less.

At $3/watt $900,000 could install 225kW of solar.


Highlighted below is from the RDCK Board Agenda Report
Dandelion was the winning bid from the two Alberta bids received.

Dandelion Renewables proposes an 8.96 kW solar PV system                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
The system would produce 9.4 MWh of electricity per year, which is 172% of the building’s new annual electricity load. This means that the Seniors’ Hall would be a net exporter of electricity to Nelson Hydro under current situations.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
The quoted system cost is $36,609 which equates to $4,086/kW. Based on information provided by Dandelion, this represents an IRR of –0.4%.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
The system would save the community group approximately $1,133/year. Since the system produces more electricity than the building consumes, although in winter not enough electricity would be produced to satisfy the buildings’ demand and hence the community group will have a utility bill, summer months will see excess electricity production and they will build up a credit.                                                                                                                                                                                               
 Of the $1,133/year, they will see $658/year in savings in utility bills and $475/year in revenue from selling electricity to the grid (while Nelson Hydro honors net metering credit payout). 

Let me calculate the losses to Nelson hydro using the above information.

Lost power sales $658  (their utility bill savings)
Revenue from excess solar power sold to Nelson hydro $475.

SubTotal loss to Nelson hydro $658 + $475 = $1,133/year

A bylaw requires hydro to pay full retail for any solar.  That was created so the solar garden would have money to distribute among those who opted in.  Therefore Balfour receives full retail value for their extra solar power ($475)  costing us the $385 profit we would have made from our own waterpower.  

Total loss to Nelson hydro $1133 + $385=  $1518/yr

This is for their 8.96kW system on the Balfour seniors Centre

$900,000 would install 25 Balfour seniors centre systems if installed for $3/watt.

25 x $1518 = $37950/year



The engineers report for the Nelson community solar garden used 3.5% as the inflation rate for electric power.

Using that 3.5% in 25 years Nelson hydro will have lost potentially 

                          $1,500,000 .00


 CBT says this $900,000 is the first intake, how much more is coming?

To qualify one must show a positive return on investment.


The city hydro manager showed council a business case for the  community solar garden.

Balfour qualified.


What if there really was no business case for solar?

There actually is no business case if you are honest.

I have some ideas but CAO Cornmack denied me speaking to city council about the solar garden.  With my decades of solar work I met with and provided the hydro manager with years of known local solar data, he told me I was wasting his time and would block my emails.


The Community Solar Garden data is known if you know where to look.

It took all of last November to make the power our dam could make for $20
December about $10
January $12.
The best month in its 16 month existence our dam would have made that power for $220.

Solar garden business case borrowed money cost $2000/mo for 25 years.

First year of solar garden power would have been made by our dam for a little over $1000.
Less than $100/mo while payments are $2000/mo.  Does anyone see a business case here?

Go tell the single mother in my neighborhood trying to pay her electric bill that she is
paying for the solar garden  while the profits that could help bring her bill down are just water down the river.

Let her know about the $900,000 CBT money putting in more solar power systems.  Nelson hydro will add that to her bill now that they won't be making it from selling power to all these community buildings with solar power systems.

Some of you new councillors will have to adjust your views regarding solar power and your fiscal responsibilities to the residents of this city.  Figures don't lie.  Although a previous councilor called me an opinion.  I retired as a supervisor from likely the largest solar power user in the province with over 120 remote locations.  Where solar made economic sense compared to helicopters flying fuel and batteries.

I am no longer the lone voice screaming "do something that makes sense"

The BCUC denied the Kelowna project saying it had no benefit to anyone and didn't reduce GHG.
The BCOAPO (pensioners) submission to the project repeated that and said all cost and risks would be borne by ratepayers.  (excatly what the solar garden has done to Nelson ratepayers)
BCHydro just applied to the BCUC to no longer have to buy anyones excess solar power.
Fortis only will credit you their wholesale rate for any extra solar power.

My experience with the previous administration.

Zere Vill BE NO QVestions!