NELSON ZAPPED

Nelson's own  energy Minister Mungall commissioned a report "Zapped".   for BC Hydro.

The report drew three conclusions:
 • BC Hydro bought too much energy and energy with the wrong profile,
 • BC Hydro paid too much for the energy it bought, and
 • BC Hydro undertook these actions at the direction of Government. 

Government directed BC Hydro to purchase 8,500 GWh of Firm energy BC Hydro did not need.

The Response EPAs will cost ratepayers an estimated $16.2 billion over 20 years. That would be you and I owners of BC Hydro.



Toba Inlet  is a great example of this waste.  A 196 megawatt run of river hydro plant making most of its annual power from spring runoff through fall.  BC Hydro is required to buy that power at full premium retail with inflation while spilling water over their legacy dams that make huge profits from their 3c/kWh power that could earn four times that, now paid to the private owners.  That would be GE Financial Energy of Stamford, Conn. in the case of the Toba Inlet project. They also have the bottled water rights and have announced once the contract expires they will sell that power to the highest bidder-read California or similarly.  We pay off the project paying for power we don't need at premium prices and they own it.


Similarly, Nelson hydro customers  are left with the remaining years of the 25 year contract to pay full retail for the Nelson Community Solar Garden and Balfour Public Building solar power.

In the case of the community solar garden, that full retail of lost income from otherwise clean green water sales is now money distributed among the 130 who opted in to buy a solar panel contract.

 I have been trying to educate and stop the bleed of public money into solar projects with little success.


                                   I provide my Nelson Zapped report.

 Maybe I can stop the waste of CBT public grant money for solar power systems on public buildings while our own profits from selling our clean green waterpower spills down the river. Castlegar city hall next to CBT headquarters just put solar panels on the roof with grant money.

SD8 bought 10 contracts from the community solar garden help students learn.  They already had a system on the high school from a decade ago, nobody knew. Nobody is teaching the students that I am aware of, Nelson hides the real data.


They say a picture is worth a thousand words, I think these will help you understand why Public money spent for public buildings grid tied PV solar systems is a waste of money.

I provide some examples of solar projects using public money with grant applications that meet the definition of FRAUD.  The poster child for that would be the Nelson Community Solar Garden.

           Another local example CBT grant money for Balfour Public Buildings .

Below a graph of annual Kootenay River Flow, Orange is water spilling from spring through fall.


                   Orange above is water spilling from spring through fall when almost all annual solar                              power is earned, we can't use the water, solar has the same value  $0.

Above light blue is water making power through BC Hydro's Kootenay Canal 568 MW plant
                           Dark Blue is the smaller Fortis Corra Linn power plant
Nelson hydro is a mere dot, only licenced for 9MW, but making 16MW when water is available.



             The sign on the highway showing local hydro plants making power for a million homes.
I estimate in excess of $1M in public money solar projects locally, in winter making power for 0 homes.


    Above the Nelson community solar garden $400,000  life expectancy 25 years, making less power every year with age until the solar panels become toxic hazardous waste.  Power for 0 homes.



Shown above Nakusp put in a microhydro generator on their city water intake for $150,000, making power in winter, at night, when it rains 24/7/365.  Payback....guaranteed, life expectancy a century of more.  Power for 50 homes.  Does CBT get any applications for this?  It makes sense.


Above the Nelson hydro dam from Spring through Fall, the same time most annual solar power is                                            made and we don't even use all the water.
     see the orange in the graph above, solar has the same value as the water spilled  $0.




Above the Nelson hydro dam in winter when we could use solar power and it doesn't work.  But all annual solar power credits earned in summer are being cashed in, we all lose.  Public money that could help society wasted installing the solar systems and income otherwise earned from cleaner greener water power sales  is solar credits in summer being cashed in during winter.




The education is beginning to happen, although CBT and the Kootenays seem to be far behind the knowledge curve and continue to use public money for solar projects.

BC Hydro politically driven was once paying premium rates for solar power is stuck with the grandfathered systems.  Now one can only install a system to avoid their use, if by chance they actually create any credit its paid at wholesale, presently the Mid Columbia annual 3c/kWh,  instead of subsidized by everyone else by paying full retail.

Fortis, a business beholding to shareholders, always treated solar as BC Hydro is now doing, only allowing systems large enough to meet their consumption from previous records.  If any excess occurs its paid at their wholesale rate.

Nelson unfortunatly, even though their own hydro bylaw states they won't buy anyone's excess power unless it makes economic sense is still allowing full retail credit.    The city is supposed to abide by their own bylaws, I keep asking why they don't, nobody responds.

Penticton studied solar and determined it would have to be subsidized 50% or more to be economic.  The BCUC denied the Kelowna solar project saying it was of no benefit to anyone.  Yet we continue to see professionals and salespeople providing business cases for solar projects.

I retired as a supervisor electronics technologist from likely the largest provincial user of solar sites, over 120.  They existed where no grid power was available and flying fuel with helicopters or replacing huge amounts of toxic batteries regularly made solar economic.

SOME EXAMPLES OF SOLAR PROJECTS FROM PUBLIC MONEY

NELSON'S COMMUNITY SOLAR GARDEN

I would like to think I had something to do with the CBT not awarding the $60,000 the city applied for for the Nelson Community Solar Garden.  I was communicating with the then grantors, one who acknowledged from my information "sometimes we get burned".(no longer there).

I recognize your grantors must depend on the information supplied, when it comes from a professional engineer, it should be unquestionably conservative and accurate to the best of known information.  I again refer you to my "Making the Shoe Fit" .

The Nelson hydro's own manager, a professional engineer, his bio states he installed his first solar system in 2000 followed by more experience with solar systems.  A consulting engineer who does work for Nelson hydro provided a report showing a business case that the Nelson hydro manager presented city council for the solar garden.  Certainly ignores their professional code of ethics.

The consultant, the same engineer for the Kimberley SunMine, using the same computer program seemed to work backwards.  He provided a 25 year payback for Nelson, industry standards for an economic case for solar, life expectancy of solar panels.  He just left out or changed a lot of the computer inputs until it arrived at a 25 year payback.  Missing or changed information shown below.


            BELOW THE KIMBERLEY SUNMINE FINANCIAL REPORT SAME ENGINEER AS THE NELSON COMMUNITY SOLAR GARDEN, JUST CHANGED A FEW INPUTS.
see link above "Making the Shoe Fit Engineering".




Another engineer provided installation engineering, I have it, it was not followed, I have asked who signed off on the changes, nobody will tell me.


  Engineering Changes resulted in front rows shading back rows as well as many other issues.

This city deserves better.

I first met with the hydro manager engineer providing years of local data to him and his consultant showing solar had no business case.  I tried to speak to city council, denied twice by the CAO.

I was providing information to mayor council and managers and others and present mayor and councilors.  The hydro engineer said he would block my emails I was wasting everyone's time.

The new narrative from the city,  it was about experience and gaining knowledge, so why did they add 25% more solar panels to the original project?  Did it have anything to do with local information showing their engineer exaggerated annual earnings by 25%?

I could go on, the project was deceptive, misengineered and hurt everyone especially church groups and co-ops who thought they were helping to reduce GHG's and the cities carbon footprint.  Nothing is cleaner than our own waterpower now spilling down the river with the profits that would help to reduce our power bills.

Nelson is the ONLY city in Western Canada with its own clean green hydro generation and distribution making huge profits, the last city that should get involved with solar power.

The city received an award for the Solar Garden, left to right,  Nelson hydro engineer, the solar contractor, previous mayor and BC Energy representative.




BALFOUR PUBLIC BUILDINGS SOLAR SYSTEMS FROM GRANT MONEY

CBT  grant money involved   

Slick salesmanship with more exaggerated data.

                  The roof faces west, maximum solar comes from the south.  Salesmanship data shows they make about 30% less power, but hey its feels good, its only public money.

They replaced the Balfour Community Hall forever metal roof when the Alberta sales people visited telling them the risk of leaks was too great on this type of roof to mount solar panel systems.

After one year the available public data skewed, deceptive and never could have met the known
years of locally available solar data or the Nelson solar garden available data, all ignored.

Nelson hydro bylaw says they won't buy anyones power unless it makes economic sense yet Balfour solar systems are credited full retail for summer solar power, when Nelson hydro makes power for less than a penny and this credit is cashed in during winter when solar doesn't work and Nelson hydro is buying excess Fortis power for 520% more than their own generation.

Any one using the publicly available on line data (that seems to be missing recently)  will be fooled.

After the new roof the installation doesn't meet the National Fire Code that requires one meter space around perimeter and an access up the center for fire fighting access and venting reasons.
Installed is far larger than they represent in their public data that fools everyone.

The Balfour Community Hall is misrepresenting the on line data, it will fool anyone in the public reviewing the information for their calculations.  I have brought this attention to those involved, nothing happens, public money is deceiving the public viewing the data.

For example the Golf Clubhouse on line data, is deceptive and stopped providing data almost a year ago, no longer showing, suggests 24.8kW installed.  To meet the Nelson hydro bylaw maximum installation of 25kW.  They have over 40 kW installed.   Someone trying to use this data for their calculations will be fooled, the on line information suggests only 24.8kW is installed when its almost double.

    Below Balfour Golfclubhouse the only south facing panels are the ones bottom right.
   The system twice as large as the Nelson hydro bylaw allows, also ignore the National Fire Code one metre spacing setbacks, and other fire access requirements.


Hello CBT, isn't grant money supposed to benefit everyone?  The winner here Balfour Golf Clubs electric bill.  The Loser,  Nelson hydro customers paying full retail for any of their excess power while losing income otherwise earned from selling their own cleaner greener waterpower.  Our carbon footprint increases, nothing is cleaner or greener than our own water power.

How about someone who could have REALLY used grant money to benefit society!!


I am trying to educate.  I have been after other public money putting in solar power systems.

For example a shaw cable YouTube item regarding a solar project with public money was removed because it was completely deceptive regarding annual power earned and value.

An engineer who owned a Victoria solar business gave the Ministry of Education a report showing schools would save money with solar systems.  He taught renewable energy at Camosun College, owned the solar sales business that sold systems to SD10  his study showed they would save money.  (BC Hydro ratepayers subsidy and public grant money).

I was in contact with the SD 10 superintendent showing the deception, they were allowing on line public data.  The next I knew, the public data was removed.  I contacted SD10 asking why, the excuse, it was a security risk.  Lots of other BC schools provide real data.

The Haida Gwaii School district received solar systems.  Likely tied with Prince Rupert as the least sunny place on the planet.

The engineers business also had an EV charging station installed at his industrial Victoria location, he sold charging systems.  The grant from the Fraser Basin Council.  I asked for the application re: FOI, they aren't required to supply, I did get a blank form.  The requirements, the system must be on major traffic routes, close to public amenities such as shopping, sightseeing, accommodation etc.,  His business one of the old houses in James Bay a light industrial area among body shops etc.  A Google Street view shows his Nissan Leaf electric vehicle with business name on the door plugged in to the charger that is in front of the office.  Your public money at work.

One of our present city councillors had a business that received a solar system with grant money, I have the engineers report, his business, selling solar, next door.  His report suggested annual power earnings that possibly could come from annual sunlight hours in Arizona. 

The business disappeared with the solar system.  I have yet had the councillor answer to my questions regarding what happened to the solar system and who might have profited from the sale?  At first he claimed he didn't know, only his brother in law, business partner knew.  Later he said people have told him he doesn't have to answer to me?   He also claimed he was an engineer in his election campaign, I challenged that, he is no engineer. 

I continue my attempt at stopping the bleed of public money for solar power systems on public buildings, the education is beginning.  Hopefully the CBT will no longer provide anymore
grant money for public solar systems.   How unfortunate the Castlegar City Hall, next to CBT in Castlegar recently received money for their roof top solar system.


I always signed my letters and emails to the city of Nelson regarding their solar garden as

AN UNWILLING PARTICIPANT

Hopefully this will help the CBT grantors in their next solar power system grant request.