The Clallam County Public Utility District is exploring the possibility of creating a community-funded solar power project in Sequim.
A 75-kilowatt-hour solar array could be built for $300,000 or $375,000, paid for by PUD customers who bought into the facility, at $250 per unit with 1,200 units available, said Fred Mitchell, power supply and utility services manager for the PUD.
The solar array would feed into the PUD’s regular power grid, reducing the amount of power needed to be purchased from outside providers and providing a small return for local customers.
Eventual return
The PUD said a customer who purchased the maximum-allowed $10,000 worth of units, or 40 units, would be projected to receive a 30-year total return of $12,325.20, including $3,587.60 in state energy incentives and $8,737.60 in value from offset utility bills.
A single $250 unit is estimated to produce a 30-year total return of $308.
Monthly returns would be paid as credits on customers’ power bills.
Customers are unlikely to make much money on the solar array, Mitchell said during a PUD commissioners work session Monday.
The project would be a philosophical investment in green energy for those unable to install their own solar power, he said.
“Not everyone can afford a $20,000 solar power roof, but most people can afford a $250 unit,” he said.
He said the solar array would occupy about 9,000 square feet on a property already owned by the PUD, co-located with the Johnson Creek Substation on East Washington Street at Washington Harbor Loop.
The PUD has not established a timeline for the construction, nor has it approved the actual construction of the solar array.
Up to customers
“It’s up to the customers,” said PUD Commissioner Will Purser.
Purser noted that the PUD was not planning to pay for the solar project, which would be funded entirely by customers who choose to take part in the project, and would be built once the full cost of the project is collected.
There is not yet a way for customers to sign up to buy units, but the PUD is seeking comments from the public to determine how many area residents would be interested.
Customers can contact Tyler King at the PUD to comment on their interest via 360-565-3268 or tylerk@clallampud.net.
Mitchell said if the PUD selects the less expensive $300,000 option, with components built outside of Washington, the project would be projected to break even in 24 years.
The more initially expensive $375,000 in-state components option includes state incentives and would be expected to break even in 16 years, he said.
Small returns
State energy incentives are scheduled to end in 2020, but the county already is nearing its maximum limit on credits, Mitchell said.
The proposed solar project would put the county at its limit and additional solar power would result in pro-rated incentives for those who already have solar power systems, he said.
The PUD expects that in the near future, more local residents will add new solar power, further dividing the solar-incentives pie.
“There has to be a change in Olympia,” Commissioner Hugh Haffner said of the need for more incentives to be offered for solar power.
Currently, about 90 percent of the power used by the PUD is generated by hydroelectric dams, while the remaining 10 percent consists of a combination of nuclear energy, coal, natural gas, biomass, waste energy and petroleum.
There are about 200 residents with solar rooftops in Clallam County — most of which are feeding into the PUD system, Mitchell said.
Arwyn Rice is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. She can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
