Co-op News
Co-ops Rank in Solar Top 10
A 24-kilowatt solar panel at a school in Arizona is one of many systems installed by Sulphur Springs Valley EC. (Photo by SSVEC).
The Solar Electric Power Association ranked utility solar usage on two fronts: total solar megawatts and total solar watts per customer.
Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Co-op, a newcomer to the survey, ranked first nationally in terms of total solar watts per consumer. In 2009, the Willcox, Ariz., co-op added 56 solar watts per consumer.
Other co-ops making the top 10 of the “2009 Top Ten Utility Solar Rankings” were another Arizona co-op, Graham County Electric Co-op, Pima, (10th place with 14.8 solar watts per consumer) and Kaua’i Island Utility Co-op, Lihue, Hawaii (fifth place with 18.8 solar watts per consumer).
“The findings are noteworthy because the large California utilities have received a lot more attention than the cooperatives because of the enormous total volume of solar capacity installed on their systems,” said Jay Morrison, senior regulatory counsel at NRECA.
“But the survey demonstrates that some of our members are doing better proportionately for their size,” he added. “In fact, the leading cooperative has installed more than three times as much solar energy per [consumer] as either Pacific Gas & Electric or Southern California Edison.”
At Sulphur Springs, demand for solar systems has expanded “exponentially,” said David Bane, the co-op’s key accounts manager, who accepted the national award at a conference in Denver. He pointed to the co-op’s generous rebate program, “people jumping on the bandwagon for federal tax credits,” and the addition of 990 kilowatts of solar capacity at public schools for the co-op’s strong showing in the survey.
In fact, there’s a four-year waiting list for rebates, Bane added. “We went from adding a total of 192 systems between 2005 and 2008 to adding 290 in 2009 alone.”
Tags: Co-op News, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy