This article submitted by Joe and Lee Scheidler who are Owners of Springcreek Landscaping in Logansport. They are members of the Indiana Renewable Energy Association.
Pharos-Tribune
June 25, 2010
LMU approves net metering, cogeneration
Program will keep LMU ahead of state regulations
by Mark Fletcher
Pharos-Tribune
— The Logansport Municipal Utility Service Board has approved a net metering program that will help its customers pay their utility bills, save the environment and stay ahead of state regulations.
Net metering allows customers with renewable-energy systems to generate electricity and apply it toward their utility bills.
The provision approved at Tuesday’s meeting also included cogeneration, a process where a user creates electricity and heat at the same time.
LMU Superintendent Paul Hartman said the difference between net metering and cogeneration largely came down to the use of renewable energy sources and scale or magnitude.
Net metering requires the use of alternative, or renewable, energy sources. Cogeneration systems normally produce electricity and steam heat with the customer using the heat and selling the electricity. More than that, cogeneration systems can be large.
Hartman said net metering customers would have a system installed on their service line, where a cogeneration system would connect directly to LMU’s power grid.
Board member Tom Slusser expressed some misgivings about both net metering and cogeneration. Slusser said it might lead to unforeseen economic problems at LMU.
Hartman said much of what LMU wanted to accomplish with net metering was to help its customers and encourage the use of alternative energy sources.
He also pointed out that net metering and cogeneration systems would keep LMU ahead of state regulations. Hartman said the state might eventually require electric companies to acquire part of their electricity from renewable sources.
“This is our way of saying we are going to go ahead and do that before we are told,” Hartman said.
Several on the board expressed concerns about cogeneration, and Hartman said one issue might involve the amount of power a large cogeneration system might send to LMU’s grid.
“One of our customers might install a facility so large we couldn’t handle the power coming from it,” Hartman said.
He added the resolution gave LMU the power to limit the size of those facilities.
LMU has two net metering customers and no cogeneration customers. Hartman said one customer, however, was considering cogeneration.
Net metering and cogeneration are designed to benefit not LMU, but the customer, Hartman said.
“The only way it could benefit LMU is it might help us shave our peak use during the summer,” Hartman said.
• Mark R. Fletcher is a reporter for the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached at 574-732-5148 or mark.fletcher@pharostribune.com
This article brought to you by the Indiana Renewable Energy Association.
Showing posts with label Logansport Municipal Utilities (LMU). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Logansport Municipal Utilities (LMU). Show all posts
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
From the sun
ELECTRIC SUN: Joe and Lee Scheidler stand beside the 30 solar panels they installed on their property this year to offset their consumption of electricity. So far, they have been able to cut their utility bill in half and reduce their “carbon footprint.”Reprinted from the Logansport Pharos Tribune
Published: December 07, 2009 09:34 pm
http://www.pharostribune.com/local/local_story_341213455.html
Published: December 07, 2009 09:34 pm
http://www.pharostribune.com/local/local_story_341213455.html
Local couple installs solar panels to offset energy costs.
Joe and Lee Scheidler couldn’t stand to see sunshine wasted any longer so the Cass County couple installed an array of 30 solar panels that turns the renewable resource into electricity.
By doing so, the owners of Springcreek Landscaping lowered their monthly electric bill by more than half and did their part to reduce the amount of pollution from burning fossil fuels.
On Sept. 30, the Scheidlers started producing energy on their property north of Logansport. So far they have saved 1,594 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions and produced 937.5 kWh of power.
According to Joe’s figures, all the carbon they currently generate in a year’s worth of driving will be offset by their solar array.
Joe said in November, one of the worst months to tap into solar power, they used 64 percent less electricity compared to the same month last year. They are looking forward to the summer when the electric meter spins in reverse, which means they will be putting power back onto the power grid and getting compensated for it.
The couple has partnered with Logansport Municipal Utilities in a pilot program so that on days the Scheidlers are producing more energy then they are consuming they receive credits that lower their monthly electric bills. The rate, which is still being finalized, is typically the same rate LMU charges.
LMU distribution manager Bob Dunderman says Joe and Lee are the program’s first customers. To record electricity production, LMU installed a special meter at their home that reads how much the Scheidlers have produced and how much LMU has provided.
The partnership may seem to be contradictory since LMU is in the business of producing electricity but Dunderman thinks cooperation with independent producers of “green” power can be beneficial, especially in the summer months when LMU must purchase supplemental power from Duke Energy. He said the solar power energy would reduce the amount they buy.
Because Joe and Lee want to minimize their impact on the planet, they feel their partnership with LMU is a win for everyone.
“This is 100 percent pollution-free energy, and the more clean energy a utility handles these days, the better,” Joe said.
Laura Ann Arnold, president of the Indiana Renewable Energy Association board of directors, agrees.
“Whether you do or don’t agree that there is a problem with climate change, the reality is that coal, where we get most of our electricity from, is a finite resource,” she said.
Once the capital investment is made in a renewable energy system, such as the Scheidlers solar array, unlimited energy is produced without cost or detriment to the environment, Arnold added.
Even after receiving a USDA grant, the Scheidlers still had to fork out thousands of dollars upfront to install their system. They will receive a 30 percent federal tax credit for energy efficiency improvements but return on their investment will take as long as 19 years.
Joe pointed out, though, that they would get no return if they did not make the investment and because they have their own source of electricity they have a permanent buffer to increasing fossil fuel costs.
“The sun has not raised it’s rates for 4.5 billion years,” Joe said.
Life expectancy of the system is up to 35 years for the photovoltaic panels and 15 years for the inverter, which changes the current from DC to AC. The system works best on sunny days but still produces electricity on cloudy days. Maintenance is easy because there are no moving parts.
“It’s just incredible technology,” Joe said.
Joe, Lee and Arnold all hope there will be more incentives made available for Hoosiers.
“People want to take advantage of these new technologies and with proper state and federal incentives, more people will,” Joe said. “Our legislators need to hear from us, learn of the demand, work to support incentives and take steps to move manufacturing of clean energy components back to the USA.”
• Kevin Lilly is news editor of the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached at 574-732-5117 or kevin.lilly@pharostribune.com.
Joe and Lee Scheidler with Springcreek Landscaping in Logansport are members of the Indiana Renewable Energy Association.
Joe and Lee Scheidler couldn’t stand to see sunshine wasted any longer so the Cass County couple installed an array of 30 solar panels that turns the renewable resource into electricity.
By doing so, the owners of Springcreek Landscaping lowered their monthly electric bill by more than half and did their part to reduce the amount of pollution from burning fossil fuels.
On Sept. 30, the Scheidlers started producing energy on their property north of Logansport. So far they have saved 1,594 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions and produced 937.5 kWh of power.
According to Joe’s figures, all the carbon they currently generate in a year’s worth of driving will be offset by their solar array.
Joe said in November, one of the worst months to tap into solar power, they used 64 percent less electricity compared to the same month last year. They are looking forward to the summer when the electric meter spins in reverse, which means they will be putting power back onto the power grid and getting compensated for it.
The couple has partnered with Logansport Municipal Utilities in a pilot program so that on days the Scheidlers are producing more energy then they are consuming they receive credits that lower their monthly electric bills. The rate, which is still being finalized, is typically the same rate LMU charges.
LMU distribution manager Bob Dunderman says Joe and Lee are the program’s first customers. To record electricity production, LMU installed a special meter at their home that reads how much the Scheidlers have produced and how much LMU has provided.
The partnership may seem to be contradictory since LMU is in the business of producing electricity but Dunderman thinks cooperation with independent producers of “green” power can be beneficial, especially in the summer months when LMU must purchase supplemental power from Duke Energy. He said the solar power energy would reduce the amount they buy.
Because Joe and Lee want to minimize their impact on the planet, they feel their partnership with LMU is a win for everyone.
“This is 100 percent pollution-free energy, and the more clean energy a utility handles these days, the better,” Joe said.
Laura Ann Arnold, president of the Indiana Renewable Energy Association board of directors, agrees.
“Whether you do or don’t agree that there is a problem with climate change, the reality is that coal, where we get most of our electricity from, is a finite resource,” she said.
Once the capital investment is made in a renewable energy system, such as the Scheidlers solar array, unlimited energy is produced without cost or detriment to the environment, Arnold added.
Even after receiving a USDA grant, the Scheidlers still had to fork out thousands of dollars upfront to install their system. They will receive a 30 percent federal tax credit for energy efficiency improvements but return on their investment will take as long as 19 years.
Joe pointed out, though, that they would get no return if they did not make the investment and because they have their own source of electricity they have a permanent buffer to increasing fossil fuel costs.
“The sun has not raised it’s rates for 4.5 billion years,” Joe said.
Life expectancy of the system is up to 35 years for the photovoltaic panels and 15 years for the inverter, which changes the current from DC to AC. The system works best on sunny days but still produces electricity on cloudy days. Maintenance is easy because there are no moving parts.
“It’s just incredible technology,” Joe said.
Joe, Lee and Arnold all hope there will be more incentives made available for Hoosiers.
“People want to take advantage of these new technologies and with proper state and federal incentives, more people will,” Joe said. “Our legislators need to hear from us, learn of the demand, work to support incentives and take steps to move manufacturing of clean energy components back to the USA.”
• Kevin Lilly is news editor of the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached at 574-732-5117 or kevin.lilly@pharostribune.com.
Joe and Lee Scheidler with Springcreek Landscaping in Logansport are members of the Indiana Renewable Energy Association.
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