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| 11/7/2009 6:00:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | |
| | A Few Locally Available energy Efficiency Resources | Insulation & Weatherization
Federal Income Tax Credit for 30% of insulation expense up to $1500.
Governor's Engery Office "Insulate Colorado" program for 20% rebate up to $300 for energy-saving insulation and air sealing, administered locally through the Four Corners Office of Trsource Efficiency (4CORE) and the City of Cortez
Atmos Energy 50% insulation rebate up to $1,000 for their customers.
Weatherization
Governor's Engery Office weatherization program for up to $6,500 weatherization assistance for qualifying residents(<200% proverty level or on othr assistance), administered by 4CORE.
Appliances
Empire Electric Association $90 rebate for purchase of an energy star refrigerator (w/fund form Tri-State).
Empire Electric Association distribution of compact flourescent light bulbs at coop events and through the Pinon Project.
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Power in the West
Now is the time to prepare for the new energy economy
Rebecca Whitehead
Guest Column
Electricity took hold in the rural areas of Montezuma County when Lula Fitzgerald, a schoolteacher, submitted the paperwork to create a rural electric cooperative in 1939. Empire Electric Association was established on Nov. 9 and began serving the Lakeview schoolhouse and surrounding homes powered by a diesel generation station near Dove Creek. Since 1941, when Empire outgrew its diesel plant and contracted for power from Western Colorado Power, area residents have relied on electricity generated from farther and farther away. The spread of electricity into rural areas and the shift to large-scale electric generation and transmission were major developments in the electrification of the United States enabled by federal policies, and today we sit on the brink of another major transition in the way electricity is generated and used.
Since the turn of the 21st century, the government has begun to craft and enact legislation that regulates electric generation and use to improve America's energy independence and reduce pollution. Thirty-three states have established requirements to generate a certain percentage of their electricity from renewable sources. Until recently the bulk of state legislation and federal energy acts have focused on curbing the demand for electricity through incentives. However, the federal government is considering legislation that would create a mandate for renewable requirements and a cap on pollution emissions. Empire Electric Association sent a letter to all of its members in February warning of the rate impact that such legislation may have for a small electric cooperative, but through an analysis of some of the current proposals and the existing energy legislation, it appears that we have a choice. We may choose to be victims of a new energy era, or we may choose to prosper as part of the solution to the greatest challenge of our time.
Journal staff writer Hope Nealson reported on the New Energy Economy forum held at the Cortez Recreation Center on Sept. 16, a kickoff to an important dialogue on how to make our community prosper in a new energy economy. The enthusiasm and attendance at the event was great, with many key players at the table. It was apparent that there are abundant opportunities awaiting the people of Montezuma and Dolores counties, but that it will take everyone doing their part to benefit from these opportunities. The consequences of doing nothing could be devastating.
On a global scale, doing nothing could be earth simmering, but it is clear that as the nation exhibiting the largest per person energy use in the world, we will do something. Regardless of your personal opinion about the impacts that humans have on the global environment, the federal government is deliberating legislation this session to change the way we generate and use electricity in this country. This will change the way electricity is generated and supplied to our community, affecting us whether we participate or not.
Though the price that we pay for electricity could increase, there are locally specific issues that could arise from new energy legislation. Aside from energy efficiency and the expansion of renewable electricity generation, the American Clean Energy and Security Act, passed by Congress in June and in the process of being responded to by the Senate, has a heavy focus on new technology and other non- and low-polluting sources of power besides expressly renewable sources. More specifically, Congress is looking at huge investments in carbon sequestration, the process of capturing and storing carbon dioxide back in the ground from which it came, and a resurgence of nuclear and hydropower projects.
Located on top of wealthy CO2 source fields that provide substantial county property tax revenue in Dolores and Montezuma counties, this community is likely to be affected by attempts to collect and store carbon dioxide. Tri-State G&T, the cooperative that generates and transmits power to Empire Electric Association and 43 other rural electric cooperatives, is currently part of a consortium investigating the possibility of carbon capture and sequestration, including the potential for storing carbon in the geologic formations of western Colorado. The American Clean Energy and Security Act would make major investments in the development of carbon sequestration technology, including the establishment of a Carbon Storage Research Corporation. What this means for the Montelores community is that there may be some economic opportunity in our natural storage units.
However, investment will also go into "enhanced hydrocarbon recovery," capturing the CO2 from power plants to extract oil, natural gas or coalbed methane, potentially replacing the need for the CO2 that is currently produced here. While the widespread development of CO2 recycling is at least a decade away, this may cut short decades of anticipated CO2 extraction and accompanying revenues that our community depends on. It may be time to look for new opportunities to utilize the wealth of extraction infrastructure, pipe-lines, and natural geologic formations.
The 2005 Energy Policy Act and pending federal legislation also encourage the expansion of nuclear generation facilities as a source of clean energy. The demand for uranium to fuel nuclear reaction is on the rise, with the executive director of Uranium Producers of America anticipating that production could rise to 20 million pounds of uranium a year by 2012. This is phenomenal compared to only 2 million pounds produced domestically in 2006 , and uranium development is experiencing rapid growth in the counties just to the north. Denison Mines, a company that extracts uranium and vanadium from the Uravan belt north of Egnar, processes their ore and ore from other mines at the White Mesa processing mill near Blanding, Utah, producing approximately 1 million pounds of uranium at this mill alone in 2008.
According to Rick Rymerson, minerals staff chief of the San Juan Public Lands Bureau of Land Management, this district alone is anticipating 5 mining notices primarily for mineral exploration (disturbing 5 acres or less), and 1 plan of operations for a new uranium mine to be developed. Though the price of uranium has dropped since last year, it is still at a level that is driving uranium exploration and development - so much so that two new processing mills are being considered in our four corners area, one in Hanksville, Utah, and the other on private land north of Egnar.
Our proximity to a wealth of uranium opens a great number of prospects for our community, such as direct industry jobs, providing goods, services, and training to supply the uranium industry, or even nuclear generation itself. (Great strides have been made in safety since Three Mile Island and Chernobyl.)
While opportunities abound with the resurgence in nuclear power, we should not forget that like the fossil fuels, uranium is also a finite resource with environmental consequences of its own. It should be seen more as a transitional resource than a solution to the problem, as it bears similar problems to the fossil fuels that are being increasingly regulated. Continued electricity security must come from constant, renewable energy sources.
Fortunately, Southwest Colorado has the resources to secure clean, renewable electricity generation for the community as well as the future carbon market. We are in Colorado's forgotten region for prosperous solar collection (See Figure 1). There are also opportunities for wind generation, though the collection areas are more isolated than for solar, lending themselves to community or distributed-scale generation rather than commercial generation. Southwest Colorado also has resources to balance and overcome the intermittent nature of wind and solar generation to make them even more desirable energy sources.
In addition to straight hydropower, water can be used as power storage. Wind or solar can be used to pump water to an upper reservoir when the renewable resource is generating more electricity than is in demand, and by releasing the water through power generating turbines to a lower reservoir when the renewable source is generating less than is demanded. This is one way that the intermittent nature of solar and wind power can be overcome where the elevation changes lend themselves to pumped storage as readily as they do in our community.
There is not a lot of water flowing in this region, but there may be enough for some pumped storage and there are also many untapped opportunities for micro-hydropower projects. Currently the only hydropower station is on Jackson Lake above Mancos, with another underway on the City of Cortez water treatment plant. Expanding micro-hydropower plants may be one way of diversifying electricity generation in Montezuma and Dolores Counties to include reliable renewable energy.
There may be opportunities for the residents of southwest Colorado to develop reliable sources of renewable electricity such as bovine methane, biomass, or geothermal heat. San Juan Bioenergy is conducting trials to ascertain the most efficient and renewable fuels for gasifying biomass, which could be used to fill the gaps in wind and solar generation and to meet peak-hour electricity demands according to their chief technological officer, Nathan Morris, at the Sept. 16 New Energy Economy forum. Local biomass such as beetle-killed piñon or fuels from forest-thinning projects could also be used to drastically reduce the overall electricity demand of the community.
Research into distributed heating using locally available biomass is important, because, while many people have a perception that our community relies on woodstoves and natural gas for heating, on average, 31 percent of electricity used by Empire's residential members goes to hot water and household heating according to Governor's Energy Office representative Hew Hallock at the New Energy Economy forum.
A distributed heating system drastically improves resource efficiency by taking a locally available, regenerative biomass source and using it to heat water, which is then distributed to a community of homes and businesses. This utilizes renewable fuels instead of fossil fuels and eliminates several steps for those who rely on electric water heaters by eliminating the conversion of the hot water to steam to turn turbines to generate electricity to transmit power to the user to, again, heat water.
But distributed heating using locally available fuels is just one of many opportunities for our community. There are many possibilities for new renewable and clean energy development for us to consider in the context of the developing incentives, mandates, and markets for clean energy. However, the first step to improving energy security is reducing use.
Beyond the incentives from the electric cooperative such as rebates for Energy Star appliances and compact fluorescent lightbulb giveaways, there are many resources available to promote energy efficiency. While conservation is a no-cost way to reduce electricity use (for energy [and money] saving ideas, visit www.m-can.org), improved efficiency often requires an up-front investment. Fortunately, local, state, and federal governments and private organizations have made huge investments in programs to assist individuals with energy efficiency improvements. Incentives range from lightbulbs, insulation, weatherization, and efficient appliances, to tax credits, writeoffs and rebates (see "A Few locally AVailable Energy Efficiency Resources").
The incentives available to help individuals transition to a new energy era do not end with efficiency measures. Rebates and tax credits are available for household electricity generation, which individuals in the community can utilize to help make household wind generators and photovoltaic cells a reality for more homeowners. However, even though individual electric systems reduce losses through transmission, they are not particularly efficient, especially when compared to community-scale generation with limited energy lost in transmission and the efficiency benefits of larger generators. Not everyone can afford their own renewable electricity systems, let alone a home to put it on, but for those who can, it exemplifies the independence and self-reliance that characterize our community. Empire Electric now offers net metering to ensure that community members who choose to generate electricity will be running their meters in reverse when their system is producing.
There also are incentives available for commercial scale clean electricity technology. If we wait long enough, there will be costs for not utilizing clean energy through the establishment of a carbon market. This is why, as a community, we need to recognize the national trend toward electricity generated from clean and renewable energy sources and the heightened importance of energy efficiency and conservation efforts. By identifying the specific incentives that fit with the resources available in our community, and developing and following a plan to capitalize on these resources, Southwest Colorado can transition smoothly toward a secure energy future in a new energy economy. As the key stakeholders such as the energy providers, local governments, local businesses, and non-profit organizations begin to develop a plan, watch for opportunities to make your voice heard about your ideas and the available resources in the community.
Rebecca Whitehead looks forward to any questions or response at rivkah_rose@ yahoo.com. Her full report on existing and pending legislation and the historic and current state of electricity for Empire Electric members is underway for completion of a master's degree in political science from the University of Colorado at Denver.
Footnotes, which did not fit into this publication, are available by e-mailing editor@ cortezjournal.com.
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Reader Comments
Posted: Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Article comment by:
Bill Oakes
Good article, however it does need more research specific from the local electical distributer-Empire Electric. There are more renewable power generators in the local area that have been operating for almost ten years plus Battle Rock school has a solar generator operating for almost a year & half. EEA has a power use department that has information avalable on most everthing mentioned in this article or resources to find the information.
Posted: Saturday, November 07, 2009
Article comment by:
Jack Mehoff
Excellent article. I am really interested in what new projects are on the horizon in the SW. Is anyone proposing micro-hydro projects? What is the best forum or point of contact to vet our concerns? Good job on the article.
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