20150701Comments (3 Total).pdf

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Jean Jewell
From:aimee @ christensenglobal.com
Sent:Tuesday,June 30,2015 4:55 PM
To:Beverly Barker;Jean Jewell;Gene Fadness
Cc:[e-mail]
Subject:Case Comment Form:Aimee Christensen
Name:Aimee Christensen
Case Number:IPC-E-15-O1
Email:[e-mail]
Telephone:[phone]
Address:P0 Box 4089
Ketchum ID,83340
Name of Utility Company:Idaho Power
Acknowledge public record:True
Comment:Please replace my previous comment with this one.
Dear Commissioners Kjellander,Redford,and Raper,
I am an energy strategist,having worked for global corporations and governments for over 20
years,including Duke Energy,Google,Microsoft and the U.S.Department of Energy.Five
years ago I moved back to Blame County,bringing my work home,and I have been distressed to
watch Idaho miss a vast economic,security and environmental opportunity:homegrown renewable
energy.The PUC decision will directly impact the plans of our local community in the Wood
River Valley where we have been working on our energy resilience to reduce the economic,
reliability and environmental risks our community is facing.
According to Bloomberg’s Energy Outlook for 2030,solar will grow ten times larger,becoming
a $1.5 trillion industry globally,wind will double,and fossil fuels will fall by half.Here
in the United States,solar is creating jobs at over 10 times the pace of the general economy
and at a 20%higher median salary.China has more solar than any other nation and Walmart is
the largest solar buyer in the U.S.Why China and Walmart?Solar is cheap,creates good jobs
fast and keeps energy costs stable.Over the past ten years,U.S.average commercial
electricity rates have gone up more than 20%and prices are increasingly volatile.With zero
fuel costs and a fixed price for the life of a 20-year solar contract (the usual term of
buying solar for a home or business),you can save money from day one and avoid price
increases and volatility.
Idaho deserves the opportunity that solar presents to the state,to ratepayers,commercial
and industrial buyers of power,farmers and landowners,for jobs,and for our grid
resilience.
If the Commission reduces the length of contracts the utilities sign to purchase independent
power,solar and other independent power will not proceed in our state.The financial reality
is that no solar project will attract investors without a contract of at least 15 years,if
not 20.So if the Commissioners side with Idaho Power and the other monopoly utilities,solar
projects will remain dead in the water as they have been since January when the Commission
agreed to a temporary contract reduction to 5 years.
This is a massive missed opportunity.Idaho has the same solar potential as north Florida and
only 10%less than Texas.It can create hundreds (if not thousands or tens of thousands)of
good quality jobs here.Solar can benefit farmers who can be paid for solar on their
property:in discussions with farmers in Blame County we found they could earn up to 2 times
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as much as some agricultural crops,in addition,solar can be added to existing farm
activities,not competing with them,whether being put on buildings or on marginal land and
continuing agriculture on more productive land.Solar can benefit Idaho ratepayers:at a
fixed least cost,solar power prices won’t increase for the duration of the contract.Across
the country,coal power plants are shutting down early as they are no longer competitive with
solar and other options.And solar can benefit the Idaho state budget:solar power projects
increase the state’s tax base,while schools and prisons can generate their own onsite power,
saving money and selling to the grid to make money.
Idaho Power is maintaining their long-term contracts with their own generation facilities.
The out of state coal plants in which they are invested do not create benefits to Idaho,they
send dollars out of the state.These are also increasingly uncompetitive.By Idaho Power’s
own analysis,the Valmy coal plant is uncompetitive by 2020 and the contract should end then,
not be extended to 2025 as Idaho Power would like.This is a conflict of interest as they are
invested in it.Bridger should be phased out more quickly as well to bring price stability to
ratepayers in Idaho and the other benefits of instate power.
Finally,the new federal Clean Air Act rules under the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency’s
“Clean Power Plan”are requiring states to reduce the pollution of their electricity,
increasing demand for renewable energy.Idaho could produce solar power and export it to
neighboring states,again increasing incomes and growing jobs in Idaho.This is a massive
strategic opportunity for Idaho,but not if Idaho’s rules don’t allow for solar projects to
be financed.
Our utilities are forestalling the inevitable that is coming,harming Idaho in the meantime.
Idaho Power claims they are keeping power prices low,particularly for large commercial and
industrial customers.Who are those customers?They include agricultural users,such as the
JR Simplot Company.But Simplot opposes Idaho Power’s request,as they can more efficiently
generate onsite renewable energy including from agricultural waste,saving money and
generating income.They also include,and increasingly will be,technology companies.What do
they want?Google,Microsoft and Apple have all said they want 100%renewable energy.Apple
is already at 97%.Where are they building new facilities?Not Idaho.Apple is building solar
in both North Carolina and California.Microsoft is doing biogas and wind power in Wyoming
and Illinois.We need to attract these companies to Idaho,and they want 100%renewable
energy,not a grid mix of 40%coal.
We have seen utilities fight this battle in other states,yet when those state regulators
require utilities to open to competition,it benefits ratepayers,the state,and the
utilities themselves.For instance,in Georgia tea party activists who wanted energy choice
in the face of increasing power prices joined with environmentalists and successfully
convinced state leaders to further open their markets to solar.What happened?The utility,
Georgia Power,is now giving its customers what they want:low-cost power and individual
choice.Georgia Power just signed contracts for over 500 megawatts of utility-scale solar
with 20 to 30 year contracts with no power rate increases.Not coincidentally,Georgia Power
just also announced it will offer its residents rooftop solar installation as well as Nest
Thermostats (to help reduce power bills)and Tesla battery storage systems (to increase power
reliability).With the “encouragement”of customers and regulators,Georgia Power found they
can offer customers what they want while protecting the bottom line.
On a local level in Blame County,community leaders have been concerned about our energy
resilience:the economic costs,environmental costs,and reliability risks.I chair the
Ketchum Energy Advisory Committee advising our community on how to address these risks.
Through local generation,and the best resource in the Wood River Valley is solar,the
community can reduce these threats:keeping more investment in the area,creating jobs,
strengthening the grid’s reliability and improving local ability to back it up with local
resources,cleaning up the electricity’s environmental impact,which undermines a community
which relies on access to snow and water for winter and summer needs.One key tool was to
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leverage PURPA to sell into the grid to develop larger scale solar projects including
community solar to be invested in by the community.This tool should not be removed from the
toolset available to communities in Idaho seeking to strengthen their economies and energy
security.
The PURPA system was working in Idaho when the process was stopped in January.The PUC should
let the system continue to work.If,however,there is concern over need,Idaho Power has
said they would be open to an annual or biannual REP process to pace new PURPA-based
independent power.There is a way forward that does not eliminate Idaho’s solar opportunity.
We rely on the PUC to move Idaho’s utilities to a smarter future.The old approach has been
one of ever-increasing power prices,no consumer choice and a missed opportunity for Idaho.
Idaho Power is also missing the chance to build new business models for its operations.We
need the utilities to continue to play their key role,not wither away from competition as
they refuse to find a way to compete in the inevitable,rapidly arriving,new reality.
Everyone in Idaho --ratepayers,farmers,conservationists,fiscal conservatives and business
owners --needs to insist our utility monopolies jump out of the nest and try new wings.Then
Idaho,our economy,and our future will soar.
Unique Identifier:66.232.67.82
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Jean Jewell
From:[e-mail]
Sent:Tuesday,June 30,2015 3:33 PM
To:Beverly Barker;Jean Jewell;Gene Fadness
Cc:[e-mail]
Subject:Case Comment Form:Jeremy Thomas
Name:Jeremy Thomas
Case Number:IPC-E-15-O1
Email:indianhillsranch(ao1.com
Telephone:
Address:39774 Indian Hills Road
Hammett Idaho,83627
Name of Utility Company:Idaho Power
Acknowledge public record:True
Comment:A healthy renewable energy sector in Idaho means new jobs,economic stimulation and
millions of dollars in new tax revenues for state and local governments.And that all takes
place here so we’re not exporting our energy dollars to states where our coal plants are
located.
Unique Identifier:70.208.0.86
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