GLREA News
Michigan Solar Home & Sustainability Tour will be held Saturday, October 5 in a number of Michigan communities. Visit with your neighbors to find out how they have used solar and green technologies to save money and help the environment. Michigan tours can be found at www.glrea.org and additional sites are available at www.ases.org.
GLREA Member Highlight
Michigan Geothermal Energy Association (MGEA) was formed in 1993 by geothermal contractors, manufacturers, distributors, and electric utilities to promote high quality geothermal energy systems that meet the comfort, efficiency, and environmental needs of customers. Earthcomfort.com, MGEA’s informative site for consumers, is the best site to learn about geothermal energy and find a geothermal contractor. http://earthcomfort.com/mgea
Michigan News
Net Metering and Solar Pilot Program report has been issued by the MPSC. The report noted that the number of net metering customers increased from 1,015 in 2011 to 1,330 in 2012. The total size of the net metering program increased 55% to 9,583 kW in 2012. Solar was the most popular, with an additional 294 customer installations totaling 2,665 kW in 2012; wind followed with 42 additional customer installations totaling 223 kW. The installation of a 535 kW methane digester in Great Lakes Energy Cooperative’s service territory is Michigan’s first Category 3 modified net metering project. Category 3 projects are projects up to 550 kW. www.michigan.gov/netmetering
MSU South Campus Anaerobic Digester has started up and is located at the Dairy Cattle Teaching and Research facility, just south of the main campus. The digester will use about 17,000 tons of waste from university farms and dining halls to generate 2.8 million kWh’s per year, generating power for a number of campus buildings. http://www.freep.com/article/20130813/NEWS06/308130121/1001/news
Consumers Energy has proposed eliminating their bill surcharge that covers the cost of complying with Michigan’s renewable electricity standard. Consumers Energy had already cut its monthly renewable surcharge in each of the past two years. In 2011, the utility adjusted it from $2.50 to 65 cents and last year it was lowered again to 52 cents. Costs for wind farms are coming in less than originally thought and the projected net capacity factor has improved from 41% to 45.2%. Two months ago DTE proposed lowering its monthly renewable energy surcharge from $3 to 43 cents. http://www.midwestenergynews.com/2013/08/08/in-michigan-renewables-costing-utilities-less-than-expected/
Bay City Electric, Light & Power will purchase $18 million in electricity from the Beebe Community Wind Farm during the next 20 years. Bay City’s agreement would be to purchase 4.8 MW through the Michigan Public Power Agency. The initial year will cost Bay City about $45/MWh. Bay City’s 2013 average cost to purchase power was $59/MWh and coal-based power costs the city about $54/MWh. The cost of the wind energy increases during the contract’s 20-year term, rising to about $72/MWh in the final year. http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2013/08/bay_city_commissioners_agree_t.html
Michigan Interfaith Power & Light and Lawrence Tech will host the 9th Annual Sustainability Conference on Sept. 27-28 at the LTU campus in Southfield. Sustainability Strategies for People, Profit & Planet, will have two nationally recognized sustainability leaders as keynotes: William Spratley, Exec. Dir. of Green Energy Ohio and Terry Gips, CEO of Sustainability Associates. Friday’s seminars will feature Energy Efficiency Tips/Techniques, Urban Gardening, Efficient Lighting, Living Building Challenge, Resource Reuse in Detroit, EPA Utilities Tracking Workshop, Solar Detroit and much more. Saturday attendees will watch two inspirational sustainability movies and tour on-campus Storm Water Trail, 10kW PV System, and A. Alfred Taubman LEED Silver Student Services Building. www.sustain4p.ltu.edu
DTE Energy selected 67 solar projects in the second round of its expansion of the SolarCurrents customer-owned pilot program. The expanded program offers an additional 2 MW of capacity this year and in 2014 through four rounds of 500 kW. A random drawing became necessary because DTE customers responded with 167 applications (1,200 kW). Incentives were awarded to 56 residential projects, representing 373 kW and ranging in size from 1 to 20 kW. In addition, 11 small business projects, representing 121 kW, range in size from 4 to 20 kW. The projects that weren’t selected can reapply for the third round, which starts Jan. 13. The application deadline is Feb. 12. http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/08/13/dte-energy-selects-solarcurrents-projects-2/
Srinergy has joined the DOE’s Race to the Rooftops contest. The firm and its partners will compete for part of a $10 million prize. It will be shared among the first three teams that install 6,000 smaller-scale solar systems on homes or businesses while keeping their “soft costs” at or below $1 per watt. Since soft costs often account for half the price of small-scale solar installations, cutting them by that much could drop a project’s cost by one-third. That would put a modest home system in the $3 per watt range. http://www.mlui.org/energy/news-views/news-views-articles/novi-solar-developer-joins-feds-race-to-the-rooftops.html#.Uf0XJl_D_IW
Detroit Regional Chapter of the US Green Building Council has unveiled a web-based membership directory that is accessible to anyone interested in researching regional green building professionals. http://www.usgbcdetroit.org/
Beyond Michigan
4.5 Million Manufacturing Jobs in U.S. were lost from 1980-2005 according to the Brookings Institution. But the American wind industry has managed to buck that trend. Now approximately 70% of every wind turbine installed in the U.S. is American-made compared to 25% in 2005. During that same time period, the wind industry manufacturing workforce in the U.S. has grown from 2,500 jobs in 2005 to 25,000 jobs today. http://aweablog.org/blog/post/wind-power-made-in-america
Deepwater Wind has won the first-ever competitive lease auction for renewable energy development in federal waters, bidding $3.8 million for sites located off Rhode Island and Massachusetts. U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management held the auction for the two parcels, totaling more than 164,000 acres. Deepwater Wind plans to develop a 1 GW wind farm with 200 wind turbines located 20 to 25 miles from the nearest landfall. http://www.nawindpower.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.11839#utm_medium=email&utm_source=LNH+08-02-2013&utm_campaign=NAW+News+Headlines
White House will be installing solar panels as part of an energy retrofit that will improve the overall energy efficiency of the building and pay for itself over the next eight years. The retrofit includes updated building controls and variable speed fans. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/08/15/white-house-solar-panels-finally-being-installed/
13 GW of new wind energy capacity were installed in the U.S. in 2012 pushing the total capacity connected to the grid nationally to 60 GW. For the first time wind energy has become the top source of new electricity generation in the U.S. DOE has published an interactive map illustrating the steep growth in wind projects, particularly in the last decade. http://energy.gov/articles/wind-farm-growth-through-years#buttn
Tea Party Leader in Georgia explains why she’s teaming up with the Sierra Club to push for solar power. http://grist.org/climate-energy/a-tea-party-leader-explains-why-shes-teaming-up-with-the-sierra-club-to-push-for-solar-power/
Power Demand in Texas hit the third-highest level in its history on August 7 and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) reported that peak electric use in its region topped out at 67,180 MW during the 4-5 p.m. hour. The operator says the grid experienced no problems during the day, with more than 74,000 MW of electricity, including more than 2,300 MW of wind power, available during the peak hour.
http://nawindpower.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.11877
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has issued a new report on wind energy and property values. Berkeley Lab analyzed more than 50,000 home sales near 67 wind facilities in 27 counties across nine U.S. states. The research did not find any statistically identifiable impacts from wind facilities to nearby home property values. http://emp.lbl.gov/sites/all/files/lbnl-6362e.pdf
Events
Monroe County Community College renewable energy courses start on Sept. 4 and go to Dec. 16, Mondays & Wednesdays - Introduction to Renewable Energy Systems and Introduction to Solar Energy. www.monroeccc.edu
Residential Energy Management Technologies will be the topic at the Michigan Energy Forum on Sept. 12, 5:00-7:00 pm. The Forum will explore technologies that are now, or may soon, be commercially available to help manage and reduce residential energy use. The Forum is free and open to the public and will be held at SPARK Central, 330 East Liberty, Ann Arbor. http://www.annarborusa.org/events/details?e=11747
Joint Meeting of West Michigan Bio-Energy Consortium, West Michigan Solar Supply Chain, and West Michigan Wind Manufacturing Network will be held on Sept. 19 at noon at Varnum Law in Grand Rapids. chaplar@rightplace.org
Great Lakes Wind Collaborative Annual Meeting will be held September 22-23 in Columbus, OH. Come share ideas, network with colleagues, and learn the latest. Ryan Wiser, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, will be presenting the 2012 Wind Market Report and the 8 states and 2 provinces in GLWC will present the current status of wind energy in their areas. http://www.glc.org/energy/wind/conf2013.html
Solar PV Installer Boot Camp Training + NABCEP Entry Level Exam Prep will be held on Sept. 24-26 at McNaughton-McKay, 4670 Runway Blvd., Ann Arbor. The cost is $1595. This ISPO accredited 40-hour training teaches you to design, install, and sell PV systems, plus helps you pass the NABCEP Entry Level Exam (additional $100).http://www.heatspring.com/courses/solar-pv-installer-boot-camp-training–ann-arbor
Michigan Interfaith Power & Light Annual Sustainability Conference will be held Sept. 27 at Lawrence Tech University. This conference will bring together architects, engineers, entrepreneurs, homeowners, educators, students and those responsible for non-profit buildings and houses of worship to explore ‘green’ solutions. http://www.ltu.edu/sustain/conference_agenda.asp
MREA Solar Site Assessment Exam Prep will be held on October, 10-11, 8 am – 5 pm at Northwestern Michigan College, Aero Park Lab, Room 102. The cost is $350. https://www.nmc.edu/resources/extended-education/find-a-class/energy-construction/index.html
GreenTown Michiana will be held on October 11 in South Bend, IN. Tracks include energy/built environment, wellness, food and waste, water, transportation, and sustainable business. www.greentownconference.com
Solar PV Design & Installation Bootcamp will be held on Mon-Thurs, Oct. 14-18, 8:00-5:15 at Northwestern Michigan College, Aero Park Lab. The cost is $795. https://www.nmc.edu/resources/extended-education/find-a-class/energy-construction/index.html
West Michigan Forum for Strategic Energy Projects and Visioning will be held on October 15, 9:00-3:30 at Grand Valley State University, Alumi House, Allendale. https://wmeac.org/sustainable-communities/west-michigan-energy-leaders/register/
Michigan Energy Conference will be held October 24 at the Frederick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids. Sponsored by Ferris State University, the Right Place and the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center (MMTC), the conference theme is “Powering the Future.” http://ferris.edu/mec/
Mi-EIBC will be hosting the first annual Michigan Energy Innovators Gala on October 28 at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing. This year’s theme is “Made in Michigan”. The event will begin at 6 p.m. with an opening reception followed by dinner at 7 p.m. http://www.mieibc.org/
Michigan State Wind Forum will be held by the American Wind Energy Association on Nov. 4 at the Kellogg Center, Michigan State University.
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Source/Prepared by: John Sarver for Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association (GLREA)