HomeMy WebLinkAboutA001 - Council Action Summary dated September 8, 2015 COUNCIL ACTION SUMMARY
Meeting Date: 9/08/2015
Agenda Item#: Council Comments
SUBJECT: Letter from Ames Solar dated August 31, 2015
ACTION TAKEN: Referred to staff for a memo back from staff.
MOTION BY: Gartin
SECOND BY: Goodman
VOTING AYE: Betcher, Corrieri, Gartin, Goodman,Nelson, Orazem
VOTING NAY: None
ABSENT: None
By: Diane Voss, City Clerk
Electronically Sent to: Donald Kom, Director of Electric Services
.Ames Community Solar initiative
August 31, 2015
y..
Mayor Ann Campbell and the Ames City Council
City Hall
515 Clark Avenue
Ames, IA 50010
Solar energy makes sense for Ames: it would further decrease our reliance on fossil fuel; it could
help satisfy the city's need for additional generating capacity; and it is affordable. While the city
should continue to support customer-owned roof-top arrays and streamline its overly complicated
approval process,a community solar project makes particular sense at this time. Community solar
projects are usually larger than rooftop arrays and benefit from economies of scale. Community
solar projects allow participation by homeowners who do not have good solar access or who may not
want to be responsible for attachments to their roof,by renters and townhouse dwellers, and by
others who would not be able to make the significant investment required for rooftop solar.
This may not be a convenient time to consider community solar, as the electric utility is focused on
conversion of the power plant to natural gas,but delay effectively takes federal tax incentives off the
table. Those credits expire at the end of 2016. Furthermore,the commitment of staff time can be
limited through the use of proven planning models and customer financing options.
Nationally,more than 25 percent of community solar projects are being led by public power utilities.
Public power leaders include San Antonio and Austin(TX), Long Island Lighting(NY), and Los
Angeles and Sacramento(CA),but public power systems in Minnesota are also drawing a lot of
attention for their solar efforts. And in Iowa,residents of Traer are already participating in a
community solar project, Cedar Falls is completing a community solar initiative that is likely to have
twice the number of participants as expected, and several other Iowa municipal utilities are at various
stages of planning.
The Ames Community Solar Initiative can be described as a committed group of Ames residents and
their advisors who have been investigating the development of a community solar project of at least a
megawatt in scale. We ask for two actions by the city council. First,that the city submit a
simple, no-obligation application to the Iowa Utilities Board that will put the city in the queue
for possible use of a limited block of state tax credits that have been set aside for community
solar projects sponsored by municipal utilities. Second,affirm support for the concept of a
community solar project and for a timely initial investigation and recommendation regarding
feasibility.
The Ames Community Solar Initiative would be pleased to meet with staff and/or the Electric Utility
Operations Review and Advisory Board to share the current findings of our investigation.
Sincerely,
/:30Z H L IE
Bob Haug
On behalf of the Ames Community Solar Initiative SEP - 2 2015
CITY CLERK
c/o Bob Haug, 3517 Oakland Street, Ames, Iowa 500 CITY OF AMES, IOWA
Phone 515-971-8480 Email: bhaug.ames®gmail.com