[kaneui]

APS gets OK for Flagstaff solar project
Phoenix Business Journal
by Sebastien Bauge
April 5, 2010

Arizona Public Service received approval for a $10 million pilot project to install solar panels in a small Flagstaff community. The Community Power Project, approved by the Arizona Corporation Commission, calls for APS to own and operate solar panels on 200 homes in northeast Flagstaff, and offer customers the opportunity to buy power from the units at a fixed level for the next 20 years.

The U.S. Department of Energy is partly funding the research effort with a $3.3 million grant given over a 45-month period. The 1.5-megawatt project also gives APS an opportunity to study how small systems interact with grid connections and how to manage changes in the flow of electricity based on what the systems are producing. “We’re very interested in the technical study of this,” said APS spokesman Dan Wool. “We really want to optimize our system and this project will teach us a lot.” APS will pay for installation and upkeep of the solar panels with residents signing easements that grant access to their roofs. In return, APS will charge participants a fixed Community Power Rate that effectively cuts their energy bills in half, Wool said. The program is expected to generate about 1.5 megawatts of energy, enough to power about 400 homes. “What we learn could very well become a linchpin for making rooftop solar generation a widespread phenomenon in the future,” said APS President Don Robinson in a press release.

Arizona Corporation Commissioner Paul Newman said the pilot will be monitored closely in terms of job creation. “The Flagstaff pilot will help us understand how high levels of distributed clean energy impact the grid and provide jobs to local solar installers,” said Newman. Flagstaff officials had been promoting the project to the Arizona Corporation Commission for months, said Nicole Woodman, sustainability manager for the city of Flagstaff. “Providing opportunities to our residents is a key, and eliminating the financial barrier to renewable energy was a way to do that,” Woodman said. APS also plans to have a utility-scale solar system and several wind turbines installed in the test area.