Cleveland City Council held its first hearing on November 30, 2006 to determine the role of Cleveland Public Power (CPP) in promoting alternative energy production and building a local market of customers. Council controls the actions of CPP because of an unusual ownership agreement.

“Alternative power is a hot topic,” CPP deputy commissioner William Zigli told council’s Utilities Committee. “The handwriting is certainly on the wall to establish alternative resources.”

As one of 86 municipal-owned utilities in the state, CPP can streamline the process on how it implements 2005 federal guidelines for alternative energy known as PURPLA. The much larger and more bureaucratic Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) is currently considering the same rule changes for investor-owned utilities such as First Energy.

City council and CPP set a deadline of spring 2007 to decide on rules governing:

• Interconnection—how will producers of alternative energy, such as homeowners with solar panels, physically connect to the grid.
• Net Metering—How do you credit a customer whose self-generated power stops and actually reverses their electric meter from spinning? And how much can self-producers charge utilities like CPP when they sell power back to the grid?
• Smart Metering—For those who don’t plan to purchase solar panels or wind turbines, there’s an option for a new kind of meter that provides information when the utility is at peak (more expensive) hours so customers can “dial down” their consumption.

Current standards for interconnection and net metering used by First Energy limit micro-turbines to 100 kW and interconnection to 300 kW, said Cleveland Sustainability Program Manager Andrew Manager. "Great Lakes Brewing is proposing a 300 kilowatt cogeneration system, but First Energy (currently) would not allow that." Conversely, CPP might allow it, but the hearings are meant to standardize how it responds to these types of proposals. 

Comments and documents supplied by the committee highlighted the benefits of CPP pursuing alternative energy. They include:

• Reduced individual energy costs: Distributed generation (DG) lets customers cut energy costs by using renewables as “free energy”.
• Greater sustainability: Greater use of renewable energy sources reduces the region’s need for non-renewable fuels.
• Less stress on CPP’s distribution system and greater system reliability.
• Increased use of DG and demand response (DR) may benefit all of CPP’s ratepayers by supporting the larger electric infrastructure, since they may relieve stress on the distribution system by reducing demand. DR can also enhance system reliability since customers can reduce power use during “peak demand” periods, the chance of brownouts or blackouts is reduced.
• Potential positive impact on large-scale environmental and health concerns: Two-thirds of the energy from a traditional coal-fired power plant is lost as waste heat, either during generation or transmission over distance. Use of DG and DR reduces our dependency on this conventional “central station model”, with potential reductions in greenhouse gases and in particulates, mercury, and other health hazards associated with coal-based power.

Insuring equitable rates is another goal of PURPLA and municipal-owned utilities.

Rates won't likely be affected by alternative energy producers, since they won’t account for a significant percentage of CPP’s power, said Larry Mansueti from the U.S. Department of Energy, who flew in to Cleveland to address the committee.

Mansueti added that the committee is “asking all the right questions” and is keeping pace with other cities looking to connect their muni-owned utility with alternative energy.

CPP’s rule changes should be in line with PUCO’s, added Councilman Mike Dolan, to enable CPP to one day sell green power—maybe from a wind farm in Lake Erie—to a CEI customer.

“CPP has sold power to CEI,” Zigli answered. “So a legal framework already exists to line up a green energy source.”

The details of this and a long list of issues—such as who pays for smart meters, and should net metering apply only to renewable energy producers—will be addressed in the coming months. To read up on the issue and look at the questions facing council, click through the link in the Resources section below.

The public will have an opportunity to weigh in at a workshop on April 18, 2007, and in advance by sending the city your written comments by April 2, 2007. Email your comments to webmaster@clevelandcitycouncil.org. And please be sure to cc webmaster@GreenCityBlueLake.org

Resources
Issues to be addressed by Utilities Committee PURPLA hearings
State-by-state listing of rules for interconnection, smart metering and net metering