Renewable energy receives co-op support

Morgan County Rural Electric Association in Fort Morgan expects to provide even more of its electricity from renewable energy resources in coming years.

MCREA joined other electric cooperatives from across Colorado in working with Gov. Bill Ritter’s office and Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder, in crafting House Bill 07-1281, which will increase the percentage of electricity the state’s utilities must obtain from renewable resources. The bill was introduced in the Colorado House Feb. 6 and passed out of committee Feb. 13.

Specifically, this bill requires co-ops to obtain 10 percent of their electricity from renewable resources by 2020. The bill also notes that this requirement cannot raise rates for co-op members more than 1 percent.

This rate cap was an important part of the bill because electricity from renewable resources is more expensive than electricity from traditional coal-powered steam plants, according to an MCREA news release. While MCREA wants to incorporate more renewable resources, the co-op is also acutely aware of how increased rates can affect its members, the release stated.

Cost to members is the biggest reason the co-op has taken a position against another energy-related bill before the General Assembly, House Bill 07-1169 on net metering. This bill would require MCREA to provide net metering for any member who wants to install up to 500 kilowatts of renewable energy generation on the co-op system. Net metering is a system that allows an individual to generate his own electricity and be paid to add any excess electricity he generates back onto the utility’s system.

“While this concept sounds great, this particular bill on net metering would cost our members thousands of dollars because it requires the co-op to subsidize those who install these private systems,” said MCREA General Manager Fred Grantham. “This bill adds requirements that come with costs to the co-op.

“With the requirements this net-metering bill has, co-ops such as Morgan County would have to purchase and install thousands of dollars worth of complex and expensive meters, and Morgan County just completed a five-year, $5.2 million project to install new meters,” Grantham said. “We’d have to do it all over again.”

The bill’s design would also force the co-op to make fundamental and costly changes in its rate and billing systems. MCREA would incur substantial costs that would have to be spread to all of its members.

Colorado currently has a net metering law, which was passed in 2002. That law requires a similar buy-back of electricity, but provides more flexibility and better insures that there isn’t any subsidy to the individual selling the power back is more reasonable. The new net metering bill, which has been called one of the most radical and aggressive net metering bills in the country by engineers, increases Morgan County REA’s requirement by 20 times and puts the increased costs on all of Morgan County REA’s members, according to the news release.

Morgan County REA and other co-ops are meeting with legislators to help them understand that this co-op net metering bill will hurt many electric co-op members.

For more information on the specifics of the bill, visit HYPERLINK “http://www.crea.coop” www.crea.coop, the Web site of the Colorado Rural Electric Association. Click under Legislative Alert.

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