June 2004 Newsletter

Solar power offered to isolated residents

Monday, May 10, 2004
By John Craig, Spokane Spokesman-Review

The Ferry County Public Utility District will sell electricity anywhere the sun shines. Under a new program, possibly unique in the nation, the Republic-based utility district is offering solar power systems to customers in isolated areas where it costs too much to extend conventional electric lines.

Rural Ferry County residents have been using solar systems for years, but they often have to start with less than they need and upgrade as they can afford additional equipment. If something breaks, they bear the cost. "Everybody who has solar, the first thing they ask when they meet each other is, `How many panels do you have?' and the answer is, `Almost enough,"' said John Friederichs, conservation director for the public utility district.

"Well, we're going to show them how they can have enough." For a monthly payment of from $45 to perhaps $100, the PUD will deliver a complete solar setup. It will come in a hut that feeds metered power to a customer's house. "As far as I know, we're the first ones in the country to do it," Friederichs said.

Customers will have three choices: the San Poil package, which produces 2.5 kilowatt-hours per day; the 5 kwh-per-day Kettle system; and the 7.5 kwh-per-day Columbia. The San Poil, which will produce more than twice as much electricity as many existing systems in the county, is expected to be the overwhelming favorite. At an estimated cost of $10,000, the San Poil would require 18 1/2 years of $45-a-month payments; however, except for a $45 minimum, the amount and duration of payments won't be known until four bids are opened on May 17.

Monthly charges for a solar hut are in lieu of the $34,323 that would be charged for each mile of a line extension. The utility district will own the equipment and be responsible for maintaining it. Customers will pay the same rate for solar electricity as for regular electricity: 6.16 cents per kwh.

The same program that allows the new PUD solar systems will make life easier for people who prefer a line extension. An $888,406 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utility Service will allow the utility district to establish a revolving fund for interest-free financing of solar hookups or line extensions. "We'll use whichever makes the most sense," Friederichs said.

In most cases, that's likely to be a line extension. Line costs can be spread over 30 years instead of 20 for shorter-lived solar equipment, and a line will deliver all the electricity anyone wants. Also, solar systems can't power anything requiring a large heating element, such as furnaces, water heaters, ranges and clothes dryers. Wood and propane typically are used for heating, and mechanical generators may be needed during extended cloudy periods. Friederichs said about a half-dozen customers have expressed interest in solar systems and about 10 want conventional line extensions when the new financing program begins, perhaps this month.

A prototype of the San Poil solar package was used last fall to save a television translator system that has beamed Spokane channels to some 200 residents of northeastern Ferry County since 1958. State and federal regulators had threatened to shut down the rag-tag operation -- run with volunteers and donations -- as a fire and electrocution hazard. Roy Eslick, president of the Orient/Laurier TV Club, said his group was ordered to replace a frayed and spliced electrical cable that was strung a third of a mile almost straight up a mountain in the Colville National Forest.

Officials also demanded $1 million of fire insurance coverage, which would have cost about $800 a year. "We couldn't keep up with that," Eslick said. Placing a solar power system next to the mountaintop antenna array brought the insurance premium down to $425 a year, "and we also meet all the environmental friendlies for the Forest Service," Eslick said.

The entire $10,697 cost of the system was covered by government assistance, including a $7,500 grant administered by the North Ferry County Enterprise Committee. Ten 150-watt solar panels charge eight batteries that can run the 300-watt broadcasting system for 27 hours. "It works pretty well," Eslick said. "The only bad thing is, if we have three days of clouds, then we lose our TV."

Outages sometimes last three or four days, and totaled about a month last winter, Eslick said. To conserve power, the translator system operates only from 6:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. "Once we get more revenue in, we can put more batteries up," Eslick said.