The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) has approved Tucson Electric
Power¿s (TEP¿s) plan to provide customers with an affordable way to meet
their electric needs with locally generated solar power.
By the end of this year, participants in TEP¿s Bright Tucson Community
Solar Program will be able to purchase shares of solar energy for as
little as $3 per month. The power will be produced by local photovoltaic
(PV) systems, including an array that will be built at the University of
Arizona¿s Science and Technology Park later this year.
¿The Bright Tucson Community Solar Program will make it easy for
customers to shrink their carbon footprint while helping us reduce our
community¿s reliance on fossil-fueled power,¿ said Paul Bonavia,
Chairman, President and CEO of TEP and its parent company, UniSource
Energy Corporation (NYSE: UNS).
Program participants will be able to purchase 150 kilowatt-hour (kWh)
¿blocks¿ of solar energy at a rate that adds $3 per month to their
bills. Six blocks would cover the annual electric use of a typical
household at a premium of just $18 per month. Customers can buy as many
blocks as they like until the available solar energy is fully
subscribed, and they can cancel at any time.
¿It¿s a great way to enjoy the benefits of solar power without the
up-front cost,¿ said David Hutchens, Vice President of Energy Efficiency
and Resource Planning for TEP and UniSource Energy. ¿The program will
make solar power available to renters and others who would have
difficulty installing a PV array at their home or business.¿
The Bright Tucson Community Solar Program also offers protection against
future energy cost increases. The rate paid for each block of solar
power will remain fixed for 20 years. Since each block offsets the cost
of an equivalent amount of traditional generation, the price premium
paid by program participants would effectively be reduced if those
traditional charges increase.
¿Customers would have a chance to insulate themselves from the impact of
new carbon taxes or other factors that could drive up the cost of power
from traditional generating resources,¿ Hutchens said. ¿By locking in a
slightly higher rate now for solar power, customers could end up
realizing significant savings over the long term.¿
The program was designed to parallel the benefits of installing solar
arrays subsidized by TEP¿s popular SunShare program. Each 150-kWh energy
block is comparable to the typical monthly output of a 1-kilowatt (kW)
SunShare solar array. And just as solar array owners earn credit for any
excess energy their systems provide to TEP¿s local distribution grid,
Bright Tucson Community Solar Program participants would receive credits
on future bills if the energy blocks they¿ve purchased exceed their
electric use during a billing period.
TEP plans to continue offering its SunShare program, which provides
subsidies that, when combined with state and federal tax benefits, can
significantly reduce the cost of installing PV systems at homes and
businesses.
Power for the Bright Tucson Community Solar Program¿s first subscribers
would be provided by a 1.6-megawatt (MW) single-axis tracking PV array
that will be built this year at the UA Science and Technology Park by
Solon, a Tucson-based solar manufacturer and system developer. Future
demands would be met through new solar power systems located in the
Tucson metropolitan area.
¿Our customers will be able to drive past these arrays and know that
they own a share of the energy they produce,¿ Hutchens said. ¿It¿s a way
to take ownership of solar energy in way that truly benefits our local
electric system and the community as a whole.¿
The Bright Tucson Community Solar Program will be funded in part by an
ACC-approved surcharge intended to support the state¿s Renewable Energy
Standard (RES). The RES calls on utilities to increase their use of
renewable energy each year until such resources represent 15 percent of
their power by 2025.
TEP is pursuing those goals through a combination of utility-owned
installations, purchased power contracts and ¿distributed¿ resources
like PV systems and solar water heaters installed at local homes and
businesses. Through the first quarter of 2010, TEP had developed nearly
10 MW of company-owned renewable energy generating capacity in addition
to nearly 6 MW of customer-owned PV systems.
In addition to the new 1.6 MW array, TEP will add 1.8 MW of capacity
this year to its 4.6-MW Springerville Generating Station Solar System,
which already is one of the largest grid-tied PV arrays in the United
States. TEP also has agreed to purchase the output of a dozen new solar
power systems, a landfill gas generation project and a new wind farm
that together would generate nearly 190 MW, enough renewable energy to
power nearly 40,000 Tucson homes. Those systems, which are being built
by private developers, are scheduled to come online in 2011 and 2012,
pending ACC approval, site selection and other contingencies.
Tucson Electric Power provides safe, reliable power to more than 400,000
customers in southern Arizona. To learn more, visit tep.com. For more
information about UniSource Energy, TEP¿s parent company, visit uns.com.
