Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The City of Palouse picked up $5,000 Sept. 12 from Avista as part of its Renewable Energy Cost Recovery Program. Palouse earned the award by exceeding its production quota on its solar farm built last year.
Avista gave the program’s maximum award, $5,000, calculated from a formula of 18 cents per kilowatt hour (kwh) generated in the fiscal year of July 1, 2016, to June 30, 2017.
In that time, the Palouse farm delivered 42,869 kwh.
“Our production was fantastic this year,” said Kyle Dixon, Palouse clerk-treasurer.
The total is now 83,514 kwh produced since the solar farm went online last December.
The $5,000 went into the city’s general fund, pending notice from the state auditor. The project originally came out of a free energy audit of the town in 2015.
In August, the City of Palouse approved another free audit of its energy use by Apollo Solutions of Spokane.
Apollo approached the city in July to ask about looking into other potential energy-saving projects in the city.
This fall, representatives from Apollo will return to Palouse and look at the systems at the wastewater treatment plant, exterior and interior lights in city-owned buildings, wells, the fire station and all public assets that require electricity.
For the month of July, the farm generated more than $1,200 in energy savings, which is $400 above what Apollo guaranteed the city per month.
The solar panels have generated the guaranteed $800 per month in energy savings, which all goes to pay off the city’s loan on the project, adding up to the equivalent of $8,000 the city previously paid Avista per year to power well No. 3.
The 70-kilowatt panels, facing south and west, generate enough energy to power the well, which was found to be deficient in Apollo’s 2015 audit.
The solar site is on the south side of Palouse, just past the railroad tracks.
Pump No. 3 was put in in the early 2000s after fears arose from the flood of 1996, which threatened the city’s well No. 1. Well No. 2 is no longer in use.
The city now pays Avista just $19.50 for the wells – the cost of having the meter on site.
The $360,000 solar panels project was paid for by a $277,000 grant awarded by the Washington Department of Enterprise Services, with the rest financed by the city from a $130,000 state Local Option Capital Asset Lending loan.
The savings generated above $800 per month are allocated toward other electric costs in the city.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
Reader Comments(0)