Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Renewable Energy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Coffeeville adopts new customer-owned generation policy, aligns billing with state law
Summary
The City Commission approved Resolution R-25-97 to adopt policies for customer-owned renewable generation, moving the utility from a net-generation approach to a parallel-generation billing method and setting technical and system caps.
The City Commission of the City of Coffeyville on Sept. 9 approved Resolution R-25-97 adopting new policies and procedures for interconnection and parallel operation of customer-owned renewable electric generation facilities.
The measure, presented by Executive Director of Electric Chris Weiner, changes how the city bills and credits customers with solar panels, wind systems or other behind-the-meter generation. "Basically, the solar policy is to bring us into compliance with state law," Weiner said, explaining the city will bill customers for electricity taken at the retail rate and credit exported energy at the city's avoided-cost rate (the cost the city pays GRDA for power).
The nut graf: The revision replaces the previous net-generation method with a parallel-generation approach required by state law. It establishes technical safety requirements, caps on individual system sizes tied to a customer’s historical peak load, and a system-wide cap phased from 6% this year to 8% in future years.
The ordinance sets the credit for exported energy at the city’s monthly cost from the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA), rather than the city’s retail rate. Weiner said the change means "they become our power supplier for however much they produce instead of GRDA," and that the payment will vary month to month because the GRDA cost fluctuates.
Commissioners pressed staff on safety and long-term maintenance. Vice Mayor Van Oster asked whether the required exterior disconnect would cut power to the entire house or only the generation equipment; Weiner said the disconnect would isolate the system and that he would verify whether it completely severs house service. "I will have to verify, with our team... my understanding would be... it should disconnect the service to the entire house," Weiner said, and added staff would confirm details with the meter shop supervisor.
Commissioners also raised testing and inspection questions for automatic protection equipment. Weiner said the policy requires the owner to provide protection on the customer side and that the utility’s protection systems provide a second line of defense. He said the policy document is based on a template from the Kansas Municipal Utilities Organization and that the city could add explicit recurring inspection or testing requirements if the commission wanted.
The commission voted to approve the resolution. Mayor Maples moved approval; Vice Mayor Van Oster seconded. The motion carried with all present commissioners voting aye.
Ending: The new policy will take effect per the resolution; staff said they will follow up with clarifications on disconnect operation and inspection frequency and will update implementing procedures to reflect any further technical requirements the commission requests.
