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Planned solar farm asks utility exemption
Energy 49 asks RCA to exclude proposed 6 MW Houston facility from utility regulation; power will go to MEA, RCA will review contract
Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
Energy 49 LLC has petitioned the Regulatory Commission of Alaska for exemption from regulation as a public utility for a proposed 6 megawatt solar farm in the Houston area which would sell all energy generated to Matanuska Electric Association through a special contract.
In a Dec. 3 filing, Jenn Miller, CEO of Renewable IPP as manager of Energy 49, said the commission has approved similar petitions in the MEA service area for Southfork Hydro LLC and Fishhook Renewable.
Miller said the 6 MW AC solar farm would sell all the power generated to MEA at wholesale prices. “The project is slated to begin construction summer 2021 and begin operation by year end 2021,” she said, and is expected to “operate for 30 years, providing clean energy and will not increase electricity cost to MEA members.”
Miller told the commission that compliance with its full regulation would be “burdensome and redundant on this small project.” The commission will approve Energy 49’s power purchase agreement with MEA “through a special contract filing, which provides regulatory oversight of the project,” she said. “Energy 49 is also required to meet MEA’s technical interconnection requirements to ensure safe and reliable operations,” Miller said, and it would be an unnecessary administrative burden on the commission to also oversee regulation of the project.
Energy 49 also requested that RCA expedite its decision on the project and issue a decision by March 31 “as this enables funding to be released in time to support 2021 construction” allowing private investors to qualify for 2021 Federal Investment Tax Credit of 22% before that rate steps down in 2022.
“The 22% ITC is critical to support investible project economics,” Miller said.
A Dec. 18 order from RCA designating a panel and appointing an administrative law judge said the commission would issue a final order no later than June 1, based on statutory requirements.
Renewable IPP Renewable IPP operates solar power as a partner in the Willow Solar Farm, which came online late last year and at 1.2 megawatts was then the largest solar farm in the state. The expansion of that project to its 1.2 MW size was financed by the Alaska Energy Authority.
A June report from the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Center for Energy and Power said at the end of 2019 there were some 8 MW of solar photovoltaic installations in the state, including 5.6 MW net metered on the Railbelt, the 1.2 MW Renewable Independent Power Producers installation in Willow and a 563 kilowatt utility installation in Fairbanks.
“In the last year alone, the installed capacity on the Railbelt has nearly doubled,” the UAF report said.
Energy 49 is an Anchorage-based limited liability company managed by Renewable IPP LLC, the company told RCA. It described Renewable IPP as “an ‘Alaska Grown’ small business which develops, constructs and operates utility scale solar farms in Alaska,” and said Energy 49 was formed so that private investment could fund and own the Houston solar farm. Houston is the only project planned by Energy 49 at this time “and exemption (from utility regulation) is requested solely for the Houston Solar Farm project rather than the entity of Energy 49,” the company said.
Two projects to date The Willow Solar Farm Pilot, a 100 kW project, and the 900 kW Willow Solar Farm Expansion are Renewable IPP’s two completed solar projects.
“Both of these projects were delivered under budget and sell power to MEA at their avoided cost,” the company said.
The Willow expansion is owned by AK Renewable Energy Partners and managed by Renewable IPP; AK Renewable Energy has a contract, approved by RCA, to sell power to MEA.
Energy 49 is working with MEA on a contract for power from the Houston solar farm and estimates that contract will be submitted by MEA to RCA for approval in January.
Renewable IPP is in the development stage for the Chugach Solar Farm, which would be a 9.6 MW Anchorage installation selling power to Chugach Electric Association.
Renewable IPP said in a November fact sheet on the Chugach project that it is in the process of leasing land, completing detailed grid studies, agreeing on power purchase terms with Chugach Electric and finalizing private investment.
That project, representing $12 million of private investment, is planned for 2022.
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