IID uneasy with proposed program
As part of their effort to aid local working poor families in the Imperial Valley and other counties in Southern California a statewide nonprofit organization, La Cooperativa Campesina approached the Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors in hopes of partnering to provide energy efficiency services those in need.
The executive director of the organization, Marco Lizarraga made a brief presentation to the board regarding the scope of the program during the information portion of Tuesday’s Board of Directors meeting.
Lizarraga said that they hope recently received $12.2 in from the Cap-and-Trade deal from the state, is used to provide assistance to the working poor of the agricultural industry through its Low Income Weatherization Program.
Under this program, La Cooperativa Campesina is seeking to assist residents in the counties of Imperial, San Diego, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino by offering the installation of more energy efficient appliances such as refrigerators, ceiling fans, thermostats, water heaters and also rooftop solar panels that will help reduce the electricity bills of the working poor.
Despite the vocal support of the majority of the program from the IID Board, some of its members did voice concerns regarding the installation of rooftop solar. Division 5 Director Norma Sierra Galindo told Lizarraga that she was concern about predatory companies who in the past have taken advantage of some residents, primarily in Calexico, by overselling the capabilities of rooftop solar and at times not following proper protocols and leaving customers with more problems. “Keep in mind that we’re not selling solar panels, we’re not charging for the solar panels, if you qualify you to get them for free, so we don’t need to promise anything other than hope for them to qualify to allow us to install them,” Lizarraga told the Board.
He added that he came to the Board in advance in the hopes of working together in order to reach those who may benefit the most with the Low Income Weatherization Program. He said his hope is to help IID reach out to ratepayers who already receive some form of assistance and make them aware of the option. In order to qualify for the program, applicants need to be 80 percent of median income or 60 percent of state median income by county.
“The reason this man (Lizarraga) is presenting today is that he’s going to offer this service in our territory no matter what,” said IID General Manager Kevin Kelley. “The question to the Board is whether we want to assist him in reaching these underserved customers in addition to what we already offer.” Last year, IID faced heavy pressure and criticism from the solar industry regarding the Net Energy Metering Program after IID reached the state mandated cap of 50 megawatts before it was expected, which left many applicants out of the program.
As the discussion became focused on the rooftop solar component, the Board brought back the same concerns it discussed last year during various meetings when dealing with the Net Energy Metering Program.
Although that program is fully subscribed and replaced by the IID’s own Net Energy Billing Program, some of the board members brought some of the concerns they had with NEM last year.
Division 2 Director Bruce Kuhn said he was concerned with potential cost shift by adding more rooftop solar. Cost shift was a concern under NEM in which utilities had to pay back customers for excess generation at retail rate, however with the current Net Billing there is no longer a payout at the end of the year for the excess generation, instead IID would credit the excess energy into the next billing month of the customer at the cheapest cost of solar IID pays.
“Under our new successor program which this program will be subject to, will be putting systems that will conform IID specs,” Kelley said. “Should it go forward in the way that he’s proposing it would be under the Net Energy Billing as opposed as to Net-metering and the over generation would not be an issue.
The main point Kuhn brought into the discussion was about how much rooftop solar can be connected to the IID grid before the loss of revenue could have an adverse effect on the entity. “There is nothing that you have brought forward here today that gives me any cause for concern except the solar portion,” Kuhn told Lizarraga. “There is a cost shift here and I don’t know how much we can do before it actually starts to hurt people that can’t afford this stuff.”
Because the item was part of the information portion of the agenda there was no vote taken, however, Galindo suggested to Kelley to assign a small group from the Energy Department to work in conjunction with La Cooperativa Campesina to iron out the details to provide a recommendation to the Board in a future meeting. Lizarraga mentioned that he envisions a continuation of this program in the future which could allow low income ratepayers to get battery storage that could allow them to go off the grid.
“Any efforts, that any organization, that attempts to make the life of the working poor or senior citizens, to make their lives a little bit easier are definitely welcome,” Galindo said. “I would like to ask that you try to understand the predicament we’re in from the institution’s position and unfortunately we’ve learned about solar in a very difficult way and one that has not proven to be profitable or helpful to the population that is intended to serve.”