IID introduces program allowing customers to purchase more renewable energy
EL CENTRO – Imperial Irrigation District customers who want to reduce their carbon footprint can now purchase additional energy from renewable resources.
During its regular meeting on July 25, the IID Board of Directors voted unanimously to adopt guidelines and requirements for a green rate program consistent with existing IID green rate programs. Under the new completely optional program, a customer can select their level of participation with a subscription for renewable energy up to 100 percent of their energy load requirements.
This year, 35 percent of IID’s overall generation delivered to customers is expected to be from renewable energy sources. The new program is expected to raise that figure by 65 percent, although the actual percentage will vary according to the request of each customer signed up for the program.
“We have some customers that would like to be 100 percent green, so this program would allow them to pay a little additional and be able to meet that business requirement,” Belen Valenzuela, IID chief financial officer, told the Board of Directors during their meeting. “It is a customer-selected option. They can elect to go in and elect to go out. They would be paying additional for that green.”
The program is expected to launch in the last quarter of 2018, and will provide customers an alternative solution to help support the environment without having to invest in, or install, on-site renewable generation systems, such as rooftop solar panels.
To offset the cost of purchasing the additional green energy required to service customers who opt into this program, their cost is estimated to increase from existing rates to a rate between $0.013 and $0.02 per kilowatt-hour.
Customers will be billed for all electric usage under the applicable IID rate schedule. The green rate will be calculated based on the actual incremental cost to procure renewable energy resources for the previous 12 months required to meet the renewable portfolio compliance standards.
The monthly rate will fluctuate based on IID’s costs to procure renewable resources.
Open to all customers
The program will be open to all retail electric customers, with an exception for customers who have installed on-site renewable systems or wholesale power customers receiving standby service.
The district has allocated 5 megawatts in the initial offering. However, additional megawatts may be added to the program if customer demand warrants an increase.
“We have a 5 megawatt cap just to try the program out,” Valenzuela said.
While there is no way to make sure that the power delivered to a customer is from a green energy source, the program will increase the overall level of green energy on the grid, she said.
“We would be putting additional green power onto the grid for those that do want to make sure that they are more than 28 percent green,” Valenzuela said. “It would be coming from our portfolio, which is all [sourced in] California.”
IID staff began looking into the new program at the request of two businesses based in Riverside County, Valenzuela said.
Once a customer opts into the program, the green schedule will take effect at the start of the next billing period. Conversely, a customer on the program who opts out will be removed from the fee scheduled at the beginning of the next billing cycle.
Prior to receiving service under the green schedule, customers must choose an option of either 100 percent or lower of their registered monthly kilowatt-hour load, and can change the percentage of renewable energy they receive once in a 12-month period.
To date, IID has invested millions of dollars in incentives to help customers take part in its renewable energy programs, including issuing rebates, weatherizing homes, tuning-up AC units and offering savings on energy and excess power sold to IID through its net metering and net billing programs.
“At IID, we put our customers first and are committed to tailoring rates, policies and services to meet the needs of our communities,” IID Board President James Hanks said in a press release. “Our customers have asked us to give them options for renewables and this program does just that.”
For more information, visit www.iid.com