Nelson hydro ignores its own bylaw(rates paid for solar only if there is economic benefit to Nelson Hydro) and Public information for the Balfour community solar. (Systems cannot be larger than 25kW) both Balfour systems exceed this!
Grant money was supposed to be spent for projects that showed a positive return. Alberta
Pembina institute came up with that one. RDCK did no due diligence to confirm.
Their statement "the two bidders calculations aren't similar! and how they did their calculations
is unknown! _should be a RED FLAG.
All of this I submitted to the last mayor and council, again to this mayor and council, the Regional District and director involved and the Alberta installation company.
NOTHING has changed or been discussed with me. And more grant money is coming likely
to produce the same result and loss to Nelson hydro ratepayers.
My concern is Columbia Basin Trust's recent announcement of $900,000 grant money available for community alternate energy systems. We already have systems in the Nelson hydro service area from previous grants. In 2009 a SolarBC grant put a system on the high school. Around 2011 a local business received a grant for a solar system. The business and solar system disappeared. One of the city councillors was a principal in that business. He has yet to reveal what happened to the system paid for with public money.
There is a solar system from grant money on a city park washroom. The Nelson Community Solar
Garden, Nelson hydro pays full retail for that power when the alternative is huge profits from wholesale cleaner greener waterpower, now spilling down the river with the profits
Last summer grant money installed three solar systems with grant money on community buildings in Nelson hydro's service area at Balfour, Regional District. Nelson hydro is paying full retail for any of their excess solar power while losing income from waterpower sales. Its unknown how many more systems might show up with the recent $900,000 CBT grant money.
Every kW of solar in the Nelson hydro service area is lost hydro income that helps reduce rates.
Nelson hydro is not abiding by its own bylaw.
Nelson hydro bylaw 6.4 Net Metering Interconnection Requirements
States Rates paid will be subject to the approval of the Nelson hydro General Manager and will be determined based on the economic benefit to Nelson Hydro.
It also states maximum projects size is 25kW .
The Balfour systems don't meet bylaw, they should never have been approved, never mind
exceeding the maximum size!
The Balfour systems exceed 25kW.
At the recent public hydro budget meeting the Area director for Balfour and the manager of Nelson hydro were together and I approached them. I asked the hydro manager how much Balfour was being paid for their excess solar power. His reply, motioning towards the area director, "ask her". She didn't know. I then asked why the systems exceed the 25kW bylaw maximum power. He acted like he didn't know what I was talking about. I had a printout of the bylaw in my hand. Trying to show him, he put his hand up towards me, signalling the conversation was over.
The CBT grant requires one must show a positive return for the project. Balfour's report was prepared by the Pembina Institute of Edmonton. With no engineering data collected on site, their estimate of annual power exceeded any known local data and now that its been in operation for over 7 months data shows they are earning less than 70% of estimates.
The report makes a deceptive statement as follows:
A way for Nelson Hydro to avoid purchasing
electricity from other utilities (FortisBC) is to purchase renewable, low-carbon
electricity locally
Nelson hydro makes a large profit selling low-carbon waterpower, nothing is greener or
cleaner than waterpower.
The RDCK makes the statement
the systems must be economical to ensure public dollars are being spent prudently. This analysis uses the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) metric.
IRR ignores all expenses, Warren Buffet calls it Bull$hit bookkeeping, to take public grant
money this way is anything but prudent.
The RDCK statement in the report as follows:\
Each company provided an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) calculation, but the details of how each company performed the calculation is unknown. It is suspected the calculations are not similar and may or may not include levelized operation and maintenance costs. Regardless, the IRR calculations give good guidance to the economics of the system. Cost savings does not take into account operating, maintenance and replacement costs. They are strictly savings on electricity bills.
In my opinion referring to the above statement, there was no due diligence by the RDCK to confirm whether the projects were economical to ensure public dollars are being spent prudently. No bank would loan money with this lack of due diligence or non engineering, yet grants were given.
FURTHER DECEPTION
The public on line data shows the following deceptive information
public data for the Balfour Community Hall
Balfour Community Hall PV System Overview
Note above it shows 12.4kWp installed. They have 18.4kW installed!!! This fools anyone using this data into thinking the system makes far more power per kw of solar panel than it really is! 
They have 18.3kWp installed, anyone looking at the on line data will be fooled into thinking
the system is making far more power than it is.
Above are 60 305 watt panels on the Balfour community hall making 18.3kW installed.
THE BALFOUR GOLF CLUB HOUSE SYSTEM DECEPTIVE
The on line public data similarly is deceptive, showing 24.8kW installed when over 40kW is installed. Deceiving anyone looking at the on line data into thinking the system is making far more power than it is.
Balfour Golf Course PV System Overview
Anyone viewing their on line public data will be fooled, their info shows the power made from the 40kW installed, they are only showing 24.8kWp installed, this meets the Nelson hydro bylaw maximum of 25kW installed per site.
There are 132 305 watt solar panels = 40.3kWp installed, they show 24.8kW installed.
All of this information I have sent to the Columbia Basin Trust grantors, the RDCK directors, the city of Nelson council and Nelson hydro manager.
This was also sent to the installation company Dandelion Renewables in Alberta who would have set up the on line data, they would be the ones to correct everything. Nothing changed.
The Balfour Golf Clubhouse on line data stopped updating in
mid December. Wouldn't look good when no power is made while the system is covered in snow.
I have contacted the RDCK director responsible and the installation company. The director emailed me saying she would look into it. At the public meeting I asked her about it in person, she had nothing to say.
Its my contention this type of deception is responsible for the new CBT grant funding of
$900,000 becoming available.
These systems and the IRR method of calculating payback deceives one into thinking solar
has value.
The BCUC denied the Fortis Kelowna solar garden project stating it had no benefit to anyone.
BC Hydro's application to no longer pay for any excess IPP power is in abeyance.
Fortis only pays their wholesale power production costs for any excess power.
And both BC Hydro and Fortis only allow one to size a system to meet their annual needs.
Nelson hydro remains as the only utility I know of that is paying full retail for any IPP power at the expense of ratepayers and the waste of public grant monies.
In Summary:
Nelson hydro ignores its own bylaws.
1. the bylaw says it will only purchase power if its of economic benefit to Nelson hydro
2. maximum sized systems 25kW without special permissions.
The Balfour systems are on two buildings, both exceeding the 25kW maximum.
Apparently more are being planned.
Nelson hydro already scammed us with the phoney solar garden engineering.
Respectfully
Norm Yanke
Nelson BC
